Glossy, overcooked, sub-par Hitchcock

Rating: 5/10 (15 October 2005)

Alfred Hitchcock drama about a lifeboat full of disparate characters adrift on the seas during WWII is overheated and unhappy throughout. A good cast featuring Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, and Hume Cronyn get stuck playing irritating stereotypes, and the dialogue is equally clichÃ©d. Bankhead keeps too cool a head as famous shutterbug who actually finds romance on the choppy waters, but Walter Slezak steals the show with colorful role as mysterious German on-board. For a much tougher take on a similar scenario, try 1957's "Abandon Ship". This one doesn't treat the subject matter with the brutal realism that is called for. ** from ****