Adrift with the Enemy

Rating: Null/10 (18 September 2016)

Stranded on a lifeboat after their ship is torpedoed by a German U- boat, a group of survivors find themselves torn between what to do after rescuing one of the Germans who sank their ship in this wartime thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. With lots of talk and a single location, 'Lifeboat' moves rather slow at first with some very obvious moral dilemmas; "we're on our own; we can make our own laws," one of them claims. Things become more twisted and intense in the second half though, beginning with a surprise revelation regarding the mysterious German, played perfectly by Walter Slezak. In fact, the entire second half of the film is rather riveting once the intriguing Slezak becomes a point of focus (none of the other characters are particularly remarkable) and the film ends on a strong note. The final scene is a little on the didactic side, but it is relatively brief and for a film with a clear anti-Nazi agenda, 'Lifeboat' offers a near balanced portrayal of the Germans at its best. The basic story (by John Steinback) has a refreshingly timeless quality to it too, with ideas in terms of trusting 'the enemy' and the uncertainty posed by wartime conditions coming across as fairly universal themes (see also George Seaton's 'The Hook' and 'The Long and the Short and the Tall'). Beneath the surface of Allied vs Axis tensions, there lies here a human tale here of trust, mistrust and desperation in adverse conditions.