Product Details

• Actors: Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, Walter Slezak, William Bendix, Mary Anderson
• Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
• Writers: Alfred Hitchcock, Ben Hecht, Jo Swerling, John Steinbeck
• Producers: Alfred Hitchcock, Darryl F. Zanuck, Kenneth Macgowan, William Goetz
• Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: October 18, 2005
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000A9QK7I
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,039 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Lifeboat (Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

LIFEBOAT SPECIAL EDITION - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OVERLOOKED HITCHCOCK GEM GETS ROYAL TREATMENT - AT LAST!!!, August 14, 2005

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Paulo Leite (Lisbon, Portugal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lifeboat (Special Edition) (DVD)

Lifeboat is an early masterpiece from Hitchcock, whose today is better know for his colour-period other masterpieces like REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE BIRDS, etc.

But this great film (I guess, the only one he made to Twentieth Century Fox) is one his best works from his american B&W period along with REBECCA and NOTORIOUS. And it shows....

Lifeboat was a play by John Steinback, in which, after a dramatic sea battle, a group of passengers get together on a lifeboat after the ocean liner they were travelling at gets sunk by a german U-boat (that also sunk).

This premisse is the perfect environment for Hitchcock to show his best characteristic: a director who loves to work under self imposed constrictions so he can turn these same constrictions to his own advantage. The constriction I'm talking about is his best mark: closed spaces, single settings, the challenge of making the audience unaware that they are in just one big room.

Stranded in the middle of the Atlantic we see a micro society: the rich spoiled girl in a mink coat (Talullah Bankhead in a great role), an industrialist, a sailor, a mother with her dead baby, a nurse, a engeneer, a steward... and the german captain from the U-boat that was responsible for the whole tragedy.

As the survivors try to cope with their new condition, they cannot agree on the direction their lifeboat should take in a desperate attempt to reach an allied ship. Should they trust one of theirs and risk to die adrift... or should they trust the wise experienced german captain who may or may not be leading them towards a german ship that may be somewhere close.

And then comes the question: is the german captain a prisoner of the group... or is the whole group prisoner of just one german?

Can you believe the dramatic possibilities of such an idea?

Well... being a Hitchcock movie, you'll never see a dull moment... nor the camera stuck by the fact we are in just one set. Everything in this movie is right... actors, cinematography, direction, special effects... everything in this movie is a great example of classical Hollywood... and the story has great pace... and never lets the audience for a moment feel bored. There's plenty action, suspense, tension, drama... even murder.

Talullah Bankhead's character is unforgettable as a rich, spoiled reporter whose practical spirit is always ahead of problems... she is always chicly and stylishly helping everybody. My favorite quotes: "Dying together's even more personal than living together"; "In a word: Wow!" and the best one... "Darling, some of my best friends are in jail"

Finnaly, Fox is releasing this great film in a restored edition. Full of nice extras and in a beautiful package.

Hurray!!!!

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underrated Hitchcock, April 10, 2008

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Scott T. Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lifeboat (Special Edition) (DVD)

Alfred Hitchcock's daring wartime drama rises to the technical challenge of being confined to a small set. Based on a story by John Steinbeck, "Lifeboat" (1944) remains among the director's most humanistic works with its emotional claustrophobia and incisive characterizations. Though a bit dialogue-heavy, the Master of Suspense creates a surprising amount of tension and intrigue throughout the film's 96-minute length. Tallulah Bankhead gives her finest screen performance, yet the entire cast is excellent. A minor classic in the Hitchcock canon.

77 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an answer as to the wait for the Lifeboat DVD, July 28, 2005

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Elwood Conway "elwoodc" (Frankfort, KY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lifeboat (Special Edition) (DVD)

I have a pal at Fox Home Video. The reason we have all been waiting for this release is due to the poor condition of the original film elements. For those of you who owned the laserdisc edition, remember that the first reel was plagued with water damage (almost fitting for this type of movie). Rumor has it that this fine grain master print was the best Fox had available at the time...that the negative was not around...not necessarily lost, just not able to be located. My buddy tells me that this is no longer the case and that restoration work has been ongoing for the better part of a year on this title. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.