LIFEBOAT (BLACK AND WHITE, 1944)
Director:
Cast:
Tallulah Bankhead, William
Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Hume Cronyn,
Heather Angel and Canada Lee
Ages:
10 and up
Plot:
Based on a story written by
John Steinbeck. A ship in the Atlantic sinks after being attacked by a German U-boat during World War II.
Constance Potter (Bankhead) escapes on a tiny lifeboat. She is joined by other passengers aboard the ship from various backgrounds. Soon, there are 8,
and they are joined by the captain of the other U-boat (Slezak). It’s war!
 |
| The cast of Lifeboat |
Why it’s good:
Because it is direct and
straight to the point. Not many films reach to this certain standard where the
film delivers clearly the messages of friends, enemies, war and the will to survive.
The plot is simple, but
very powerful. The entire film is set on a wooden boat floating in the ocean -
no fancy sets and special effects. The rest of its greatness stems from the
wonderful acting. The great acting goes to Tallulah Bankhead, who played
Constance Potter, the reporter. She has a beautifully-characterized manner, and
her stories of love, marriage and divorce are highlighted throughout the film.
The film has the most
emotion of Hitchcock’s many films. At that time, he was exploring a new genre
of dramatic yet thrilling films. A truly amazing feat for him.
Trivia:
For the German-dubbed
version the challenge was to maintain the tension between the English-speaking
majority in the boat vs. Willy and Connie Porter speaking in German. This problem
was "solved" having Willy pretend to be a Dutch volunteer with the
Kriegsmarine and shifting the Willy-Porter conversation to the Dutch language.
If you like this…:
Other Hitchcock
films.
