Day 92: Lifeboat (1944)

This is one of the few Hitchcock films I'd never seen before. When I started reading about Hitchcock I was very eager to see this one, but anxiously waited until I had seen all his previous ones.

In perhaps the best one-set films, Hitchcock chronicles the adventure of a group of shipwreck victims in a lifeboat. When there boat is sunk by a German Uboat, they manage to make it to a lifeboat, but shortly thereafter, they are joined by another man - the captain of the German Uboat! The Uboat was struck by the ship before it sank, and so the survivors must survive with an enemy on board. With starvation, thirst, injury, and isolation plaguing the survivors, the last thing they need is an enemy alongside them, and it just adds to the tension of the film.

Single-set productions are fairly rare, and they are hard to pull off. Classic examples, aside from Lifeboat, include Phone Booth and the Seinfeld episode The Chinese Restaurant. That being said, it's an impressive feat to shoot a 2-hour film that takes place entirely from start to finish on a lifeboat. Only a director with true skill, and with a well written script, in this case by John Steinbeck, could keep the audience interested for so long. The film works wonderfully. Hitchcock is at his best, and he keeps the tension high the entire film. I don't know why this film isn't more well known, but it's a true gem.