lifeboat be alfred hitchcock only film for 20th century fox . it be not widely remember nowadays certainly not in the way that psycho and north by northwest and rebecca be remember but it still rank very highly in the director canon . in the film hitchcock demonstrate a fascination with restrict the action to a single set . he would return later in his career to the concept of single set story and for movie such a rope and dial m for murder and rear window . it be an approach that would bring most director to their knee and but hitch rise to the challenge admirably and find ingenious way to maintain audience interest and provide a ceaseless undercurrent of excitement . a passenger ship torpedo by a german u boat sink in the atlantic ocean . well groomed society lady constance porter ( tallulah bankhead and in an absolutely outstanding performance ) successfully man one of the sunken ship lifeboat and steer it around the debris in search of survivor . she pick up various type from the sea and include injured sailor gu smith ( william bendix ) and crewman john kovac ( john hodiak ) and the german u boat captain ( walter slezak ) whose own submarine be critically damage in the attack . the dynamic of the group be severely strain by the german presence and a the other survivor contemplate and argue over whether to toss him to the shark and or put their trust in him to steer their lifeboat to safety . slezak be very good a the tricky german and deviously keep a stash of water to himself while the others struggle against chronic thirst and and at one point murder a fellow survivor to keep his water supply a secret . hitchcock and his script writer jo swerling wisely let u in on the german true nature and while the character surround him be unaware of his treachery . this keep tension on a knife edge throughout the film and and hold the viewer in suspense for the whole story . similarly and bankhead casting be so unorthodox and her character so intentionally ill fit to the oceanic setting and that her role in the proceeding cast a strange fascination . the film have a lot of political and propagandist subtext and and many people have view it a an allegory of the nazi rise in europe ( slezak be the metaphor for nazi germany while the others metaphor for surround nation dupe into believe that the nazi neighbour in their midst be helpful and trustworthy ) . whatever else lifeboat can and can not be interpret a and one thing be certain it a mighty fine movie .