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 | Nurse | Radio Operator

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:

During filming, several of the crew members noted that actress Tallulah Bankhead was not wearing underwear. When advised of this situation, director Alfred Hitchcock observed, "I don't know if this is a matter for the costume department, makeup, or hairdressing."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Talulah offers to use her diamond bracelet as a fishing lure, the fish that swallows it is a carp, a fresh water fish, which would be unlikely to strike at a flashy lure anyway since it is a toothless herbivore.

Quotes:

Connie Porter: [Referring to using her bejeweled bracelet as fish bait] I can reccomend the bait. I know... I bit on it myself.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Die Meistersinger: Preislied

I'd like to be lost at sea with this great cast anyday

In one of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest films, six people with different personalities and backgrounds are stranded together in a lifeboat after the passenger-carrying freighter they are on is sunk by a German u-boat in the Mid-Atlantic. The cast includes the fabulous Tallulah Bankhead as a bitchy photo-journalist, Hume Cronyn as kind-hearted man who finds love on the lifeboat, Canada Lee as a kind steward, Walter Slezak as a mysterious German, and John Hodiak who has to dodge Tallulah's nonstop advances. Hitchcock did this film on one set - the single lifeboat. What's amazing is that he could keep things interesting for two hours, but he managed to somehow. Bankhead is this movie's greatest asset. Reportedly, she didn't wear underwear on the set and constantly kept the crew at attention! This is a great, novel film.