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| Lifeboat (Special Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $6.02
You Save: $8.96 (60%)
New (59) Used (16) Collectible (4) from $5.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  80 reviews
Sales Rank: 3488
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), German (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 96
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: D2227226D
UPC: 024543172260
EAN: 0024543172260
ASIN: B000A9QK7I
Theatrical Release Date: January 12, 1944
Release Date: October 18, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BSR Media sells brand new and factory sealed items. We offer super fast shipping with great service. PLEASE, NO WISCONSIN ORDERS.
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| Customer Reviews:
 The boatride of a lifetime March 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hitch made great use of his directing skills with Lifeboat. The tension created when stuck on a boat and your life is in the hands of then enemy, twists of who to trust and where to go, all while the sun is baking you and evaporating every last drop of water out of your body. The rise and fall of the waves in this movie will keep you clinging to your life-jacket.
 Interesting March 21, 2008
It is not my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie but is better than I thought that It would be. You are always trying to figure out who is good and who is bad. It keeps you guessing. I had never heard of it when I rented it but was not disappointed at all after seeing it.
Very engaging and too often overlooked classic January 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Lifeboat is something of an anomaly among the films of Alfred Hitchcock. It was the only film he made for 20th Century Fox (more on that in a minute). It's not usually counted among the director's best works, possibly because many of the themes common to his more popular efforts (such as the "wrong man" thrillers like North By Northwest or The 39 Steps (Criterion Collection Spine #56)) are absent from film.
The basic premise, a group of disparate strangers is stranded on a lifeboast after their ship is torpedoed by a Nazi sub, is deceptively simple. Through some clever plotting and typical Hitchcock ingenuity behind the camera, a tense tale unfolds which confounds expectations by offering up some real suspense and more than a few surprises. I won't spoil the specifics for those who haven't seen it yet, but suffice it to say that not all is as it seems aboard the seemingly doomed vessel. And if 96 minutes of nine people on a boat seems boring, there are a handful of visually shocking scenes that stave off any complacency the viewer might feel.
In addition to the film, there are a couple of bonus features of special interest to fans of Hithcock. A brief featurette offers insight into the film's production. As with previous Hitch DVD releases, his daughter Pat offers first-hand accounts of the film's production. Hitchcock scholar and professor Drew Casper offers an expert commentary track as well. Best bit: Tempramental star Tallulah Bankhead apparently rarely wore underwear on the set, and was not the least bit shy around the other actors and crew (oddly enough, Casper fails to address this in the scene where Bankhead is clearly not wearing a bra, her right nipple visible through her wet blouse). We also learn that Hitchcock refused to make any more films at Fox after the studio got cold feet when promoting the film, due to early (and preposterous) allegations that the film might generate sympathy for the Nazis due to its treatment of the lone German character aboard the boat.
Lifeboat certainly belongs in any Hitchcock fan's collection. I would also recommended it for anyone who enjoys WWII films; while not a typical war picture, it is clearly a product of that time.
Don't miss the boat August 27, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Hitchcock's production of John Steinbeck's Lifeboat is truly an underrated masterpiece. It's a gripping tale that few directors could undertake, as the entire setting takes place on the small boat floating out in the middle of the sea.
The courageous director wastes no time avoiding this confined space. As the opening credits introduce the film, there is a brief look at the ship sinking. Then it quickly focuses on the lifeboat, which has one lone passenger.
Other survivors begin climbing aboard, all of them of English or American background. They all face a multitude of problems, like injuries, thirst, isolation. Not to mention there is a baby on board.
These problems are further compounded when they pick up their final passenger, the Nazi captain from the sunken U-boat that torpedoed them. Whoa!
Hitchcock is the master at being expressive in layers, building tension with the black and white images. He absorbs the viewer with the steadily building of suspense as this diverse group interacts and struggles with their plan for survival. Fear and distrust are prominent as they search for answers to this problematic situation. A brilliant character study!
Hitchcock's microcosm of WWII concerns July 9, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Lifeboat" (1944) is a superb wartime effort from "The Master".
The story is set entirely on a lifeboat, which is a microcosm for the concerns of World War II. Hitchcock ultimately makes the point that even ordinary, peaceful people must sometimes do terrible things to defeat a ruthless and brutal enemy.
Hitchcock set himself tough limitations in this film and only a director as great as him could have made this work so well. Hitchcock would soon push the experimental boundaries further with films like "Rope" (1948) and "Under Capricorn" (1949) with their long, complcated takes.
"Lifeboat" is startlingly different from other films made around the same time. It is a mature film that stands outside the immediate concerns of WWII and explores more universal truths.
The film is superbly presented in this 20th Century Fox DVD release.
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