One of the most remarkable of a number of remarkable things about "Lifeboat," written by John Steinbeck and Jo Swerling and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is that the characters in it are not reformed or even radically changed by their experience, which consists of being torpedoed and compelled to endure considerable hardship in a lifeboat before they are rescued. I'm afraid that in less competent, and in fact most, film-producing hands, this experience would have been represented as a rather salutary one and at least some of the people involved would have begun mending their ways by the end of the picture. I don't say that perilous circumstances do not sometimes lead people to resolve to lead better lives if God or somebody will only get them out of this mess, or that on rare occasions such bargains are not kept, but I agree with Mr. Steinbeck and Mr. Swerling and Mr. Hitchcock that the average reaction of average people to rescue from extreme danger is a vast relief coupled with a determination to be as comfortable as possible for as long as possible.

This is not to say that in this picture the characters' forced confinement in each other's company or their hunger or their thirst is represented as having no probable lasting effect on them. It's plain that they learn a lot about each other and about the meaning of real privation, and in the end, though they're the same people they were at the beginning, they're better informed. (p. 56)

Mr. Hitchcock has chosen to keep the camera in the lifeboat too. He has done all his shooting from inside the boat and has never once backed off to show the boat itself in relation to its surroundings (ocean). That way he has lost a chance to do some effective contrast stuff and missed out on some of a camera's capabilities but he has unquestionably furthered the mood he was after. He and the writers are to be commended, also, for not over-elaborating. They have not made this the longest or severest trip in an open boat on record but have been content with what you might call an average shipwreck. Although those in the audience who have been torpedoed themselves may miss some of the experiences they recall, there are sure to be others there for them to recognize. Realism is rampant in the picture. In making it, some of the cast must have got very wet. (p. 57)