Lifeboat

Although Lifeboat is seldom mentioned when the subject of Alfred Hitchcock's best films comes up, this 1944 drama deserves recognition. Few filmmakers would have been willing to undertake the challenge of building an entire film around a small lifeboat bobbing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with the “action” confined to such a tiny space. And here's the interesting part: Hitchcock himself came up with the idea, entrusting the concept to novelist John Steinbeck, who fleshed out the story before turning it over to scriptwriter Jo Swerling. Hitch then selected a cast headed by Tallulah Bankhead, a brittle actress well known for her frosty characterizations, well-suited to play the pampered journalist who finds herself among the few survivors in a lifeboat following the torpedoing of their ocean liner by a German U-boat during World War II. Character actor William Bendix, an unlikely choice to play opposite Bankhead, co-stars as a sailor who loses his leg in the attack, and John Hodiak impresses with his turn as a hardboiled Nazi hater who regards with understandable suspicion the lone German survivor played by Walter Slezak. Similarly memorable performances come from Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn, and Mary Anderson. Lifeboat doesn't have the bravura sequences that distinguish typical Hitchcock thrillers, but it's an intense, gripping film in its own right. Boasting an excellent black-and-white transfer, DVD extras include audio commentary by film professor Drew Casper, a “making-of” documentary, and a photo gallery. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)