A gripping drama set in one small boat in the Atlantic

Rating: 9/10 (22 April 2012)

After the sinking of their ship by a German U-boat a motley group of survivors end up in a lifeboat together; not long afterwards they pull another man out of the water; this one however is German; a survivor from the U-boat that was also sunk in the encounter. Some on board believe he should be thrown back in to the sea but the others argue that to do that would make them criminals themselves. They opt to keep him on board and as one of them, photographer and journalist Connie Porter, can speak German they question him; he explains that he is just a crewman. Things get grim very quickly when one of the survivors realises that the baby that she has been cradling has died and one of the freighters crew has a serious leg wound that quickly turns gangrenous. Not knowing if the ship was able to send an emergency message the survivors decide to head for the nearest land; the island of Bermuda; a small dot in a vast ocean. This won't be easy as they have no compass and opinions are divided about what is the best course... should they trust their German captive or would he take them in the wrong direction towards German shipping and certain imprisonment.
This early Hitchcock film contains the tension that he is known for in his more famous films; the black and white filming worked in the films favour making the sea look almost black which created a particularly bleak feeling. Whenever the sea broke over the little boat it looked far more realistic than modern films and their CGI water! That isn't to say everything looked as good; the starlit night sky looked very much like a painted backdrop. The cast did a fine job as the varied group of characters; most notable were Tallulah Bankhead as the wealthy Connie Porter and Walter Slezak as Willy the German but they all contributed and each had a distinct character that brought something to the story. Keeping the action confined to the lifeboat for the entirety of the film created a claustrophobic atmosphere despite the fact that they were adrift in an ocean; more so when tensions between the survivors rises as they have no way of getting away from each other. The 'twist' when it comes isn't a total surprise; after all this was made during the war when the Germans were the enemy and people were hardly going to be encouraged to trust them! Whether you are a fan of Hitchcock or not this film we well worth watching.