Several survivors of a torpedoed merchant ship in World War II find themselves in the same lifeboat with one of the crew members of the U-boat that sank their ship.
In the Atlantic during WW II, a ship and a German U-boat are involved in battle, and both are sunk. The survivors - from a variety of backgrounds -gather in one of the life boats. Trouble begins when they pull a man out of the water who turns out to be from the U-boaWritten by
Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
In "The Dark Side of Genius", Donald Spoto wrote that Tallulah Bankhead would climb a ladder every day to reach the tank where the filming took place. She never wore underwear and regularly received an ovation from the crew. See more »
Goofs
When people call from the boat to people in the water, their voices produce a noticeable echo, revealing that the scenes are shot in a tank in a studio, not out on the ocean. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
[indistinct shouting]
John Kovac:
Ahoy there!
[climbs into boat]
John Kovac:
Lady, you certainly don't look like somebody that's just been shipwrecked.
Connie Porter:
Man, I certainly feel like it.
See more »
I can't imagine why anyone would consider Bankhead's performance "terrible" or "over-the-top." First of all, the role is obviously written as a very theatrical, flamboyant woman. She plays the part the way it's written, and the style of her performance in no way takes away from the other characters, who are also fairly stylized, such as Henry Hull's industrialist or William Bendix Brooklynese seaman. The character also goes through real changes as the movie progresses, losing all of her worldly possessions (typewriter, fur coat, diamond bracelet), losing her head to John Hodiak, and finally becoming just another one of the dirty, downtrodden survivors. Honestly, I don't know how she could have been better, and she probably should have won the Academy Award that year.
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I can't imagine why anyone would consider Bankhead's performance "terrible" or "over-the-top." First of all, the role is obviously written as a very theatrical, flamboyant woman. She plays the part the way it's written, and the style of her performance in no way takes away from the other characters, who are also fairly stylized, such as Henry Hull's industrialist or William Bendix Brooklynese seaman. The character also goes through real changes as the movie progresses, losing all of her worldly possessions (typewriter, fur coat, diamond bracelet), losing her head to John Hodiak, and finally becoming just another one of the dirty, downtrodden survivors. Honestly, I don't know how she could have been better, and she probably should have won the Academy Award that year.