Lifeboat (1944)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Steinbeck (by)
Jo Swerling (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 January 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | War

Tagline:

Who goes Primitive first...A man...Or a woman...adrift in an open boat ?

Plot:

Several survivors of a torpedoed ship find themselves in the same boat with one of the men who sunk it.

Plot Keywords:

German | U Boat | Survivor | Steward | Sea

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Tallulah Bankhead	...	Connie Porter
William Bendix	...	Gus
Walter Slezak	...	Willy
Mary Anderson	...	Alice MacKenzie
John Hodiak	...	Kovac
Henry Hull	...	Rittenhouse
Heather Angel	...	Mrs.Higley
Hume Cronyn	...	Sparks
Canada Lee	...	Joe

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1989) | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #9598) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Peru:18

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The film was shot entirely on a restricted set in which the boat was secured in a large studio tank. Alfred Hitchcock, always striving for realism, insisted that the boat never remain stationary and that there always be an added touch of ocean mist and fog compounded of oil forced through dry ice.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gus is chugging brandy, the amount in the bottle remains the same and does not go down.

Quotes:

Charles D. 'Ritt' Rittenhouse: Well, folks, we're in business again!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: The Celebrity Next Door (#1.2)" (1957)

Soundtrack:

Heidenroslein, Op.3, No.3, D 257

See It for Tallulah

Ms. Bankhead's performance is amazing in this compelling film. In the first scene we are shown astounding destruction at sea from a capsized ship until the camera pans over to a lifeboat where the lone, well-coiffured, mink-draped, all made-up Tallulah is sitting, cross-legged, smoking a cigarette. Then we are shown a close-up of her leg. There's a run in her stocking! She looks more annoyed at that than all the carnage surrounding her! Later on, with more survivors on board and in danger of starving, she worries about how she looks and applies more lipstick! Oh Darling! This is classic cinema and one of the few films of this great lady (she was mostly on stage). John Hodiak (very handsome) is her enemy (at first), while Walter Slezak, Hume Cronin, William Bendix and the others ably support. An astonishing Alfred Hitchcock film.