Lifeboat (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lifeboat | |
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 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Kenneth Macgowan |
| Written by | Novella: John Steinbeck Screenplay: Jo Swerling Uncredited (screenplay): Ben Hecht |
| Starring | Tallulah Bankhead William Bendix Walter Slezak Mary Anderson John Hodiak Henry Hull Heather Angel Hume Cronyn |
| Music by | Hugo W. Friedhofer |
| Cinematography | Glen MacWilliams |
| Editing by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) |  January 11, 1944 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,590,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lifeboat is a 1944 World War II movie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. As might be surmised from the title, the whole film takes place in a lifeboat.
A group of American and British citizens are stuck in a lifeboat after their ship is sunk by a Nazi U-boat. A German survivor who comes aboard is later proven to have been the captain of the U-boat.
The movie stars Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee.
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[edit] Critical reaction
According to Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia, in a 2005 DVD-released documentary, some critics, after initial rave reviews, gave the film poor reviews because of the so-called "positive" portrayal of the German character in the film. (Today, film reviewers think just the opposite. Critics call the film almost an American propaganda film.) Other film critics caught on to the critical damnation and many writers began giving the film poor reviews. 20th Century Fox executives, under pressure, decided to give the film a limited release instead of the wide release most of Hitchcock's films received. Advertising for the film was also reduced, causing the film to have a poor box office when released in 1944. Today, the film is considered a classic.
[edit] Remake
In 1993, the movie was remade as a science fiction TV movie titled Lifepod. Moving the action from a lifeboat to a spaceship's escape capsule, the remake starred Ron Silver, Robert Loggia and CCH Pounder. Silver also directed.
[edit] Trivia
- Alfred Hitchcock cameo: Of all Hitchcock's films, this is perhaps the one in which we would least expect to see a Hitchcock cameo since the action takes place entirely on a lifeboat. However, in one scene, one of the characters can be seen reading a newspaper. In the newspaper, an advertisement for Reduco Obesity Slayer is visible which features before and after pictures of Hitchcock's world-famous profile. "Reduco" was also used in Hitchcock's cameo in Rope. Hitchcock later said that he received letters shortly after the film was released asking where they could obtain this miraculous, though fictitious, dieting aid.
[edit] External links
| Alfred Hitchcock's films |
|---|
| 1920s: The Pleasure Garden • The Mountain Eagle • The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog • Downhill • Easy Virtue • The Ring • The Farmer's Wife • Champagne • The Manxman • Blackmail • 1930s: Juno and the Paycock • Murder! • Elstree Calling • The Skin Game • Mary • Number Seventeen • Rich and Strange • Waltzes from Vienna • The Man Who Knew Too Much • The 39 Steps • Secret Agent • Sabotage • Young and Innocent • The Lady Vanishes • Jamaica Inn • 1940s: Rebecca • Foreign Correspondent • Mr. & Mrs. Smith • Suspicion • Saboteur • Shadow of a Doubt • Lifeboat • Aventure Malgache • Bon Voyage • Spellbound • Notorious • The Paradine Case • Rope • Under Capricorn • 1950s: Stage Fright • Strangers on a Train • I Confess • Dial M for Murder • Rear Window • To Catch a Thief • The Trouble with Harry • The Man Who Knew Too Much • The Wrong Man • Vertigo • North by Northwest • 1960s: Psycho • The Birds • Marnie • Torn Curtain • Topaz • 1970s: Frenzy • Family Plot |
