- The situation is simple. Nine people are stranded on a lifeboat after a German submarine sinks an Allied ship. Connie Porter (Tallulah Bankhead) and Charles Rittenhouse (Henry Hull), normally part of the gentry class, are completely out of their element. Bringing some experience to the crew are British marine "Sparks" Garrett (Hume Cronyn), American engineer John Kovac (John Hodiak), and the American Gus Smith (William Bendix), who was injured by shrapnel. Rounding out the group are trained nurse Alice MacKenzie (Mary Anderson), porter Joe Spencer (Canada Lee), and Mrs. Higley (Heather Angel) who is, or was until recently, a mother. The ninth person is the problem. His name is Willy (Walter Slezak), and he was the captain of the German submarine. It's obvious that the Allies should take Willy as a prisoner of war and then do their best to get rescued, right? Lifeboat suggests that things aren't always that simple.
- The moral dilemma that the Allies must face revolves around the fact that Willy is both treacherous and useful. On one hand, he performs surgery to save Smith's life and tirelessly rows the boat after their sail is destroyed. On the other hand, the rest of the crew (correctly) suspects his involvement in Smith's eventual death, and there are questions about where exactly he's guiding them. They continue to tolerate the German, however, until finally he is caught hording essential materials, including a compass and water. This final act of treachery is Willy's death sentence, and the crew executes it in a starkly believable manner.
- The message of Lifeboat seems to be that, in war, you do what you must to survive. The Allies initially hesitate to kill Willy, but they end up doing so just the same because he forces them to do so. Interestingly, I note that Hitchcock has dispensed with the partly sympathetic portrayals of (implied) Germans from films like Foreign Correspondent. In this film there are two Germans, and they are both reprehensible. Rittenhouse asks, "What do you do with people like that?" The film clearly answers that you fight and, if need be, kill them. Unfortunately, I find that this particular vessel has trouble bearing such a ponderous message. Whereas most of Hitchcock's pictures succeed because he makes entertainment such a high priority, Lifeboat's heavy philosophical underpinnings set it somewhat adrift. Thank goodness the war was almost over.
- This film gets some credit for Hitchcock's most creative cameo as the man in the weight loss ad.
- Hitchcock gets in a "BM" reference with Kovac's tattoo.
- Based on a story by John Steinbeck.
- Supposedly Lifeboat holds the world record for the smallest film set, although I am somewhat skeptical of this claim.
