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Lifeboat [Masters of Cinema] (Ltd Edition Dual Format Steelbook) [Blu-ray] [1944]

Alfred HITCHCOCK    Parental Guidance   Blu-ray
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
Price: £11.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Lifeboat [Masters of Cinema] (Ltd Edition Dual Format Steelbook) [Blu-ray] [1944] + Double Indemnity [Masters of Cinema] (Ltd Edition Blu-ray Steelbook) [1944] + The Lost Weekend [Masters of Cinema] (Ltd Edition Blu-ray Steelbook) [1945]
Price For All Three: £35.97

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Product details

  • Directors: Alfred HITCHCOCK
  • Format: Widescreen
  • Region: Region B/2 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Eureka Entertainment Ltd
  • DVD Release Date: 23 April 2012
  • Run Time: 98 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00719FVQG
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 14,386 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

Product Description

SYNOPSIS: Based on an unpublished novella by John Steinbeck (written on commission expressly to provide treatment material for Hitchcock's screen scenario), Lifeboat found the Master of Suspense navigating a course of maximal tension in the most minimal of settings with a consistently inventive, beautifully paced drama that would foreshadow the single-set experiments of Rope and Dial M for Murder.

After a Nazi torpedo reduces an ocean liner to wooden splinters and scorched personal effects, the survivors of the attack pull themselves aboard a drifting lifeboat in the hope of eventual rescue. But the motivations of the German submarine captain (played by Walter Slezak) on the eponymous craft might extend beyond mere survival...

With a cast including Shadow of a Doubt veteran Hume Cronyn and the extraordinary, irrepressible Tallulah Bankhead, this "picture of characters", as François Truffaut aptly termed the film, oscillates dazzlingly between comic repartée and white-knuckle suspense a perfect example of "the Hitchcock touch".

The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present the Oscar-nominated Lifeboat in a Dual Format (Blu-ray and DVD) standard edition & limited edition Dual Format steelbook , accompanied by Hitchcock's two French-language wartime shorts, Bon voyage and Aventure malgache.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
  • New high-definition master, officially licensed from Twentieth Century Fox
  • New high-definition transfers of Hitchcock's little-seen French-language 1944 wartime films, Bon voyage (26 minutes) and Aventure malgache (31 minutes) officially licensed from the British Film Institute
  • Optional English subtitles on all three films
  • 20-minute documentary on the making of Lifeboat
  • 12-minute excerpt from the legendary 1962 audio interviews between Hitchcock and François Truffaut, discussing Lifeboat and the wartime shorts
  • PLUS: A 36-page booklet featuring archival imagery alongside new writing by critics Bill Krohn, Arthur Mas, and Martial Pisani


REVIEWS: "A tremendously provocative film." Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

"He realises that peculiar Hitchcock manner with the player, in which the actor seems to be concentrating mentally on what he is about to do but never quite does it; so that his pantomime takes on a kind of sinister spontaneity." Manny Farber, The New Republic


Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Anyone got a compass? 28 Dec 2008
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
At the beginning we see a sinking ship and debris floating in the water before the camera settles on the lifeboat where the immaculate Connie (Tallulah Bankhead) is alone. The lifeboat soon fills up with characters, including Willy (Walter Slezak) the German captain of the submarine responsible for the sinking of the ship. The film follows the quest to safety in Bermuda. However, only Willy knows the way.....

The story provides suspense as we watch Willy gradually take over control of the lifeboat. He is assured and possesses all the necessary skills that are called upon including surgery, seamanship, strength and a peculiar navigational awareness.... Do we, the audience, trust him just as the other members in the lifeboat have to? He seems nice enough.

The cast are good with Tallulah Bankhead and Walter Slezak winning the acting honours. Hume Cronym as "Sparks" has a peculiar voice and John Hodiak as "Kovac" has an unfortunate array of teeth in his mouth - he reminded me of 'Bingo' from the "Banana Splits" whenever he smiled. It's quite off-putting.

It's an entertaining film, if a little long, but it's worth seeing again. I won't go into the finer details of German Expressionism versus Soviet Expressive Realism which Hitchcock manages to combine, but I will say that he makes his usual appearance.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By D. Parkin TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
I thought that I had seen most of Hitch's output, when Amazon directed me towards this neglected gem. I had never come across it, and drawn by the names 'Hitchcock' and 'Steinbeck' in a Masters of Cinema imprime, I figured what the hell and gave it the proverbial punt.
I am very glad that I did.
It's a wartime release, but like the excellent 'Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' (Powell and Pressburger), it does not fit the pattern of a standard flag waver. It would have been problematic at its release, not least in certain parts of America due to the sympathetic portrayal of the single black character in the boat. The characters are disparate and stereotypical, thrown together into the social melting pot of the boat by the 'master of suspense' himself (he still managed to make his customary appearance btw, although it is a little slimmed down even by his usual standards).
The performances are fine, helped by a spare Steinbeck style. Fans of Steinbeck will be rewarded in the way that the film deals with various themes that were of clear interest to the author elsewhere (small but dashed dreams, American treatment of the blacks pre-Civil Rights, etc.).
As noted by other reviewers, the film throws up some interesting moral questions, not least being what to do with a saved enemy sailor complicit in the sinking of your own boat, with its concommittent loss of life? The changing power dynamic in the lifeboat also makes for interesting viewing - you cannot help but wonder what you would have done in the same circumstances, which is a strength of the film.
I have now watched it a few times, and found it compelling each time, and repeat viewings are certainly rewarding.
The Blu-ray print is very good, with the audio as clean as you could expect. I have yet to see the two French wartime shorts included, so I cannot comment upon them, but I'm sure that they will shed further light on the evolving Hitchcock.
In sum, this represents a bit of a lost curio in the Hitchcock canon; it lacks the budget and production values of a 'Vertigo' or 'North by Northwest', but it more than stands on its own merits. Well worth a look (or three!).
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Spike Owen TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Blu-ray
A merchant ship is torpedoed and sunk by the Germans, leaving only a handful of survivors in the process. Finding a lifeboat to share, the survivors are thrown into conflict when one of the survivors turns out to be the captain of the U-boat that sunk their ship.

Lifeboat is a truly fine Alfred Hitchcock picture, it's a little undervalued, and most probably under seen due to not getting a worthy DVD transfer until the new millennium. Adapted from a John Steinbeck story, Lifeboat finds Hitchcock experimenting with a single set picture that is awash with propaganda and containing a cast that are across the bows, both endearing and totally interesting. Really tho, it's with the moral posers and quandary heart that Lifeboat becomes a great picture, different classes and oddly assorted persona's are forced to survive as one unit, but invariably a fly in the ointment could turn out to be a catalyst of sorts, not only for this group's possible survival, but in mental fortitude's and their respective capabilities under duress.

Very interesting film from the maestro director, with Tallulah Bankhead, Willian Bendix, John Hodiak and Walter Slezak turning in very enjoyable performances. Lifeboat is unusual in the sense of Hitchcock's other well known pictures, but it definitely finds him very much on form and very much laying down a marker for the genius that was to come. 9/10
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars 96 minutes on a boat? Hitchcock gives his viewers sea sickness :)
Lifeboat by the master Alfred Hitchcock,

Which is probably one of Hitchcock's lesser known films, was made in 1944, and considering it's situated on a small boat... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Napalm_trickster
1.0 out of 5 stars Problem with distributor
The DVD did not work with my player. Amazon should sell DVDs to European audiences that work with their players. Read more
Published 1 month ago by JEAN
4.0 out of 5 stars it was a present
This was a present which seemed to go down well so I have to say it fitted the bill perfectly
Published 3 months ago by C. Steele
5.0 out of 5 stars Mindblowing
An all time classic in mindblowing HD, a must have for every Hitchcock fan, great on Blu Ray, real HD Quality for your money
Published 4 months ago by MJ Geverinck
5.0 out of 5 stars One Of Hitchcocks Best
This often overlooked Hitchcock film about the survivors from a torpedoed ship in WW2 who end up sharing their lifeboat with a crew member from the U-boat that sank them is a very... Read more
Published 4 months ago by David Hart
5.0 out of 5 stars Not typical Hitchcock, but it works.
It's definately not a typical Hitchcock film. It's more characters driven and even with the static location it works well. The blu-ray has a very good picture.
Published 9 months ago by William C. Saul
5.0 out of 5 stars One lifeboat you'd go back to again and again.
Received my copy of the steelbook Lifeboat today. Amazon now send them in proper steelbook packaging to protect them. They even have a special box designed for that purpose. Read more
Published 13 months ago by R. Shore
4.0 out of 5 stars (Some of my best friends are) Flotsam and Jetsam
In many ways this is really Tallulah Bankhead's film. She is excellent as the hard-bitten journalist who is originally best equipped to survive the period spent on the eponymous... Read more
Published on 24 May 2009 by Kenneth F. Mcara
5.0 out of 5 stars Dying together's even more personal than living together.
What would you do if you were stuck in a lifeboat with a hodgepodge of people and limited supplies? Does this sound like one of those corporate games? Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2008 by bernie
4.0 out of 5 stars Dying together's even more personal than living together
One of Hitchock's most fractuous screenplays (litigation was brought forth by screen-writer John Stienbeck), Lifeboat also happens to be one of his forgotten classics. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2008 by IWFIcon
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