Lifeboat (1944) ( Life boat )

Lifeboat (1944) (DVD) (*)

$20.99

Alternate Title: Life boat
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Mono )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
93 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1944 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Alfred Hitchcock

Written By:
John Steinbeck
Jo Swerling

Actors:
Tallulah Bankhead ..... Constance 'Connie' Porter
William Bendix ..... Gus Smith
Walter Slezak ..... Willy
Mary Anderson ..... Alice MacKenzie
John Hodiak ..... John Kovac
Henry Hull ..... Charles S. Rittenhouse
Heather Angel ..... Mrs. Higgins
Hume Cronyn ..... Stanley 'Sparks' Garett
Canada Lee ..... George 'Joe' Spencer

Synopsis:

In the Atlantic during WWII, a ship and a German U-boat are involved in a battle and both are sunk. The survivors from the ship gather in one of the boats. They are from a variety of backgrounds: an international journalist, a rich businessman, the radio operator, a nurse, a steward, a sailor and an engineer with communist tendencies. Trouble starts when they pull a man out of the water who turns out to be from the U-boat. Later, the survivors are spotted by the German supply ship Willi had been steering them to, but before it can pick them up, it is sunk by an American warship. A frightened young German seaman boards the lifeboat, brandishing a gun. After he is disarmed, one of the survivors asks, "What should we do with him?"

A group of American and British citizens are stuck in a lifeboat after their ship and a U-boat sink each other in combat. Willi (Walter Slezak), a German survivor, is allowed aboard (after some debate), but is later revealed to be the U-boat captain.Kovac (John Hodiak) takes charge, rationing the little food and water they have, but as time goes on, Willi gradually takes control away from him. One morning, while the others are sleeping, the injured German-American Gus Smith (William Bendix) catches Willi drinking from a hidden water supply. Too weak to wake anybody up, Gus is pushed overboard to drown. However, when they notice that the Nazi is sweating, the other passengers realize that he must have been hoarding water, so they beat him up and throw him out off the boat.Later, the survivors are spotted by the German supply ship Willi had been steering them to, but before it can pick them up, it is sunk by an American warship. A frightened young German seaman boards the lifeboat, brandishing a gun. After he is disarmed, one of the survivors asks, 'What should we do with him?'

In a lifeboat during World War II, survivors from the freighter torpedoed by a U-boat huddle together including columnist Constance Porter, the ship's engineer Kovac, radio operator Stanley Garrett, nurse Alice MacKenzie, millionaire Charles 'Ritt' Rittenouse, seaman Gus Smith, steward Joe, and Mrs. Higley, a hysterical Englishwoman holding her dead baby. After the baby is buried at sea, the mother drowns herself. Though the inhabitants of the lifeboat come from vastly different backgrounds, they quickly set aside the social and economic differences that divide them in a united effort to survive. A German seaman Willy is picked up out of the sea and Constane interprets for him. Willi suggests in German the direction toward Bermuda. During a crisis, he shouts at them in English. He was the U-boat commander. Willi has a compass and is strong enough to row them to a German supply ship The others allow him to take command of the boat, their only hope of survival is to be rescued by a German supply ship, which will presumably take them straight to a concentration camp.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 06 June, 2023.