Back home

Lifeboat

468 votes

Producing House

During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1944-01-28

Runtime: 96 mins

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writer: Ben Hecht

Spoken language: English, Français, Deutsch

Genres: War, Drama

Original title: Lifeboat

Production Companies: 20th Century Fox

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

G

Geronimo1967
With their transport torpedoed by a now also sunken Nazi U-boat, journalist “Porter” (Tallulah Bankhead) finds herself aboard the ship’s lifeboat afloat amidst the flotsam. She isn’t on her own for long, though, as others find her refuge and when German “Willi” (Walter Slezak) shows up that makes nine souls. They want to head to Bermuda, but nobody knows the way except, possibly, their prisoner - but they don’t want to believe him, nor surrender control of their voyage to him either - but with supplies running low, the sea becoming more hostile and hopes of rescue fairly remote, what are their options? What now ensues sees the survivors embark on a journey of self-discovery as they consider their current predicament and how they have lived and lied about their lives hitherto. This little microcosm of society becomes a little toxic, a little romantic, a lot suspicious and even adrift at sea there are still characters onboard determined to play games of oneupmanship - even if it’s just themselves there are deceiving. Obviously, this is all done in a tank on an LA backlot, so nowadays it doesn’t always look the most convincing but it’s really the story that makes this a compelling watch. Alfred Hitchcock drip-feeds us information, sometimes plausible and sometimes conflicting, and the audio effects also work well at creating a powerful sense of claustrophobia in the middle of an open ocean with a group of personalities you mightn’t trust with your dry cleaning let alone your life. Bankhead is on great form, as is Henry Hull and it all makes for an unique wartime adventure that if it is supposed to be propagandist in nature, offers a curious look at just how un-allied the allies could be.
2026-02-08

Recommendations

The Blue Angel
3.6

The Blue Angel

1930-04-01

Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
4

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

1920-02-27

Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recentl

Young Adam
2.9

Young Adam

2003-09-26

A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he

Operation Star
0

Operation Star

2024-02-11

It is the winter of 1943. Somewhere in central Greece. A captain and a sergeant of the Greek army ar

Das Boot
4

Das Boot

1981-09-17

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. T

12 Angry Men
4.3

12 Angry Men

1957-04-10

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
3.9

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1966-06-22

A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's faculty. A

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
3.2

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead

1995-12-01

Five different criminals face imminent death after botching a job quite badly.

La Dolce Vita
4

La Dolce Vita

1960-02-05

Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between t

The Good German
2.9

The Good German

2006-12-15

An American journalist arrives in Berlin just after the end of World War Two. He becomes involved in

To Be or Not to Be
3.9

To Be or Not to Be

1942-03-06

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's effor

Seven Samurai
4.2

Seven Samurai

1954-04-26

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs pr

The Devil Wears Prada
3.7

The Devil Wears Prada

2006-06-29

A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become

Krásna neznáma
0

Krásna neznáma

1976-01-01

Cukor
0

Cukor

1982-01-01

A TV film based on Karol Horák's novel. The story takes place in southern Gemer in the spring of 194

The Bloody Hundredth
3.6

The Bloody Hundredth

2024-03-14

Meet the real-life airmen who inspired Masters of the Air as they share the harrowing and transforma

Natural Born Killers
3.5

Natural Born Killers

1994-08-26

Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by

La Strada
4

La Strada

1954-09-23

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus str

La Haine
4

La Haine

1995-05-31

After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert an

The English Patient
3.6

The English Patient

1996-11-14

In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to ch