Lifeboat – Alfred Hitchcock (director and original idea), John Steinbeck (Story), and Jo Swerling (Screenwriter)

“Dying together’s even more personal than living together.” – Constance Porter

During World War 2, Alfred Hitchcock did many productions set around that political climate. To tell great stories set in that period and out of patriotism. To do his part in encouraging the public to involve itself during this conflict. Either at home or on the battlefield.

And among the movies he did, Lifeboat is one of those patriotic adventures.

A drama developed from an idea Hitchcock got, with a story conceived by John Steinbeck, and a script from Jo Swerling.

In its simple concept, an imaginative storyline. During the war, two boats sink; one from the Allies, the other from the Enemies. Amidst its survivors – all of them stuck on a single lifeboat – reporter Constance Porter, six boat comrades named John Kovac, Stanley Garrett, Alice Mackenzie, Joe Spencer, Gus Smith, and Willi; Mrs. Highley and her baby, and a Nazi survivor named Willi. A man who might be the captain of the enemy boat that the Allies just sank.

Through the weeks of survival on the boat, this team of people, with Kovac as Skipper, endures weathers & mental pressures while trying to survive. Among them hunger, thirst, despair, death, and fear toward the Nazi survivor. Who, as a navigator, may guide the crew into a trap. Especially as he claims to guide them in a specific direction, while looking at a hidden pocket compass which shows that he is guiding them the wrong way. So when will they find out the truth about this double-crosser? Will they get out of their sea nightmare or will they be doomed to a death at sea?

In its concept, the film is an incredible huis-clos. Within a boat. Amidst an open space of water, wind, sun, and stars. Making it quite an oppressive and suspenseful atmosphere for the film. No way can they leave this boat, no way can they escape the others and their torments/clashes. For though there might be a few times of laugh, dramas of all sorts will happen. Including some hair-raising ones I won’t reveal here.

In the cast, all the actors and actresses are excellent. Through various high winds and boats, they endure the work on that boat set. And as explained in the making-of, several of them either got ill or wounded during filming, which at times shut down the production. And of the main actress Tellullah Bankhead, everyone who worked on the film attested that she was difficult with the cast and crew. Among the various diva antics she pulled on Hitchcock and his team, here is one of them recounted by John Forsythe, who was told of it by the director when they worked on his movie The Trouble with Harry.

Except for the opening and ending credits which has a great music theme from Hugo W. Friedhofer, the movie has no soundtrack. A great idea since it makes the drama on Lifeboat more tense and realistic. Without any melodramatic melodies; nor any pleonastic tunes. Only the actors and their performance giving the most sincere ambience to the story. And for that, only an excellent director could make his actors perform with the amazing quality we see on Lifeboat. Furthermore, it shows how you can make a great movie without wasting time with a soundtrack. How you can use your silences and your actors to create a soundtrack as memorable as a great radio drama.

Which is interesting since a radio adaptation was done of Lifeboat. And depending on the Blu-Rays or DVDS you get, that radio drama might be available on its special features. So watch carefully the edition you purchase, it might offer this great treat.

Though the movie is talkative, the film offers nice camera effects. Including impressive weather moments; with the rain and wind blowing on the survivors. And in its concept, the potential for a theatre production is there. As to how it could be produced, it would be quite a feat for the artists who might be interested in doing it.

For the script, the dialogues are excellent; and for each character, their personalities are perfectly expressed and different on screen. Some insolent, others ironic, another sarcastic. Various emotions on screen that make us realize how the life on this boat is a struggle maybe, but quite an experience for them all. And at 97 minutes, the story goes by in a great breeze. You never see time pass, and when the big dramas at the finale happen, you will be on the edge of your seat.

To conclude, though the film never got the big success it should have got, Lifeboat is a great display of Hitchcock’s talent as storyteller and filmmaker. Again, it has great potential to be done as a play. But many also noted it to be one of his best movies.

So if you are of Alfred Hitchcock and of war movies, give Lifeboat a try.