HITCHCOCK'S PRO-NAZI FILM?

 

HITCHCOCK'S PRO-NAZI FILM? is about as clickbait a title as you can get. This is a 2023 documentary about Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 film LIFEBOAT, and the controversy it caused upon its release. 

I was not aware of the existence of this film until I saw the DVD of it listed among the new arrivals on the Edward R. Hamilton website last month. I happen to think that LIFEBOAT is one of Hitchcock's most underrated productions, and the DVD wasn't expensive, so I took the plunge and ordered it. 

I must say that the title made me a bit wary, but this is a well-made and well-paced documentary. What makes it fall short of being truly excellent is writer-director Daphne Baiwir's tendency to focus on various political and social issues instead of the main topic. 

LIFEBOAT is best known for taking place entirely within the small title vessel, as a group of survivors from a ship sunk by a German U-Boat in the Atlantic try to survive. The group hauls aboard a man who happens to be one of the U-Boat sailors, and this German soon takes the lead in making sure the lifeboat and the people within are able to survive. 

After LIFEBOAT was released, a number of critics complained that the movie was sympathetic toward the German character. I've found this idea to be ridiculous--the German is resourceful, clever, and cunning, but the film certainly doesn't take his side. Apparently some in 1944 felt Germans should have been portrayed as either fools or propaganda-spouting fanatics. The fact that the German in LIFEBOAT was shown as capable and redoubtable rubbed some people the wrong way, but I think Hitchcock made the right choice in having the man be realistic instead of a wartime caricature. 

HITCHCOCK'S PRO-NAZI FILM? looks at the film's reception, but it takes a while to get there. Much of the documentary focuses on people connected to LIFEBOAT, such as John Steinbeck (who wrote the original story on which LIFEBOAT was based), columnist Dorothy Thompson (who criticized the film when it was released, and whose life supposedly inspired the character played by Tallulah Bankhead), and black actor Canada Lee, who appeared in LIFEBOAT. 

The result is that we get a lot of info on the lives of Steinbeck, Thompson, and Lee, and while this info is interesting enough, one gets the feeling that Daphne Baiwir would much rather focus on them than the nuts & bolts of the making of LIFEBOAT. 

The main talking head of HITCHCOCK'S PRO-NAZI FILM? is Patrick McGilligan, who wrote a fine biography of the director (a biography I happen to own). McGilligan is the one who keeps things on track regarding the actual making of LIFEBOAT. 

Considering the title of this documentary, I don't think it gave enough evidence to suggest that there was any sort of sympathy toward Nazi Germany in LIFEBOAT. I think Daphne Baiwir's biggest issue is that she feels Alfred Hitchcock wasn't as left-wing as John Steinbeck, Dorothy Thompson, and Canada Lee. Hitchcock admirers will at least want to view this, and the documentary has inspired me to pull out my old DVD of LIFEBOAT and watch it again.