Hitchcock Retrospective – Lifeboat Review

Hi, this is John Delancey and you are listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to episode 218 of the Cinema Geeks. I am one

of your Cinema Geeks Optimus Solo and joining

me today, as usual, is the Comic Concierge. Hello,

Dan. Hey, how's it going? It's going well. We

are back at it again for our 14th film in our

Alfred Hitchcock series. It just keeps growing

bigger and bigger than what we planned, but I

think for good reason. So today we're here to

talk about 1944's American survival film. So

a little bit of a different genre than we've

seen before. We're talking about lifeboat today.

So like I said, 1944 film from a story that Hitchcock

commissioned from John Steinbeck. Stars Tallulah

Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary

Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel,

Hume Cronin, and Canada Lee. The reason I named

them all is because that is the entire cast.

So I figured you might as well give them all

equal attention there. Almost all of them get

the same amount of screen time, a few a little

less. So this film is set entirely on a lifeboat

launched from a freighter torpedoed and sunk

by a Nazi U -boat. Obviously you had a little

bit of experience with lifeboat. It's one of

the ones that you had seen previously So I'm

interested on what your memory was from lifeboat

kind of your first Instinct as far as if you

liked it the first time you watched it and did

that change improve Get worse stay the same on

this rewatch for you Yeah, cuz I remember when

we were watching Rope, you know, I referenced

this because you know that in itself very different

type of movie but similar idea cuz it all kind

of primarily takes place in one location. That,

of course, also kind of done through one continuous

shot for the most part. Where this not so much

more, much more cuts and things like that, but

again, one specific location, almost not necessarily

in real time, but all taking place on a lifeboat

with really not much escape outside of it. And

I, like I mentioned previously, when I watched

this. About almost a decade ago. I really enjoyed

it and going back to it again. I enjoyed it just

as much I think I'm going into this I am a huge

fan of You know movies that take place to one

day a warden location solving your men for example

But there are some of them that aren't great

that don't work. And I think the key is that

you need one important thing being that Characters

that are compelling something that they're striving

towards and this of course being survival and

this an idea of like a notion of where it can

potentially go. You see a lot of types Storylines

that slowly get developed thinking, you know,

we're going to come and play and I think that

is really woven So it's always moving forward.

There's always like a kind of direction that's

going and I think part of that is what makes

it really compelling and also considering this

time period, you know considering it is during

World War two or 1944 so when was being made,

you know near the heights of war two it was you

know, you can understand just the Paranoia that

may existed during the time. This is obviously

not that much of an Outlandish situation, you

know, it's something that was happening To some

certain extent and I think also what brings it

all together are the performances. These are

all really Well put together performances that

work well off one another they're very distinct

characters all different they all come from different

places and I think there were even some Social

undertones this gets into maybe not super deep,

but there's certainly things it mentions is or

or it leads towards especially just You know

regarding Even certain characters that we probably

get to more in detail, but generally to say I

really enjoyed it I thought it was really well

put together and I thought it's cut did a really

good job of making that lifeboat feel like in

itself like you understood it's Its location

where everything was and kind of bringing you

and putting you that in that situation where

you understood the dread and just the Unbearable

situation that they were in Yeah, I am also a

sucker for limited cast limited setting Films

where it strips back a lot of the hoopla I guess

or the stuff that not not saying that it's bad

to have like a film that has a lot of Other stuff

in it like that can be good too But like for

some reason when it when it gets stripped back

into a more simplified Setting and amount of

cast I typically like it for a number of different

reasons number one it tends to lead to a little

bit more dialogue heavy films and I'm a sucker

for dialogue when it's intelligent and when it's

intelligently written and when it kind of leads

to more in -depth character development, so you

get a limited number of characters, but you get

to really start to feel for or get an understanding

of how they think and what affects them and different

things like that. So it can be the craziest of

plots or it can be even a film that might be

more, I don't know, I don't want to say ridiculous,

but maybe something that you would take less

seriously. For some reason it gets elevated with

me when there's more of a limited cast most of

the time I mean there has been times obviously

where that does not work but I even think of

like recent ones that we're not talking about

like Oscar worthy films or anything like that

but things like 10 Cloverfield Lane where it's

just a few people in a bunker that they're trying

to like figure out it was very similar I think

for Z for Zachariah I think was similar in that

respect you mentioned 12 angry men as far as

a classic one like that And obviously we've seen

a number of them from Hitchcock. You mentioned

Rope. Obviously there would be a situation where

I would say it wasn't done as well, but we did

have Dial M for Murder, which is mainly in one

room. We have Rear Window, which is mainly in,

you know, I guess one room, even though you get

to see out of the window into a lot of other

things. So this is, Hitchcock's done this a couple

different times. And I would say at least out

of, if we're talking about those four, three

out of the four were pretty successful. And I

think you touched on a couple different things

that I think we should expand on as we get through.

Obviously the characters, I think that's one

thing that makes that if you only have a few

characters, you really have to want to see more,

want to see more from them, get interested in

what their plight is or what their story is.

If you have characters you don't care about and

there's only a few of them, then you're kind

of stuck. Um, so characters that are interesting

are huge. I think within that. And then I think

another thing that you kind of mentioned on is

what he does from a camera standpoint, which

I feel like the camera or our viewpoint as well

as if we're a the tenth person in the boat or

You know, obviously there's different amount

of people in the boats at different times But

it really does feel almost like we're sitting

there with them and observing it from different

angles and different Standpoints like there might

be one sequence where we're over here watching

and then another one where we're at the other

end of the boat watching and I just felt like

I was there right like I feel like I'm In this

group, even though I'm like a silent man in the

back, but I feel like I'm there listening to

all these conversations and things of that nature.

So I think he did a great job with doing that.

The interesting thing here is that it's perhaps

the smallest setting. You know, these other ones

we got like apartment rooms or buildings or,

you know, some of these other places, like I

mentioned, you know, you have a bunker or you

have a small village that just doesn't have very

many people in it anymore or something like that.

But this one, we're literally in a lifeboat.

And on top of that, out of the limited set, limited

cast, there is nine people in this boat at one

point. I think there's at least nine in there

at one point. So it's like a small area. It's

the smallest of the areas that we usually visit

in a limited setting film, but then almost the

most characters that you could possibly get in

there as well, which I thought was interesting.

And what I found fascinating in my watch of that

is that It would have been easy for a few of

those characters to have seemed less important

or more of a Afterthought or lost in the shuffle

and I didn't feel that with these I felt like

all of them We knew who they were We we might

not have had as many details of as some as we

did with others, but they'd spend time in various

moments of this film giving you information on

all of these characters. So you get a little

backstory for some of them. You get a little

bit through conversation with some of them, and

you get to learn a little bit more about all

of them. And I felt like none of them were necessarily

lost. Like, yes, there's going to be some that

stand out more than others, but I didn't feel

like any of them were wasted. And I think that's

something that we've seen a few times with Hitchcock

is that even if it's more of a side character,

even if it's not maybe the central character,

he does find a way in some of his films, a lot

of his films, to still give them their like moment

in the limelight or whatever it is we've seen

that with some of the supporting or even like

I want to say like even smaller than supporting

roles like even like the the little just guest

roles in some of his films where he takes the

time to make that person feel important and for

you to almost want to know more about them so

I really appreciate it appreciated that I will

say and before I toss it back to you a little

bit that My one other initial reaction to this

film was this maybe we're on for our 14th film

right now Would you agree or disagree that this

is the least? Hitchcock Ian film that we've seen

so far out of the 14th yeah, I wouldn't disagree

because He doesn't have that Dramatic camera

movement as much it's very if I didn't go in

no going into this like who directed it I don't

think I would Just think oh, this is directed

by Alfred Hitchcock because it's It you don't

really feel a director's hand as much as we've

seen in the past always and also it's Doesn't

have you know, he always loves those conversations

about murder We get a little bit of that, but

it's it's very I think outside the norm from

what we've gotten so far. I think it's one that

if you Like with what we've done through these

other 13 films if you're doing that you can see

his Footprint in stuff if you're analyzing it

like it on a deeper level But I agree like if

you just watch if you just show this to someone

and then say you know somebody that doesn't obviously

have a good knowledge of cinema, but like if

you said like Watch this film and tell me who

the director is It's not gonna be Hitchcock as

much as all of the other films. We've talked

about well, you know I feel like the other ones

you'd be much quicker to name Hitchcock than

you would on this one Which I'm not saying is

a bad thing necessarily at all. But I think if

you dig into it, you do see some of it. Like

even though they're not talking about murder

as like something that they're trying to get

away with or that they're trying to put on somebody,

there is still the talk of killing somebody.

And if they can. justify that. So we do have

that a little bit. I do think the way he handles

the different characters and not letting anybody

kind of be left out is something I've noticed

a little bit more as we've watched that we haven't

really necessarily highlighted as much, but I

see that a little bit. Obviously, you know, I

know it's jumping ahead because you usually do

this at the end. There's not a lot to talk about

anybody's mom, except through, I guess, some

backstories. There is one mom involved, I guess,

but not in the same way that we've seen it before.

There's nobody that's trying to get away with

murder or prove his innocence necessarily so

some of those standpoints are missing but I think

the main part is what you talked about with the

the camera work is obviously it's different because

we're on this boat so I think that limits some

of the fingerprints that he would have on on

some of the other stuff that we've seen but I

just found it interesting that you know 14 films

in and I watched this one and I was like man

that one I wouldn't have known it was a Hitchcock

film if you didn't tell me so I agree with you

on that one um going into some of these characters

so we I want to kind of highlight them all a

little bit so we have nine characters I guess

you could call one of the main characters that

we have is Tallulah Bankhead's Constance, uh,

Connie Porter, who is a columnist and has camera

and all this, which leads to some silly stuff,

I guess on this boat, but, uh, we're, we're recording

things and taking film of, of some stuff at least

at one point. It was interesting too, that this

is her first appearance in like 12 years in a

film. So I don't know what caused that or whatever,

but she hadn't been in the film for, for 12 years

before this one. And then we get, um, an injured

individual, uh, injured, I want to say soldier.

I'm not sure what his rank is or where, if they

say that or not, we have a nurse. We have another,

uh, sailor that I guess is just a general crewman.

We have the wealthy industrialist, which is writ

or written house. Um, we have a radio person

and a steward. And then early on we have the,

the young British mother, and then we have the.

The German captain. So how do you think they

handled those set that set of characters? Which

one stood out to you the most is like the ones

you were most interested or entertained in and

how do you think the dynamic between these nine

individuals worked or did not work? I think you

know Tolula Blackhead who plays Connie Porter

is the one that's really driving most of this

and she's the first character we see basically

and it's her almost sheer will and she's almost

a bit of community relief. But seeing her as

this person of like, you know, who she's kind

of just focused on getting the story and seeing

her kind of change and develop and you realize

how bad things are getting when that facade begins

to weaken a bit. And so I thought her performance,

the character clearly was what was driving it.

But I also think one of my favorite characters

when I think what are the best things about it

were was gus smith um by william pendex who is

like you mentioned he he's a person that's injured

there's just something charming about him which

is almost like instantly likable it's just really

good casting because he's a character that right

away you just kind of he has an all shucks quality

about him we are just wanting to you know hope

he makes it out okay he loves his dancing he

clearly is really fond of this girl who may not

Into as much as he is and he's just all he just

wants to make sure he can keep dancing and it's

it's simple Storytelling, but it makes sense.

It's a quick way of getting you invested in his

character There's a bit of stakes there because

you know, you know, he has an issue with his

leg So it's not just can he get better? but if

he can't like what that means for him which makes

you know that scene of you know, what do you

I guess spoiling for a movie that is you know

how old or how it is when he actually has to

go through that scene of Getting his leg amputated

and everything he goes through I thought like

his arc was one of them more impactful throughout

so and then of course then John Kovac and like

obviously him his back and forth with With Connie

was also obviously a big highlight. Um, and it

was interesting because I was like he was so

good I'm like i'm surprised we didn't get more

of him and all because I couldn't really think

of what else he's done But I guess unfortunately

he passed away when he was rather young, but

I thought he was quite good, too And I think

that's one thing with this. It's also really

good casting because I feel like the character

the actors You kind of know who they are by the

way. They look as as weird as that might sound

but they're very like it's You know the the rough

and tough guy with you know, he's unshaven and

with the tattoos um, and yeah with uh, gus smith

all kind of fit that role pretty well So I just

thought overall like, you know Those are kind

of my the characters that stood out the most

to me The crazy part about william bendix who

plays gus smith is like he is a last second replacement

like I guess this film was like somewhat uh Bitten

by some bad luck as far as the production goes

There was a lot of illnesses, a lot of injuries,

a lot of different things that happened. So yeah,

there was another character that was, or actor

that was supposed to play Gus and apparently

he got sick right before the shooting began and

they brought in William Bendix to replace him.

So that's kind of crazy that he was able to pull

that off with not much a prep time. I think the

director of photography was replaced because

of illness. They said Tallulah Bankhead came

down with pneumonia twice. Another person I can't

remember, I think the other female actress got

Sick during the production and then Hume Cronin

suffered two cracked ribs and they said he nearly

drowned Under some type of thing that was making

waves and got saved by a lifeguard So it was

not the easiest Shooting I guess in the world,

but I agree. I thought I loved William Bendix

as Gus Smith Like if I had to pick tell you like

which character was my favorite in the film.

It probably would have been him just because

I don't know like what you said there was just

something endearing about him he was probably

if you were not in a boat right if like if we

were just I don't know on a street or on the

ship or something like that we were all standing

on the deck I would guess that he would have

been the most physically imposing the the biggest

strongest guy on on the boat but now we're left

with him in a lifeboat and he's injured So it

was like a really interesting thing that like,

if it's not for this injury, what kind of different

part does he play in this? And it is nice to

see kind of all of the backstory with him and

this girl and all the kind of what he's, what

he's finding important in this moment. Like what

is important to him in this situation? And even

though he's not necessarily the quote unquote

leader of the group, because there is some back

and forth on who's going to be in charge I guess

of this motley crew and even though he's not

you can almost tell that they're all looking

to him for like that approval when they're making

a decision or for like the final say or the final

vote in the matter because otherwise we have

what you could expect when you have a bunch of

I mean there's two females for the main part

of the film and a bunch of guys and you get what

you expect, right? The testosterone is going

and why are you the leader? What gives you the

right to be in charge? And obviously John Kovac

is the biggest example of that, right? Like he

is the meathead of the group. Like he's the one

that just wants to be in charge. Doesn't want

anybody to tell him what to do. He's the quickest

person to suggest killing somebody and things

of that nature. So you have that and then you

have... You know, the person with money, you

have the person that's more of a celebrity and

Connie, like you can tell that she's had some

like notoriety in her career. So she comes from

a different background, similar to like the,

the written house guy who has some money. And

then it's interesting too, like how you, how

the other guys in the crew, like who they're

going to fall behind and who they're going to

listen to. And I think that's where we get what

is an element of Hitchcock, which is the tension,

right? Which is the suspense. And in this situation,

the suspense is we have one. German individual

on the boat with a bunch of Americans and can

they trust him? Can they survive as a group of

human beings? How is that dynamic gonna happen

when we're talking about World War and kind of

how that goes back and forth between whether

they'll listen to him or not listen to him and

kind of how that plays? How do you feel like

the suspense and the tension was pulled off in

this film and how hitchcock was able or sign

back i guess was able to wrap that up in the

implementation of this one i guess quote unquote

foreigner in the group i thought it did a good

job of kind of playing with your emotions expectations

because at first you're thinking like of course

they have to let him live because it would be

it would be uh morally wrong to kill him you

know because you know he hasn't technically done

anything wrong it's but you also understand where

they're coming from because he's literally the

guy that blew up the boat and but you know it

gives you what's in your car so gets you ability

of trying to be on his side and and not want

him to face this this ultimate demise but then

as things where you're like well he's has a compass

clearly he he does these things where he takes

that trust and He morphs it a bit and it plays

with your emotions and you're like, well, I guess

you shouldn't be trusting him. And I thought,

I liked that. I didn't let anyone off easy, but

maybe he does have a point. It did a good job

of like making you pushing in one way and going

another throughout, even though you don't have

a lot of room to work with. I thought it was.

good at kind of going back and forth. Again,

like you always kind of knew where it was headed.

You were kind of waiting for it to happen. And

I thought that developed really well, where you

knew the compass was eventually coming into play,

and when it eventually did, and what the outcome

would be, like him with the water. Eventually,

maybe it gave you too much of an easy answer

by the end, and maybe if it was a little bit

more, because once he, of course, lets Gus drown,

it's like, OK, well now, Now like there's no

debate here it's you know, then that goes out

and maybe it would have been a bit more compelling

if there was More of a gray area there becomes

very black and white by the end a throughout,

you know I thought it was really well kind of

constructed I think they did a good job of giving

him enough moments in the first half where he

is right or he is actually helping Or at least

comes across as if like he is the person that

might have the best knowledge to help them out

whether he's Got ulterior motives or not, but

they, they sprinkle enough breadcrumbs in the

beginning that it's like, yes, we don't want

to trust this guy, but he seems to be right in

this situation or he seems to have the answer

in this situation. So I thought they did a good

job of sprinkling that in at first. Um, and,

and we're not a hundred percent sure like what.

Yes, the compass may be obvious, but we're not

a hundred percent sure like what it's actually

like giving him an advantage and not advantage

or how it's playing into it. Like it could have

been him just like coming across as smarter than

he was. you know, just because he's not telling

him, but yeah, you're right. It does get very

black and white with the water situation with

Gus and all that. I think this other thing it

does, which a lot of these survival type films

try to do, and some do more successful than others,

is really, regardless of the situation where

it's, yes, it's a world war setting, things of

that nature all play into it. But I think when

you strip all of that away, it comes down to

usually a look at human nature and what humans

will do and what they won't do when push comes

to shove. Whether that's a terrible picture or

a terrible painting of what humans are in general

and what kind of things they can do when they

get desperate. But I think it does always dance

around that when you have this type of a situation

with a survival film of like. What can we do?

What can't we do? Do we want to survive if this

is the cost and, you know, and those types of

things. So it is interesting kind of how it plays

with that and whether they're going to trust

him or not. And then once it's evident that he

is not necessarily on their side, how do they

deal with that? Right. Like how do they figure

out what to do with that? Do they kill them?

Do they not kill them? Like, and all of that

jazz kind of, kind of goes into it. So found

that interesting as well. Um, And then not to

like, again, this is an 81 year old film. So

I'm not too worried about spoiling things, but

also found it interesting that towards the end,

that they're almost like reset with the same

situation, right? Like they eventually, in what

seems like a somewhat comical situation with

them dodging and whatnot, this German boat that

they're, they become, you know, obviously right

next to, and then the Americans are. Shooting

and not hitting them, but all this happens, but

they do bring on obviously another Person onto

the boat towards the end and then we're kind

of reset with that same situation Like it's a

it's not an American and what do we do? So I

thought some of those Way that they kind of transitioned

into that was interesting. What did you feel

like the last like act of this film? How did

it work or not work for you? Like I said, I think

the only issue I had was like it when they kind

of made When they Took what could have been a

bit more complex and made it pretty black and

white But it didn't really wasn't a huge detractor

for me and I was and that's one thing I didn't

remember is like how did this conclude like what

was the answer and you know, obviously this was

coming at a time where it was challenging to

do Happy endings that weren't like happy endings

But I do think it's interesting like how it like

you mentioned with having that other German soldier

pop back up although i don't know if the one

element is like i don't know if that necessarily

works because you also know that other ship is

coming so it's not like they're under it does

is it just i meant a piece of irony is this the

idea of like oh this is creating a new conflict

that i wasn't sure about but i thought like it

worked well i It's maybe a little bit too clean

and I guess I don't know it wasn't necessarily

the highlight for me, you know, we see you have

the German shoulders ship coming up and I honestly

did not remember the British or I think it was

British maybe American ship that then responds

and that was a bit exciting because you're like,

oh wow, they're in the crossfire or they you

know, are they gonna make it out because How

they to them? It's just another ship. Well, they

know it's actual, you know British ship or not,

but Yeah, I liked it. Like I said, but I don't

think it it it was just that conclude. It worked

well enough. And, you know, with these types

of movies, it's hard to have an ending that feels

earned. But at least I felt like it didn't give

you a distinct conclusion overall. What about

the ambiguity or. Of that last German seaman

that pulled aboard, like they don't necessarily.

Show us what happens with him or not a hundred

percent like I see There's a gun that gets pulled

and it gets taken away by a can or Joe Spencer

and You know, he's confused. Are they gonna kill

him? Are they not and this that and the other

and then they kind of end it without I mean I

guess we can assume that they don't and that

You know the British or American ship rescues

them all in it and deal with it from that But

I felt like it was interesting that they did

leave it a little bit not 100 because you talk

about like this time of History, you know, that's

usually a happy ending They usually have to tie

a bow on everything and it seems like they were

able at least to get away with a little bit of

ambiguity here with It doesn't show you a hundred

percent one way or the other yeah, I guess like

I said the my only thought was is it It would

have I think maybe a hit a bit harder if you

don't also have that other ship coming in or

something like that or like when they call it

out directly that, oh, here it comes or it's

going to be here. So when they kind of tell you

that it's only going to be like, you know, not

an hour or whatever. I forget the exact timeline.

So that's that's why that. Yeah. And he doesn't

compare to them just like compared to them just

like floating off. And now they have another.

Yeah. Another foreigner aboard that they have

to decide what to do with. Yeah, I get that.

We didn't talk about the. So there's three people

that end up getting killed or dying from the

original group that gets on the boat at one point

we have the Captain Willie the German captain

who obviously gets killed. We have Gus Smith

and then we have the British mother and her child

Do you think that was an important part of the

film? Do you think they could have done without

that aspect or did it at least give you a idea

of the stakes that they're at when that happens

early on I think it just showed because You know

speaking of the like the you know at this time

seeing an actual death of a baby was that like

like that I think it adds a level of realism

and just like just that those scenes were some

of the like the toughest I think because you

know it Seeing this historical woman and kind

of where she's coming from and her baby being

like that that was Like pretty impactful because

it sets the stage right away of just like the

dire situation that they're in And then of course

like her not making it either, but I thought

those those are we even talked about him Yeah,

but I thought those were pretty impactful in

the sense of like I so much So it's like I try

to put it out inside of my mouth my mind because

it was it was uh, it was difficult to watch So

yeah, I know my wife would not have enjoyed that

part at all Yeah, um, so this film did get some

mixed reception, right? Like there was a lot

of criticism at the beginning from contemporary

critics at that time who were angry for a number

of different things. There was some disdain,

I guess, by some critics that they said that

they were portraying Germans in a positive light,

which I don't know if they watched the film or

not. And in its entirety, because, like, he's

clearly the bad guy. He's capable. Like, you

know, he's capable and he knows his things and

he's like, you know, he could say he's Maybe

a strong leader or like he's able to outsmart

people but like morally not so much, you know,

right and I think it got some more flack for

Joe's depiction. I don't know if that was more

contemporary or more modern takes on some of

the racial aspects of How they portrayed that

character. I know that got a little bit so it

had some throughout time Some critiques that

weren't necessarily a hundred percent favorable,

but then it did get Some Academy love and some

award love I'm in s director Hitchcock got nominated

best story Was a nomination best cinematography

was a nomination and then obviously when you

look at it now all these years later It has a

pretty high. I don't have the exact number on

Rotten Tomatoes, but it's got to be somewhat

high I know it's in the 90s somewhere so where

do you think that criticism critique lands and

Do you put much stock in it when it's something

that was written by somebody in the? The 1940s

anyways and kind of like what was your take on

that? I'd be interested to see what the criticism

for the Joe character because at one point like

I did really like the line where you know They're

talking about voting and he's like, oh do I get

a vote too? And I wondered like would the people

take offense to that or was it the fact that

like you had this character and he seemed like,

you know Or some stereotypical elements, but

I thought Approach to him was really was done

well for the most part when I really like that

line about like do I get a vote too and you see

There's a really good scene where they're I think

it's the Lord's player I forget what they're

doing and everyone else forgets the words, but

he's the one person that knows them So I thought

there were some hints like some really kind of

nice smaller moments But then also like giving

him the background where he's also a pickpocketer

and stuff like that. I'm like that seemed unnecessary

so kind of Went one way, then went the other.

So I could understand the criticism there. The

German one, beyond him, yeah, sure, he's capable

and he's able to odd smart people pretty easily,

but he's also a commander of a U -boat. So you

would think he would, and these guys, and the

people on this lifeboat, they're... kind of just

grunts on the soldier level, so it doesn't seem

too outlandish, but at the same time, I get it,

you're in a world war, so maybe anything in a

positive light. It isn't a super patriotic, go

America type of movie, and maybe that was rubbing

people, because it doesn't seem like this is

like, oh, we gotta defeat the soldiers, and maybe

it humanizes them a little bit, because it shows

that he is an actual human being, good and bad.

So maybe that was a problem. It wasn't very I

didn't make him into a cartoonish villain, which

So maybe that's what drove people the wrong way.

But so that I couldn't agree with But I could

see some of the criticisms with a jail character

at least when they kind of went deeper into his

backstory Right. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, it was

I guess it was just some like high sensitivity

to any type of portrayal of nazis in a capable

way I don't know. It said the one quote was uh,

let's see the Nazis with some cutting here and

there could turn lifeboat into a whiplash against

the decadent democracies, and it is questionable

whether such a picture with such a theme is judicious

at this time. I don't know, like I feel like

in retrospect that that doesn't hold up too well,

but. Yeah, I mean, I get it, because if you look

at like the propaganda at the time, if you were,

you know, the Axis powers, it was pretty like

the depictions are pretty like. cartoonishly

evil so I guess this probably by comparison was

like oh my god like maybe showed him as too much

of a person yeah yeah so another question I had

for you like we're in the middle of the ocean

we're on a lifeboat with only a few limited characters

how in the heck does Alfred Hitchcock pull off

his cameo in this one did you see it was it in

the newspaper I was trying to see like is that

where okay I thought it was I thought that was

him but I didn't know for sure So that's interesting

that there's a newspaper that is on the lifeboat

and he has a picture in there, which is an interesting

story, I guess, because it appears in another

film as well. So, um, apparently he is in a newspaper

article with before and after photos and an advertisement

for a fictional weight loss drug called Reduso,

which is, uh, shown in the newspaper in the boat.

And apparently he got besieged by letters from

people asking about it because it was somewhat

inspired by his own weight loss, I guess. And

he used the product again in rope so his profile

and the reducer Name up here on a red neon sign

in rope So he used the same like fake product

to two different times for his cameos, which

I didn't know about that beforehand So I guess

that was interesting. So He found a way to get

in there. You wouldn't think it would be possible,

but there he is So, all right other things that

you thought of that we haven't had a chance to

point out or final thoughts on lifeboat Dan Yeah,

I will say like it I saw that one thing they

tried to do is they always try to keep keep the

lifeboat moving and like it was like it was out

to see and I think that was certainly the case

like it I always did You know, it's clearly like

on a set or something like that. I thought for

the time it does feel like This this the sense

of loss because they're completely out there

and I think they did a good job of like Incorporating

you even when it gets rainy and weather pretty

well with with what's what's probably like a

limited budget for the day So I thought just

the production of it overall, which was really

important because I know shooting in water All

time cannot be cannot be fun, but I thought it

looked pretty good considering. So yeah, I really

enjoyed this. I thought, like I said, the characters

were well done and had a really strong group

overall. And, you know, I think to me, this was

a limited location movie done right. Yeah, I

agree with you a hundred percent. The other thing

that usually is not on my radar, but I did find

interesting and actually somewhat noticed during

this film is the sound. Soundtrack slash sound

which there is none besides the the beginning

in the end I think it's the only time that music

is involved and I guess the I don't know which

person that was but somebody in the production

that was doing the music or or maybe even somebody

that was involved in the production mentioned

to Hitchcock like that they needed more music

and in the main part of the film and Hitchcock's

response was Where would the orchestra be? The

ocean and then the guy responded well where would

the cameras be? So he's like, that doesn't really

work because you're also doing all this other

stuff. But yeah, I guess there's really no music

for the most part because of the fact that they're

kind of out in the middle of the water. Besides,

they do do a song, which is a complete sidetrack

here. But for some reason, I never watch the

real world or road rules or anything like that.

But I do have a guilty pleasure for the challenge

shows that they've done from time to time. where

they have like the competition kind of like Survivor

or one of those types of things. And they literally

had one within the last year or two, where in

the final they had to do this like ridiculous

thing where they were counting money overnight

so they couldn't sleep and they had to count

like, we're talking about like thousands of pennies

or something like that. And what they did is

they gave them like a half hour to count. And

then they made them go up on the boat. This whole

challenge was done on a boat, which made me think

of this as well. They had to go on a deck and

they had to sing a song together for a half hour.

the same song, the same lines over and over and

over again, and then go back down and count.

It's like, I don't know who signs up for this.

But anyways, the song that they're singing on

the top of the boat in this challenge is the

song from this movie. And so they start singing

it in this movie. And I was like, you've got

to be kidding me, because I literally had just

watched it like last month. I was like, I didn't

know that song was real. But apparently it was.

So that's about the only music you get in here

is their little song together, I guess, when

they're trying to keep their sanity so I'm with

you I think this is a limited location and set

cast etc done right Hitchcock's doing more of

those right than he has wrong for sure I really

like this one I wasn't sure what to expect but

it definitely was something that I enjoyed quite

a bit even if it didn't necessarily feel like

the most Hitchcock film that we've watched which

is not a good or bad thing I'm just it's just

an observation so we're gonna keep going at least

with one more film if not a handful of some more

films to finish our Hitchcock Retrospective out

the next one that we're going to be covering

is we're gonna jump ahead in the future a little

bit because this was 1944 for lifeboat and Then

we have some the likes of some films that we've

already covered like notorious was 1946 rope

1948 strangers on a train 1951 The island for

murder and rear window were 1954 and then we're

gonna catch up right after that the next year

1955 Which is the film to catch a thief Dan?

Have you seen to catch a thief or do you know

anything about it? I have done see it and I do

not know anything about it. So yeah, I don't

know anything about it other than the two stars

So I know Cary Grant's in it and I know Grace

Kelly's in it and that makes me extra interested

to see how they do together in this one So that'll

be the next Hitchcock film what we cover We're

gonna have an episode probably in between there

to give you a little bit of break from Hitchcock

We're gonna do a mid -year kind of catch up for

2025 we're gonna highlight any films that Dan

or myself have seen so far this year that we

feel the need to mention whether good or bad.

And then we're going to check in with our box

office predictions and see at the halfway mark

how our predictions are looking. Dan, are you

hopeful or are you scared? I don't feel good

because I know there is I don't think I had Minecraft

on my list at all. So I'm pretty sure that I

did not do great. So yeah, it's going to be interesting.

I kind of tallied it up a little bit and I I

think we both missed on some, so that's for sure.

Alright, how can people keep up with everything

you do on social media, Dan? I just searched

Comic Con tiers on all the different social media

sites and you'll be able to find me there. Alright,

you can search me out at Optima Solo or the show

at the Cinema Geeks or you can check out my YouTube

channel with the Geek Showcase as well. Or obviously

you can keep up with all things on the website

which is the geekcastradio .com as they do a

variety of things on video games, comics, cartoons,

movies, etc. So that does it for this episode.

Tune in next time for another chance to listen

to more of The Cinematic.