Lifeboat, a frequently overlooked Alfred Hitchcock treasure finds passengers battling for survival after a U-boat attack. They're a microcosm of society: a rich journalist (Bankhead); an anticapitalist oiler; a shipyard tycoon; an adulterous nurse; a radio man; a wounded sailor; a black steward; and, finally, the U-boat captain (a superb Walter Slezak), who looks like a really nice guy. Based on a Steinbeck novella, the film is both an allegory about the need for unity to combat Nazism and a technological marvel: The single set forced Hitch to create visual variety that often transcends studio films of the period. EXTRAS Hitchcock expert Drew Casper's commentary enhances the package, pointing out the recurring imagery of hands, and dishing about Tallulah's on-set antics (she refused to wear undies!), and there's a fine making-of doc. But ''special edition'' really should mean restored print.
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