Lifeboat (1944)

Written by John Steinbeck and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Lifeboat shows the peril of a group of people on a lifeboat after their ship is sunk by a German U-Boat. To further the drama, one of the people on the boat is a German who was on board the U-Boat which was sunk by the ship which is either American or British. Although this film doesn't have all that much happen, it is surprisingly interesting. There are some flaws. Primarily, several scenes seem highly unrealistic. The most obvious occurs early in the film where a gangrenous leg is amputated with basically a pocket knife and no anesthetics.

This film is basically an ensemble cast. It features nobody who I had previously heard of, but the big-name draw was Tallulah Bankhead who was more famous for her stage work. Her character is rather different from everyone else in the film and her performance is quite excellent. The other characters do a good job as well, but Bankhead stands out. She won the NYFCC Best Actress award for her role in this film.

The most notable aspect of this film is the set. This film was (and still is) listed for the film with the smallest set. The entire film takes place on the lifeboat which, according to the making of feature on the DVD, is 40 feet long (no width was given). It is quite an amazing bit of film making that such a tiny set was able to create a feature-length film without leaving the set. While Hitchcock was known for his ability to use very small sets (such as the one room set in Rear Window and just several rooms of an apartment in Rope), this one is by far the smallest and most technically difficult.

While not a great film, this film is very good. A common criticism was that it came off as pro-Nazi based on the way the German was portrayed in the film but I don't agree with this at all. While several characters campaign to rescue him, he is not exactly the hero of the film. This film is most interesting when compared to a somewhat similar film Das Boot. Any fan of Hitchcock, Das Boot, and perhaps classic movies in general should check this out.

81.5/100
B-

UP NEXT: Hopefully Jean Renoir's French classic The Rules of the Game.