Lifeboat
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
By John Steinbeck, Screenplay by Jo Swerling
1944/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Gus Smith: A guy can’t help being a German if he’s born a German, can he?
John Kovac: [referring to Willie] Neither can a snake help being a rattlesnake if he’s born a rattlesnake! That don’t make him a nightingale! Get him out of here![/box]
Hitchcock made other one-set movies but none as restrictive as this story of nine people floating at sea on a lifeboat. No one could have done more to keep the action moving but this lacks enough scope to be counted among the Master’s greatest works.
After their freighter is torpedoed a motley cross-section of humanity is stranded on a lifeboat. The people range from an industrial tycoon (Henry Hull) and a Connie, a ritzy journalist (Tallulah Bankhead) through several crew members (William Bendix, Hume Cronyn, Canada Lee, and John Hodiak) to a nurse and a young mother carrying a dead baby. Into this volatile mix comes Willy (Walter Slezak), a German survivor of the sinking of the submarine that torpedoed the ship. The German clearly has a more advanced knowledge of navigation and the others squabble over whether he can be trusted or should even be fed from their scant supplies. Connie, already unpopular due to her snooty ways, is the only member of the Allied group that can communicate with Willy in his own language. The situation goes from bad to worse as food and water begin to run out.
I like but don’t love Lifeboat. The acting is the big plus. Talullah Bankhead, despite her notorious picadillos on the set, is excellent. I believe this is the only movie I have seen her in. I like Slezak more and more each time I see him. He makes a nasty but affable Nazi. The problem I have is that it’s impossible believe that Connie could have presented herself perfectly groomed and toting a well-stocked handbag and a typewriter into this situation. Hitchcock had to resort to other lapses of logic to keep his story moving. There’s a bit more propaganda than might have been called for as well.
Lifeboat was nominated for Academy Awards in the following categories: Best Director; Best Writing, Original Story; and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Glen MacWilliams). I’m surprised it didn’t get a nod for its special effects.
Clip – “The Lord is my Shepard”
This isn’t my favorite Hitchcock, but it’s a damn good film. I love that Hitch regularly challenged himself with particular limitations and almost always came through at the end with something that is watchable and interesting. Lifeboat is a great example of a film that is improved by the confines that the story demanded.
He did better than anyone else could have within the confines he set for himself. And, really, how else could you do a story about people on a lifeboat? Actually, I guess some of the illogical flourishes he added were needed to make the story more dynamic.
I am a huge Hitchcock fan but this isn’t one of my favorites. That doesn’t mean that it is a bad film; far from it but I cannot stand John Hodiak and that rather ruined it for me. I got a kick out of how Hitchcock made his personal appearance…..that had to be a challenge.
Ii love Hitchcock’s cameo! I too am lukewarm on the film. Haven’t seen enough of Hodiak to form an opinion. One thing I love about doing this is that some of the actors are becoming like old friends.