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Lifeboat
original film poster
Directed by	Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by	Kenneth Macgowan
Written by	Novella: John Steinbeck Screenplay: Jo Swerling Uncredited (screenplay): Ben Hecht
Starring	Tallulah Bankhead William Bendix Walter Slezak Mary Anderson John Hodiak Henry Hull Heather Angel Hume Cronyn
Music by	Hugo W. Friedhofer
Cinematography	Glen MacWilliams
Editing by	Dorothy Spencer
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	January 11, 1944
Running time	96 min.
Language	English
Budget	$1,590,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Lifeboat is a 1944 World War II war film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. The film stars Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee, and is set entirely on a lifeboat. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Story.

The film holds the world record for smallest set ever used on a film. It has never been beaten. (The closest any other film has come was the 1948 novelty film Bill and Coo, which featured an all-bird cast and was filmed on a miniature village built onto a 15' x 30' {4.57m X 9.14m} tabletop, which was located inside a larger studio.)^{[citation needed]}

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 ruthless Nazi 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 of 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 survivors asks, "What should we do with him?"

According to Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia, in a 2005 DVD-released documentary, some critics, after initial rave reviews, gave the film poor reviews because of the so-called "positive" portrayal of the German character in the film. (Today, film reviewers think just the opposite. Critics call the film almost an American propaganda film.) Other film critics caught on to the critical damnation and many writers began giving the film poor reviews. 20th Century Fox executives, under pressure, decided to give the film a limited release instead of the wide release most of Hitchcock's films received. Advertising for the film was also reduced, causing the film to have a poor box office when released in 1944. Today, the film is considered a classic.

In 1993, the movie was remade as a science fiction TV movie titled Lifepod. Moving the action from a lifeboat to a spaceship's escape capsule, the remake starred Ron Silver, Robert Loggia and CCH Pounder. Silver also directed.

• Lifeboat at the Internet Movie Database
• DVD review of Lifeboat