Das Rettungsboot

'Lifeboat' must be extremely high on the list of THE most underrated Alfred Hitchcock movies! I very rarely hear anyone talk about this little gem, which is a damn shame as it is as good as many of Hitch's better known films. The plot is simple but the film makes the most of it with inventive direction, a strong script, and an interesting ensemble cast, most of whom are very good. I believe that Tallulah Bankhead irritates many people but I thought she was effective enough and well cast. I must say I was much more interested in Walter Slezak who played the Nazi and John Hodiak the tattooed tough guy. Both were excellent performances that really added to my enjoyment of the movie. Anybody who likes Hitchcock who hasn't seen 'Lifeboat' is in for a treat. Don't overlook this one. It's dated in some ways sure, but still much more entertaining than 90% of today's so-called thrillers. I strongly recommend it.

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.

Lifeboat, the Hitchcock classic, defines the essence of the American super will in 1944. It pits the American melting pot irrationality and eccentricities against the single-minded rational Teutonic mind. Unlike the typical propaganda movies of its time, Lifeboat does not march without a reverse gear across the screen like John Wayne's boots. Lifeboat is circumspect, and asks profound questions about war, and values, and vulnerability. It second guesses itself. It wonders.

A freighter is sunk by a German U-boat and the cast assembles in a solitary lifeboat on a cold gray Atlantic Ocean for a two hour emotional roller-coaster. 60 years ago, before there were true female heavyweight actresses like Brittany Spears or Meg Ryan, there was Tallulah Bankhead, a thinking man's dame with an Alabama drawl and no underwear. Apparently she wanted to keep the attention of the camera crew during filming; mission accomplished. Playing the lead role of Constance Porter, Tallulah was in her element as the clawed feisty sharp talking journalist ripping apart at will anyone that crossed her path especially alpha male want a be, John Kovac, played by John Hodiak. Ruggedly ugly, Hodiak, played an impulsive hotheaded boiler room brute that acted first and used thought only as a last resort. His persona was that of a man raised on the wrong side of the tracks, vigilant like a stray dog with the hair up on its back most of the time.

Then there was Willy. Willy, played magnificently by Walter Slezak, was a rescued German U-boat sailor, ultimately unmasked as the Captain of the U-boat that sunk the freighter. Willy spoke perfect English. He knew the sea, navigation and knew how to survive. He was superior in intellect, physical strength, and cunning. Not only was he capable of saving Gus Smith's life by a surgical amputation of his leg, he also pushed Gus overboard when it was clear that Gus, played by William Bendix was dying and essentially wasting the survival resources of the others in the boat.

Other characters providing color included a young Hume Cronyn, hard to believe he was ever young, and famous cigar chewing character actor grouch, Charles Rittenhouse who played Henry Hull, ironically, a shipping tycoon. Other players had various levels of incompetence and mental instability.

What does this movie say? It says that Americans can only stand so much rational logic before they explode, even if the rational logic initially saves their lives. It frames the basis of ethical reasoning. For example who do you give a heart transplant to, a scientist or a street person who waltzes into the door two seconds before the scientist? Willy would give the heart to the scientist because he weighs the society above the individual, and the rest of the boat would give it to the street person, not because it is rational but because they base ethics on human equality, and seek to find some measure of 'fairness' as the basis of ethical decision making. While American society may tout the virtues of this kind of sentiment, they are not really that comfortable with it. Watching a street person with a newly transplanted heart swill down a bottle of Thunderbird wine is not particularly gratifying when at the same time the Nobel Laureate is being laid to rest, perhaps just short of a discovery that could have saved millions of lives. And this is precisely what the movie does in the end. It leaves us uncertain about our own brutality in the name of our version of ethical fairness. It also makes us question our own sense of reason and logic. What possible virtue is there in a society that shuns reasoning? This is the point that Hitchcock makes so cleverly. He leaves us with a sense of fear, from both a tough intelligent rational enemy, but also from a wild brutish killing wrought out of self-fear and ending with an uncomfortable lynch mob sense of justice. This was not a killing of self-defense; it was a killing of berserk passion and loss of control. These were after all, not soldiers, but they were us, suffering from a global war with no end in sight. Frustrated by a relentless predatory machine-like enemy, that could torpedo unarmed freighters, yet smile and tell jokes while rowing toward an enemy rescue ship.

Lifeboat is a movie of huge depth. If the brain aspects of the movie don't appeal to you, you may want to see the movie just to get a glimpse of Tallulah so you could actually see what a real woman once looked like before they became extinct in the sea of 18 year old tattooed tongue-pierced pop culture nothings and crack smoking 'super-models' that masquerade these days as 'American womanhood'. And you wonder why men don't want to marry anymore.

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.

Lifeboat chronicles the trip of eight passengers after being sunk the ship they were traveling . As during WWII , several survivors of a torpedoed ship find themselves in the same boat with one of the men who sunk it . They adrift on a lifeboat when they take on a German aboard .

This is a very good film , a highly theatrical experiment similarly to ¨The rope¨ ; dealing with several survivors in lonely lifeboat and it is based in part on a real shipwrecked . However , at film premiere was dumbly panned as an artistic flop by most critics , dismissed for a few embarrassing failures and flaws ; but is , nonetheless , today very well deemed . This sea-going ¨Grand Hotel¨ was filmed in a few takes to provide a seamless of movement but it remains nowadays what it was them a perfect film about shipwrecked survivors . Interesting screenplay , though partially claustrophobic , by Jo Swerling who adapted John Steinbeck's original story . 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 . Remarkable performances from a great cast such as tunnel-voiced Tallulah Bankhead as spoiled reporter Constance 'Connie' Porter , the veteran Henry Hull , the beautiful Mary Anderson , a tough John Hodiak , Canada Lee who was allowed to write his own lines , the character actor Hume Cronyn , William Bendix who joined the cast a few days into shooting when the original actor as Gus -Murray Alper- fell sick and special mention for Walter Slezak as astute Nazi in growing suspicion of the other survivors about him . The cast suffered harsh conditions during the hard shooting : actors were soaked with water and oil . Seasickness hit the entire cast at various times during production , and many of them caught pneumonia after constant exposure to cold water which led to two cases of pneumonia for Tallulah Bankhead , an illness for actress Mary Anderson and two cracked ribs for actor Hume Cronyn who almost drowned in a storm scene when he got caught under a large metal water-activator according to his autobiography . Production was temporarily halted twice to allow for recovery of the cast . And look for Hitchcock's photography trademark on a newspaper that the survivors are reading .

Aside from the opening and closing scene , there is no score in this film , the only music is the flute . Evocative and atmospheric cinematography by Glen MacWilliams , though Arthur C. Miller was the initial director of photography but he was replaced after the first two weeks of filming, when Miller became ill . The motion picture was compellingly directed by the great maestro of suspense , Alfred Hitchcock ; only Hitch would face off the challenge of such a flick . Although the film did good business and succeed in New York as well as other big cities , it failed to attract audiences in smaller theatres and rural areas . As a result, it was a rare Alfred Hitchcock film that actually lost money at the box office . Remade as a Sci-Fi movie titled ¨Lifepod¨ (1981) by Bruce Bryant with Joe Penny , Kristine DeBell , Neil Ross , Carl Lumbly and ¨Lifepod¨ (1993) by Ron Silver with Robert Loggia , Jessica Tuck , Stan Shaw , Adam Storke , Kelli Williams and CCH Pounder .