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Lifeboat Overview:

Lifeboat (1944) was a Thriller/Suspense - War Film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, Darryl F. Zanuck, Kenneth Macgowan and William Goetz.

SYNOPSIS

A Hitchcock wartime thriller based on a story by Steinbeck (who made a first attempt at the script; Ben Hecht did some polishing to Swerling's script). An escape from a torpedoed ship becomes a desperate struggle for survival after the occupants of a lifeboat take in the captain of the U-boat that preyed upon their ship.The setting made made for a difficult production (Bankhead contracted pneumonia) and required three differently configured boats. It also presented a dilemma for the famous Hitchcock cameo: watch the newspaper ads!

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1944 --- Ceremony Number 17 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyGlen MacWilliamsNominated
Best DirectorAlfred HitchcockNominated
Best WritingJohn SteinbeckNominated
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Lifeboat BlogHub Articles:

Lifeboat

By Barry P. on May 18, 2019 From Cinematic Catharsis

(1944) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Screenplay by Jo Swerling; Story by John Steinbeck; Starring: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Canada Lee and Hume Cronyn; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: ****½ “The intent of ... Read full article

A Challenge for All: ‘Lifeboat’ (Alfred Hitchcock, 1944)

By Virginie Pronovost on Jul 6, 2018 From The Wonderful World of Cinema

After a non-movie related post on The Doors, I’m back to my old habits with good old Hitchcock. Yes, we discussed his films a lot on this blog and this isn’t going to stop! The occasion, today, is Maddy’s Second Annual Hitchcock Blogathon that she’s hosting on her blog Maddy ... Read full article

Lifeboat (1944, Alfred Hitchcock)

By Andrew Wickliffe on May 18, 2018 From The Stop Button

Lifeboat never feels stagy, which is one of the film’s greatest successes. The entire thing takes place in a single lifeboat, with director Hitchcock not doing many medium or long shots of the lifeboat exterior. All the action is with the actors, Hitchcock using distinctive composition–Glen MacW... Read full article

Blu-ray Review: Lifeboat

By Devon Powell on Apr 9, 2017 From Hitchcock Master

Distributor: Kino Lorber Release Date: March 21, 2017 Region: Region A Length: 01:36:58 Video: 1080P (MPEG-4, AVC) Main Audio: 2.0 English DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz, 16-bit) Subtitles: English (SDH) Ratio: 1.39:1 Bitrate: 24.91 Mbps Notes: A DVD edition of this title was previously released by 20t... Read full article

Lifeboat (1944)

By Beatrice on Oct 27, 2014 From Flickers in Time

Lifeboat Directed by Alfred Hitchcock By John Steinbeck, Screenplay by Jo Swerling 1944/USA Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Repeat viewing/Netflix rental John Kovac: [referring to Willie] Neither can a snake help being a rattlesnake if he’s born a rattlesnake! That don’t make... Read full article

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Lifeboat Quotes:

Charles D. 'Ritt' Rittenhouse: Well, folks, we're in business again!
John Kovac: [after the young German sailor pulls a gun] The baby has a toy!
Willy: [to the delirious Gus] There's Rosie! She's waiting for you!
[Willy pushes Gus overboard]
Charles D. 'Ritt' Rittenhouse: [seeing a bejewelled Connie in a fur coat as he enters the lifeboat] Connie! Did you come from the freighter or the Stork Club?
Gus Smith: My name is Schmidt, but I changed it to Smith. That's what I got against these guys more than anything else. They make me ashamed of the name I was born with. I got a lot of relatives in Germany. For all I know this guy may be one of them. I say throw him to the sharks!
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Lifeboat Facts
The harsh conditions of the shoot took its toll: actors were soaked with water and oil, which led to two cases of pneumonia for Tallulah Bankhead, an illness for actress Mary Anderson and two cracked ribs for actor Hume Cronyn, according to his autobiography. Production was temporarily halted twice to allow for recovery of the cast.
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 talking 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.
This is the only movie Alfred Hitchcock made for Twentieth Century-Fox, under Darryl F. Zanuck at the time. Hitchcock was loan out to Fox while under contract with producer David O. Selznick.
A first script written by MacKinlay Kantor was refused by Alfred Hitchcock.
"Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 16, 1950 with Tallulah Bankhead reprising her film role.
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