LIFEBOAT

US, 1944, 96 minutes, Black and white.
Tallulah Bankhead, Walter Slezak, Henry Hull, John Hodiak, Canada Lee, William Bendix, Mary Anderson, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Lifeboat is one of Alfred Hitchcock's early American films which has worn well. It was preceded by the very successful Shadow of a Doubt. Hitchcock was interested in the thriller and the use of close-ups and confined space and time. All the action of this film takes place in the lifeboat with a very limited cast. However, he uses the lifeboat as a microcosm of the world of the '40s at war. He has said that he wanted the various types to represent the variety of people and allies in World War Two. They needed to unite against the Nazi. However, the Nazis had illustrated their superiority and this was echoed in the characterisation of the Nazi captain. However, the issues are not always so clear-cut.

The group in the lifeboat ultimately unites and murders the captain. They are filmed as a marauding pack of animals clubbing the Nazi to death. This has an ambiguous effect on the audience ? more especially so at the time when critics and people alike took a dim view of what seemed to be a sympathetic presentation of a Nazi. The film is dominated by the performance of Tallulah Bankhead - a tour de force of the grande dame style. She has strong dialogue - is the efficient news reporter, the woman of the world, the passionate woman who gradually becomes more human. William Bendix does very well in the role of Gus who has his leg amputated. Walter Slezak is persuasive as the German captain. The supporting crew does very well also. While the film echoes World War Two attitudes, shows the limitation of productions of the time, nevertheless it still keeps interest and shows strong interaction. Many of the disaster epics of the '70s could have learnt a great deal from Hitchcock's holding of interest with a small group in a lifeboat.

1. The place of this film in the Hitchcock canon? An American production, American feeling and sentiment? His style - the thriller, the close-ups, the confined characters in space and time, guilt and responsibility, shifting of moods? Fear, passion, death? The differences from his usual thrillers?

2. Hitchcock's contribution to World War Two propaganda? How much of a propaganda film is this? The presuppositions about the war, the merchant marines, people travelling the Atlantic? Human nature and its fear of death, capacity for survival, needs, interaction, violence? The point of view of Hitchcock on the war, on the allies, on the Nazis?

3. The technical credits of the film: the initial sinking, the confining of the action to the lifeboat, the rescue sequences, the storms and calm? The humour of Alfred Hitchcock's own appearance in the film on the newspaper?

4. The structure: the disaster, the introduction to each of the characters, the way these were established, the build-up of the interactions, the arrival of the German, the confrontations and change of moods, changes of weather? Suffering and endurance? The violent death? The possibilities of rescue, of the repetition of the confrontation with the German boy?

5. The plausibility of the plot: the role of the merchant navy during the war, torpedo attacks, survival in lifeboats and the way this was mentioned throughout the film? The ability to cope, inability? The captain and his rescue, his devices for protecting himself, for coping? The attack on the captain? The finale and encounter with the supply ship, the rescue?

6. The group in the lifeboat as a microcosm of the '40s world? Americans and British? The cross-section of types, ordinary and well known, men and women rich and poor, fascist and left-wing, black and white, worldly and private? The symbolism of the characters for representing the types allied during war? The need for attack, survival, the facing of death?

7. The characters in relationship with Willie? In himself and the rescue, the revelation that he was the captain, his single-mindedness as a Nazi? His tricks and motives? The coherence of his behaviour? The impact on an allied audience in the '40s, now? His advice about the course and the concealing of the compass, his help in the amputation of Gus' leg, his singing and the others accompanying him, his rowing and strength, his keeping the water? His killing Gus? His justification of himself, his beliefs and patriotism? His being killed?

8. Connie and her dominance of the film? The opening with her sitting in the lifeboat with her furs etc., the filming of Kovak arriving? Her affected and sophisticated language? Her explanation of her Chicago background? Her callous description of the sinking, her worldly wisdom? The irony of her continually losing her possessions and her comments on these? The final losing of the bracelet? Her friendship, wisecracks, persuading Gus to be operated on, translating the German, her breaking in hunger, her passion for Kovak, the playing cards? Her participation in the death? How was she affected by the experience ? and her getting the lipstick ready for rescue?

9. The contrast with Kovak - tough, sailor, hostile, left-wing attitudes, angry with Connie? The Chicago background? The hostility towards the captain, his taking over and the crew's loyalty? His ignorance? The clashes with the captain, support of Gus and the background talk of Rosie? Playing cards and the winning? The clashes with Connie, the potential for passion and romance? The sexual interaction and the way Hitchcock suggested this clothes, the discussion about Kovak's torso, the positioning?

10. William Bendix's skill in portraying Gus - his background, the injury, the shrapnel, the need for the amputation, his drinking sequence. his delirium, the confrontation with the captain, his death?

11. Stan and Alice - their work, stories, presence on the boat, talk, love, proposal? Their participation in the killing? Their later reactions?

12. Ritt and his wealth, cards, allotting of jobs, forfeiting his role as captain? His losses in cards against Kovak? His reaction in crises? His representing wealth, right-wing attitudes?

13. Joe as the black man, discussions about rights, his capacity for lifting the compass, his playing the music? His not participating in the killing?

14. The mother and her baby, grief, the death of the baby, her attitude towards the captain, her disappearance?

15. The variety of moods and the change of moods, the heat, the storm, the thirst, the bailing of water, the rowing? The survival, the violence, the fear? The build-up to the killing? The repercussions and their comments afterwards?

16. The supply ship and its almost collision? The boy and the gun? The repetition of the situation and the different reactions? What had the group learnt from their experience?

17. How satisfying a study of people? Audience identification with the group, with individuals? Reactions in war? Behaviour patterns, guilt? Enterprise against a common foe? The serious and humorous Hitchcock touches?