Lifeboat

"Six men and three women - against the sea, and each other!"

1944 1h 36m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 503

WarDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.

“Six men and three women - against the sea, and each other!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Tallulah Bankhead
Connie Porter
William Bendix
Gus Smith
Walter Slezak
Willi
Mary Anderson
Alice MacKenzie
John Hodiak
John Kovac
Henry Hull
Charles J. Rittenhouse
Heather Angel
Mrs. Higley
Hume Cronyn
Stanley "Sparks" Garrett

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Jo Swerling, Ben Hecht, John Steinbeck
Languages: English, French, German
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 63% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

82 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, shot by Glen MacWilliams. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hugo Friedhofer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dorothy Spencer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tallulah Bankhead and William Bendix and Walter Slezak carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alfred Hitchcock directs. Glen MacWilliams behind the camera. Hugo Friedhofer scores. Dorothy Spencer cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 63% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
382 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.
5Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, shot by Glen MacWilliams. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Hugo Friedhofer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Dorothy Spencer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tallulah Bankhead and William Bendix and Walter Slezak carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Six men and three women - against the sea, and each other!".
10IMDB entry: tt0037017 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "sea", "journalist", "submarine", "boat".
12Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Glen MacWilliams
Original score: Hugo Friedhofer
Editing: Dorothy Spencer
Costume design: René Hubert
Makeup / hair: Guy Pearce
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Status: Released
Budget: $1,590,000
Box office: $1,000,000
Return: 63% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Lifeboat (1944)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Alfred Hitchcock

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-02-08
★ 7/10
With their transport torpedoed by a now also sunken Nazi U-boat, journalist “Porter” (Tallulah Bankhead) finds herself aboard the ship’s lifeboat afloat amidst the flotsam. She isn’t on her own for long, though, as others find her refuge and when German “Willi” (Walter Slezak) shows up that makes nine souls. They want to head to Bermuda, but nobody knows the way except, possibly, their prisoner - but they don’t want to believe him, nor surrender control of their voyage to him either - but with supplies running low, the sea becoming more hostile and hopes of rescue fairly remote, what are their options? What now ensues sees the survivors embark on a journey of self-discovery as they consider their current predicament and how they have lived and lied about their lives hitherto. This little microcosm of society becomes a little toxic, a little romantic, a lot suspicious and even adrift at sea there are still characters onboard determined to play games of oneupmanship - even if it’s just themselves there are deceiving. Obviously, this is all done in a tank on an LA backlot, so nowadays it doesn’t always look the most convincing but it’s really the story that makes this a compelling watch. Alfred Hitchcock drip-feeds us information, sometimes plausible and sometimes conflicting, and the audio effects also work well at creating a powerful sense of claustrophobia in the middle of an open ocean with a group of personalities you mightn’t trust with your dry cleaning let alone your life. Bankhead is on great form, as is Henry Hull and it all makes for an unique wartime adventure that if it is supposed to be propagandist in nature, offers a curious look at just how un-allied the allies could be.

Production companies