Lifeboat (1944)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Steinbeck (by)
Jo Swerling (screenplay)
(more)

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 | Nurse | Lifeboat

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Tallulah Bankhead	...	Constance 'Connie' Porter
William Bendix	...	Gus Smith
Walter Slezak	...	Willy
Mary Anderson	...	Alice MacKenzie
John Hodiak	...	John Kovac
Henry Hull	...	Charles S. Rittenhouse
Heather Angel	...	Mrs. Higgins
Hume Cronyn	...	Stanley 'Sparks' Garett
Canada Lee	...	George 'Joe' Spencer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Yetter Jr.	...	Young German Sailor (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
John Steinbeck		(by)
Jo Swerling		(screenplay)
Ben Hecht		uncredited
Alfred Hitchcock		story idea (uncredited)

Produced by
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer
Kenneth Macgowan	....	producer
William Goetz	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Hugo Friedhofer		(as Hugo W. Friedhofer)

Cinematography by
Glen MacWilliams		(director of photography)
Arthur C. Miller		(director of photography) (uncredited)

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer

Art Direction by
James Basevi
Maurice Ransford

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
René Hubert		(costumes) (as Rene Hubert)

Makeup Department
Guy Pearce	....	makeup artist

Production Management
R.L. Hough	....	production manager (uncredited)
Ben Silvey	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Saul Wurtzel	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Frank E. Hughes	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects
Edwin Hammeras	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)
James Curtis Havens	....	background (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Harry Jackson	....	location camera (uncredited)
Paul Lockwood	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Lyman Hallowell	....	apprentice editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Emil Newman	....	musical direction

Other crew
Thomas Fitzsimmons	....	technical advisor: National Maritime Unioin
Queenie Leonard	....	dialogue coach (uncredited)
Eugen Sharin	....	dialogue coach (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

"Náufragos" - Mexico (imdb display title), Spain
"Um Barco e Nove Destinos" - Brazil (imdb display title), Portugal
"8 a la deriva" - Argentina
"Canot de sauvetage" - France (review title)
"Das Rettungsboot" - West Germany (imdb display title)
"Lifeboat" - France
"Lifeboat - les naufragés" - France
"Livbåt" - Sweden
"Mentőcsónak" - Hungary
"Navagoi" - Greece (reissue title)
"Pelastusvene" - Finland
"Prigionieri dell'oceano" - Italy
"Redningsbåden" - Denmark
"Ston iskio tou thanatou" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Tahlisiye sandali - Yasamak istiyoruz" - Turkey (Turkish title)

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:Atp (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | USA:Unrated | Argentina:16 (original rating) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Peru:18

Filming Locations:

Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Tallulah Bankhead was cast in the film because Alfred Hitchcock wanted to use "the most oblique, incongruous person imaginable in such a situation". She was Hitchcock's first choice for the role of Constance 'Connie' Porter.

Goofs:

Continuity: A curl of Connie's hair switches from being loose and blowing in the breeze to tightly pinned back between shots during the scene when Connie asks Kovac to fix the clasp on her bracelet.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[indistinct shouting]
John Kovac:Ahoy there!
[climbs into boat]
John Kovac:Lady, you certainly don't look like somebody that's just been shipwrecked.
Connie Porter:Man, I certainly feel like it.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Show No. 111 (#1.8)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Treue Liebe

Quite Interesting

One of the things that made Hitchcock great was his willingness to experiment, rather than just sticking with a proven formula all of the time. While not all of his experimental movies measure up to his greatest achievements, they're always worth watching, and "Lifeboat" is much more than just watchable. It's a tense drama that combines psychology and action in an efficient and memorable style.

This is quite an interesting movie in several respects, and not least for the ways that Hitchcock squeezes so much out of one single setting. Into the simple "Lifeboat" setting, he puts lots of details that are both interesting and appropriate. The characters are interesting and believable, and most of all, the story is full of both suspense and substance. As an extra bonus, there is one of Hitchcock's most creative cameo appearances.

Aside from the technical features, it is also noteworthy to see the ways that the characters are portrayed, with the contrasts among them perhaps a bit stylized at times, but done so as to make some important points. The cast does a good job in making each of the characters come to life, and all of them get a chance to have some good moments. It all fits together to make an unusual movie that is well worth watching.