"Dying together's even more personal than living together."

Rating: 8/10 (18 August 2014)

Passengers are set adrift at sea in a lifeboat with one of the Nazis who torpedoed their ship. Sterling John Steinbeck story brought to life by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. The outstanding cast makes it work. It's arguably the best film made by Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, Mary Anderson, and Heather Angel. Walter Slezak, Hume Cronyn, Henry Hull, and William Bendix are also great. Special mention to boxer- turned-actor Canada Lee, largely forgotten today but here gives one of the finest performances from a black actor in the 1940s. I was very surprised to read that many at the time of the film's release, including John Steinbeck himself, thought Lee's character was too stereotypical. I thought the character was portrayed with a dignity and intelligence that was uncommon for the period. A fine character study and an exceptional movie of its type. The type I refer to being films that stick a bunch of different personalities in a claustrophobic environment and watch them crack. It's a low-key film for Hitchcock but an excellent one.