Nominated for 3 Oscars, Alfred Hitchcock and writer John Steinbeck have combined their distinctive talents in a tremendously provocative 1944 war film.
In the Atlantic during WWII, a ship and a German U-boat are involved in a battle and both are sunk. The survivors from the ship gather in one of the boats. They are from a variety of backgrounds: an international journalist, a rich businessman, the radio operator, a nurse, a steward, a sailor and an engineer with communist tendencies.
Trouble starts when they pull a man out of the water who turns out to be from the U-boat. Later, the survivors are spotted by the German supply ship Willi had been steering them to, but before it can pick them up, it is sunk by an American warship. A frightened young German seaman boards the lifeboat, brandishing a gun. After he is disarmed, one of the survivors asks, What should we do with him?
Awards
- Academy Awards 1945 – Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Director and Best Writing (Original Story)
- National Board of Review 1944 – Won NBR Award Top Ten Films
Review by Total Film
"Lifeboat qualifies as Hitch’s only war movie. In the Atlantic, a passenger liner’s been sunk; the U-boat also went down. An ill-assorted batch of survivors scramble aboard a lifeboat. They’re joined by a sole survivor from the sub, eventually revealed to be its captain. While the Yanks and the Brits squabble among themselves, the German’s the only one with a clear purpose – and the cunning to carry it out…
Co-scripted by John Steinbeck, the film’s a clear allegory: if the Allies don’t pull together, single-minded Germany may win. Amazingly, it was attacked by some reviewers as Nazi propaganda.
Today it all seems a bit schematic and preachy – but it’s well worth a gander for Hitch’s inventiveness in devising varied camera angles in his confined space; for Walter Slezak’s urbane performance as the U-boat skipper; and for Tallulah Bankhead, sheer class as a mink-clad roving reporter. (Hearing complaints that Bankhead was going commando, Hitch responded, “Hmm, I’m not sure if that comes under costume or hairdressing.”) …Oh, and keep an eagle eye out for Hitch’s ingenious way of including his indispensable personal cameo."