"Lifeboat"

"Lifeboat," the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, has been the most widely debated movie of the year. No one quarrels with the technical aspects of the film, which are handled in the best Hitchcock style. The controversy arose when certain observers insisted that "Lifeboat" was proGerman propaganda. In it, a Nazi submarine captain temporarily outwits a group of Americans. Therefore, the film has been tagged by some reviewers as "giving comfort to the enemy."

The entire action of "Lifeboat" takes place on the open seas and centers about a lifeboat containing several people who have just been rescued from a sinking ship. By a quirk of fate, the Nazi submarine captain who torpedoed them is also aboard. For a time they drift aimlessly while Tallulah Bankhead and John Hodiak, the ship's oiler, take part in some sultry necking scenes and Bill Bendix, another crew member, moans about Rosie, Roseland, and the Dodgers.

The "questionable" part occurs when a storm upsets the lifeboat. The only man with enough presence of mind to keep the lifeboat afloat is Walter Slezak, the Nazi submarine commander. He orders the others to bale out the water. After the boat has been righted, Slezak is in command. He rows the boat with apparent ease toward a Nazi carrier. While the others are weary and sick with hunger and thirst, Slezak remains fresh and gay, singing German songs.

Hitchcock has replied to the criticism of "Lifeboat" by saying that the action of the characters parallels history. This is, of course, true. The Americans go through successive phases of appeasement, realization of the enemy, and action.

Some people have protested against "Lifeboat" because it doesn't show Americans as supermen. We have become accustomed to movies in which the outcome is never in doubt after a strong handsome American stops into the scene. However, "Lifeboat" attempts to break away from this lush banality and bring to mind a truer picture of the character and abilities of our enemy. It will never hurt us to learn that we are not perfect and that occasionally we can be outwitted.

Apart form its political connotations, "Lifeboat" is an entertaining and exciting movie. Though the camera never leaves the boat, it manages to bring into view a wide range of emotions. The capable cast includes, in addition to those previously mentioned, Henry Hull, Mary Anderson, Canada Leo, and Heather Angel.