6 Men, 3 women (and a baby) in a boat

Rating: 7/10 (31 December 2008)

Rarely seen Hitchcock thriller which is well worth rooting out. People often forget just how experimental The Master could be and here he prefigures future exercises like the long takes of "Rope" and "Under Capricorn", the single fixed point setting for "Rear Window" and the B & W shock-horror of "Psycho" with a psychological drama set entirely at sea in a lifeboat. The difficulties of involving the audience with such a static setting are obvious but with a combination of an imaginative screenplay, first rate ensemble acting and of course Hitch's own masterly direction, this movie grips from start to finish. There are fewer than usual of the director's customary flourishes, instead we get that Hitchcock rarity, an actors' showcase, with fine performances coaxed from all aboard. The writing is subtle yet profound, making its point that the German enemy at large, (remember the film was made midway through the Second World War) isn't an obvious goose-stepping monster but instead a highly intelligent, multi-lingual, individual who for most of the movie deftly manipulates his co-passengers for his own ends. The film also makes telling points about the differing reactions of humans in an extreme situation in war-time but does so by avoiding obvious stereotyping and makes well its "united we stand, divided we fall" message. With heavyweight writers like Steinbeck and an uncredited Ben Hecht contributing, the dialogue is gritty and realistic, even risqué at times and only occasionally guilty of big-word incomprehensibility. All the actors deserve praise for their natural acting, reacting on the whole truly to their desperate situation, despite being deluged with an ocean's worth of water. Talullah Bankhead in particular shines as we see her lose all her personal belongings right down to her Cartier bracelet and make-up at the film's conclusion. Only a few of the process shots jar as unrealistic with Hitch's shot selection on the whole correct and intuitive. Of course the film falters a little from the enforced inaction and episodic progress of the narrative but I was engrossed throughout by the taut direction and unravelling of the passengers' ethics and morals as their plight continues. Hardly grace under pressure!