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| Lifeboat (Special Edition) |
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List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $12.25
You Save: $7.73 (39%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $9.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 30 reviews)
Sales Rank: 4949
Category: DVD
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Label: 20th Century Fox
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Special Edition, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD
Running Time: 96 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
UPC: 024543172260
EAN: 0024543172260
ASIN: B000A9QK7I
Release Date: October 18, 2005
Theatrical Release Date: January 12, 1944
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Part mystery, part wartime polemic, Lifeboat finds director Alfred Hitchcock tackling a cinematic challenge that foreshadows the self-imposed handicaps of Rope and Rear Window. As with those subsequent features, Hitchcock confines his action and characters to a single set, in this instance the lone surviving lifeboat from an Allied freighter sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. A less confident, ingenious filmmaker might have opened up John Steinbeck's dialogue-driven character study beyond the battered boat and its cargo of survivors, but Hitchcock instead revels in his predicament to exploit the enforced intimacy between his characters.
Indeed, we never actually see the doomed freighter--the smoking ship's funnel beneath the credits simply sinks beneath the waves, and we're plunged into the escalating tensions between those who gradually find their way to the boat, a band of eight English and American passengers and crew, plus a German sailor (Walter Slezak) rescued from the U-boat, itself destroyed by the freighter's deck gun. Heading the cast and inevitably commanding their and our attention is the cello-voiced Tallulah Bankhead as Connie Porter, a cynical, sophisticated writer whose priorities seem to be hanging onto her mink and keeping her lipstick fresh. Gradually, the others find Porter and her lifeboat, forming a temporary community that inevitably suggests a careful cross section of archetypes, from wealthy industrialist (Henry Hull) to ship's boiler men (John Hodiak and William Bendix).
Hitchcock juggles the interpersonal skirmishes between the boat's occupants with the mystery of their German prisoner, which itself becomes a meditation on the fine line between nationalism and morality, a line that Slezak walks delicately until his identity is resolved. Visually, Hitchcock transforms his back-lot set and its rear-projected cloudbanks into a desolate stretch of ocean, while capturing the horror of an amputation through an economical set of images culminating in an empty boot. --Sam Sutherland
Description
Nominated for three Academy Awards, Alfred Hitchcock's "absorbing brilliantly executed" (Hollywood Reporter) World War II drama, is a remarkable story of human survival.
After their ship is sunk in the Atlantic by Germans, eight people are stranded in a lifeboat, among them a glamorous journalist (Tallulah Bankhead), a tough seaman (John Hodiak), a nurse (Mary Anderson) and an injured sailor (William Bendix). Their problems are further compounded when they pick up a ninth passenger - the Nazi captain from the U-boat that torpedoed them. With its powerful interplay of suspense and emotion, this legendary classic is a microcosm of humanity, revealing the subtleties of man's strengths and frailties under extraordinary duress.
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Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 Great Hitchcock, Good Movie, disappointing video.... July 21, 2006
I was excited to see this film released on a "Special Edition" DVD. Of all the contributions that DVD's have made to film and video entertainment, restortion of classic films does not get its share of credit. Having said that, this is a great early Hitchcock (Pre 1950) to watch. Like the later Rope and the immortal Rear Window, this film uses the Hitchcock "clostraphobic" set where the entire film takes place in a single setting -- in this case, a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlanic ocean. Each characheter seems to represent a particualr segment of society -- one member from the wealthy class, one from the working class, crewmembers, an officer, a nurse, and so forth. A young Hume Cronyn is among the cast.
The film, like some many of Hitch's is a masterpiece of direction. This movie works because it comes down to the actors, the script, and very simple set -- nothing else. The views on Nazi Germany civilization are really what make this film worth watching. Especially since this film was made during WWII.
My only problem with this version is that video quality is about what I would expect from a VHS tape after several viewings. This package is billed as a "Special Edition", and yes, there are a few nice extras, but had a little time and effort gone into some video restoration, which is not that big of a deal for B&W movie, this really could have been a sensational DVD on par with the special edition of Casablanca or Citizen Kane.
 Beautiful DVD of brilliant Hitchcock classic July 3, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
My personal favorite of Hitchcock's films, LIFEBOAT holds up as a true classic from start to finish. A timely example of how a microcosm of Western Civilization manages to co-exist. Excellent casting, direction, cinematography, writing and casting all blend seemlessly to make a completely compelling 96 minutes of cinematic excitement.
Dr. Casper's enthusiastic commentary is most interesting, as is the featurette about the "making of" the film.
But it is LIFEBOAT itself which is worth it all. This excellent print will delight both new and old fans alike. What a special treat it is to see these great stars in such a wonderful film.
Stuck in the same boat June 15, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's an old adage, but with a different twist in the case of "Lifeboat". World War II enemies destroy each other's ships. A Nazi U-boat Captain (Walter Slezak) is rescued by eight survivors on an Allied lifeboat who form a microcosm of American/British society. They befriend the Captain, albeit with some suspicion, only to eventually discover they had every reason to mistrust him. Such is the premise of John Steinbeck's novella "Lifeboat", which Alfred Hitchcock then ingeniously adapted for film.
Imagine a U-boat Captain who has a friendly and helpful demeanour, yet ruthlessly plots his own survival. Is this not the stuff of a genuine adversary? He never reveals the compass he keeps in his possession, thus guiding the lifeboat towards a Nazi supply ship. He goads and pushes injured merchant seaman Gus (William Bendix) overboard while fellow passengers are sleeping, particularly crewman Sparks (Hume Cronyn). He pretends at first to understand only German, when in fact he speaks at least three languages; only an attractive journalist (Talullah Bankhead) is conversant in either language. And he hides food tablets and water from the others. Is this not the worst kind of enemy?
Odd as it may seem, influential critics in 1944 failed to equate the treachery of the U-boat Captain as symbolic of Nazi ideology. Although it received three Academy award nominations, "Lifeboat" was subsequently panned as too soft on Nazism. So reviled was the film, it was banished into virtual obscurity. When it was eventually released on VHS, only a damaged master tape was available. In time an unblemished master was found and used for this DVD issue.
Equally fantastic is the fact that it was filmed in a huge pool set up on a stage. Yet, surprisingly it has the look and feel as though it took place out at sea. Even more amazing is how Hitchcock sustained the suspense for 96 minutes.
In addition to this great film, the DVD contains interviews with Hitchcock's daughter and granddaughter who share their recollections. Steinbeck and Hitchcock scholars add their input into the origin of the story and making of the film. And advertisements, theatrical posters and newspaper articles of the film are likewise included on the DVD.
If you've not seen this Hitchcock film, get it. It ranks among his best achievements.
Interesting Hitchcock... June 5, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This film is quite a unique Hitchcock film. The Master of Suspense was at his best, but this movie does not have his typical flavors. This movie tends to lean towards the wartime propoganda movie, and why not? It was made in 1944 when the sentiments toward Naziism was not very positive. After all, the basic philosophy of the Nazis was that one person was better than another and it was their job to rid the world of the weaker ones. This movie does a good job of weaving suspense through a topic that no doubt created many different feelings for the people who watched this film.
The characters are interesting as there is a good cross-section of life portrayed. Some start out hating Nazis, and some are more inclined to doing the "fair and proper" thing, but in the end, the bad guys are portrayed in a bad light, and the good guys in the war triumph--kind of. It's really very difficult to triumph in a movie like this: there is suffering and sadness and "scoundrelry" to spare. I guess I consider the triumph more in terms of when the film was made and what the obvious point of the movie was. This movie had an agenda, and it was a good agenda in my opinion.
And all of this from the greatest suspense director of all time! If you keep a sharp eye out, you can see him do his traditional cameo!
Get into it! May 27, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A really unusual and interesting wartime drama with a stellar cast and unique situation. Filmed mostly on the one set, the boat, and using water tanks and rear screen projection, Hitchcock created a real challenge to himself, his cast and his crew by setting the entire film in, what else, a lifeboat drifting out at sea after a wartime maritime disaster. This is a brave film on a number of levels. One: The difficultly of shooting believable footage in a controlled environment. Two: Getting a script good enough to hold audiences interest for the length of a feature film that is set only in one place. Three: Casting actors capable of achieving an ensemble of interesting personalities that mesh so well together while being drastically different. Four: Convincing that cast to allow themselves to endure the kind of abuse that this picture needed to get the realism required. Five: Including some pretty grim and seedy elements in the script including death, betrayal and the ugly as well as the noble side of human nature. Six: Portraying the enemy. (A Nazi) as one of the characters in the film at the height of World War II. And yet, this film rises to the occasion, entertaining, thrilling, shocking and even teaching as it does. Tallulah Bankhead is luminous as the gutsy media correspondent of the day, but the rest of the cast, every last one of them, keeps right up with her and the film remains taut and flawless from the first frame to the last. You don't really know Hitchcock until you've seen Lifeboat.
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