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Lifeboat (1944)

War | 96 minutes
3,49 303 votes

Genre: War / Thriller

Duration: 96 minuten

Alternative title: Ballast der Wanhoop

Country: United States

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix and Walter Slezak

IMDb score: 7,6 (33.278)

Releasedate: 28 January 1944

Lifeboat plot

"Six men and three women - against the sea, and each other!"

Eight survivors of an American merchant ship hit by a German torpedo take an enemy castaway aboard their rescue boat, namely a German captain. This causes a conflict among the drowned: do they kill the Nazi or take advantage of his experience as a sailor...

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avatar van dutchtuga

dutchtuga

  • 16970 messages
  • 4101 votes

Good Hitchcock, but certainly not his best work. Not at all if you compare it with the similar Rope. Again, we get a single location and a bunch of protagonists who are in a situation of mistrust due to suspicion. Always a good starting point and Lifeboat is generally a pretty exciting film. But as the end approaches, that tension unfortunately doesn't always last and we have a climax that feels like a bucket of cold water. Too bad, because the cinematography is a delight at times and the sense of isolation is palpable. With a stronger and more intense script, this could have been a true masterpiece.

3.5*

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Onderhond

Onderhond

  • 87592 messages
  • 12835 votes

Ideal Hitchcock.

Put some people on a boat and the rest will write themselves. Mainly because what was written wasn't all that original either. Timbo already mentioned 12 Angry Men, after a while I also had to think about that film, but those are not too good memories.

The problem with a movie like this is that the acting has to be good and the movie ambiguous enough to keep the tension high. In both cases, Hitchcock fails. The acting is stiff and lazy, the script is especially predictable, which makes the film very boring.

Hitchcock likes to tell, this setting is perfect as everything else can be stripped down and focused purely on the narration. But it really doesn't captivate and despite the limited playing time, he doesn't manage to keep the film interesting for a third. After that it's just waiting for the end, while all the clichés pass by one by one.

1.0*

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van mrklm

mrklm

  • 11374 messages
  • 9897 votes

In a naval battle, both an American ship and the German submarine that sank the ship sink. A smug journalist [Tallulah Bankhead] initially has the lifeboat to herself, but soon picks up a number of crew members and passengers (who form a cross-section of the company), as well as the friendly-looking sailor Willy [Walter Slezak]. Willy is without a doubt the best navigator, but how much can he be trusted? The division between the passengers leads to mutual tensions in this technically very challenging, fascinating and extremely well written and acted war thriller. The entire cast is outstanding, but Bankhead towers above everything and everyone.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original