- 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 merchant 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 lifeboats. Trouble begins when they pull a man out of the water who turns out to be from the U-boat.—Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
- In a lifeboat during World War II, survivors from the freighter torpedoed by a U-boat huddle together including columnist Constance Porter, one of the ship's engineers Kovac, radio operator Stanley "Sparks" Garrett, nurse Alice MacKenzie, millionaire Charles "Ritt" Rittenhouse, seaman Gus Smith, steward Joe, and Mrs. Higley, a hysterical Englishwoman holding her dead baby. After the baby is buried at sea, the mother drowns herself. Though the inhabitants of the lifeboat come from vastly different backgrounds, they quickly set aside the social and economic differences that divide them in a united effort to survive. A German seaman Willy is picked up out of the sea and Constane interprets for him. Willi suggests in German the direction toward Bermuda. During a crisis, he shouts at them in English. He is found to have been the U-boat commander. Willi has a compass and is strong enough to row them to a German supply ship The others allow him to take command of the boat, their only hope of survival is to be rescued by a German supply ship, which will presumably take them straight to a concentration camp.—alfiehitchie
- After their ship is attacked by a U-boat in the mid-Atlantic, several of the passengers and crew survive. Among are a millionaire, a journalist, a woman who is rescued with her dead baby, a stoker, a crew member and a ship's purser. Not many have much experience at navigation or actually manning a boat. They rescue another person from the water: a German sailor, a survivor from the U-Boat that also sank. He says he can't speak English and the others don't trust him, with good reason, as it turns out, he speaks English perfectly and was actually the U-boat's Captain. As they try to navigate their small boat to the West Indies, some will succumb to death, and all will reveal their true nature.—garykmcd
- An American freighter sailing from New York City to London is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, which in turn is destroyed by return fire. Renowned and well-appointed photojournalist Connie Porter, whose stories focus on her in the middle of whatever the subject she is covering, is alone in one of the freighter's lifeboats, she was helped aboard by Joe, one of the ship's stewards, when the ship started going down. She is most concerned about the film she managed to take of the bombing and the accompanying story she will write first, her appearance and her material possessions second, and the rest of the world third. Before the lifeboat leaves the area of the debris field, other survivors of the bombing are able to take refuge on the lifeboat: C.J. Rittenhouse, nicknamed "Ritt", a self-made wealthy industrialist; Alice MacKenzie, an Army nurse; Mrs. Higley, a shell-shocked woman from Bristol who went to the States to recover, only to give birth there, with the baby, Johnny, dying in the process of the rescue; brusque womanizer Kovac, an engine room man; Stanley, nicknamed "Sparks", a radio man; Gus Smith, another crew member, who is sensitive to the fact that his real last name is Schmidt; and Joe, the aforementioned steward. However, it is the ninth and last passenger to board that causes the rest just a little consternation: a man named Willi, from the German U-boat, who says that he was only a crew member taking orders, and who apparently speaks only German (a language Connie speaks fluently) and no English. In their wait to be rescued, they have to work together to survive, which ends up being a difficult process at times, as they have differing views on certain fundamental things, such as who should be in charge, and thus what they should do, and just how much they should trust Willi, who may be the most knowledgeable among them in survival on the sea. But it's those fundamental differences in them as people which may be their biggest threat in surviving.—Huggo
- The movie opens with a shot of a ship's smokestack that tips as the ship sinks. There is a variety of floating debris and voices calling out in the fog. An Allied freighter is sailing from New York to London when it was attacked by a German submarine. The U-boat crew shelled the passengers as they struggled to board lifeboats and is itself sunk by the defending fire from the freighter. After the battle has ceased and both vessels have sunk, a well-dressed and coiffed woman wearing a mink coat, renowned journalist Constance (Connie) Porter (Tallulah Bankhead), is alone in a partially damaged lifeboat with her suitcase and possessions. She spots a man swimming towards her and films him approaching with her 16-mm movie camera. Kovac (John Hodiak), an engine room crewman from the freighter, who was off duty and out of the engine room at the time of the attack, pulls himself aboard the lifeboat with Constance's help. Kovac is surprised that Constance is alone on the boat and apparently unruffled by the sinking. Connie is proud of her having been able to film the attack and subsequent action including the shelling of other lifeboats and the sinking ship that capsizes another lifeboat. Kovac is critical of her and accidentally knocks the camera out of Constance's hand and overboard while reaching to help pull Stanley "Sparks" Garrett (Hume Cronyn), an English radio operator, into the boat. Constance is upset with Kovac and having lost her camera and the film and story it contained. Sparks calls out for Miss Mackenzie and blows his whistle and they get a response and find 3 people floating on some wreckage. Both men then assist Army nurse Alice Mackenzie (Mary Anderson), wounded merchant seaman Gus Smith (William Bendix), and passenger C. J. (Ritt) Rittenhouse (Henry Hull) into their lifeboat. Connie is glad to see Rittenhouse, a friend and wealthy industrialist, has made it through the ordeal. She is also pleased to hear the yell for help from the ship's black steward Joe Spencer (Canada Lee), who had got her into the lifeboat and is found attempting to rescue a young mother Mrs. Higley (Heather Angel) and her baby. After the others help Joe and Mrs. Higley aboard, Joe explains that the woman had tried to drown the baby and herself. Alice discovers that the infant is dead, and Sparks explains that Mrs. Higley is an English shell shock victim who was sent to America, had the baby and is now returning to Bristol. Mrs. Higley does not realize that her baby is dead, and Alice suggests they deal with the baby after Mrs. Higley falls asleep and Connie lends Mrs. Higley her mink coat to keep warm. The group's attention is then distracted by the arrival of the final survivor: a German crewman, Willi (Walter Slezak), who appears to speak only German. Sparks suggests that the German might be the U-boat captain. Connie, who speaks fluent German, translates Willi's story that he is an ordinary seaman and is sorry for the attack and the crew were following orders to shell the lifeboats. During an animated debate, engine room crewman Kovac demands the German be thrown overboard to drown. Kovac, reveals his family is from Czechoslovakia and wants revenge for the German invasion, but Gus, a German-American who changed his name from Schmidt to Smith out of shame, insists that a "guy can't help being born who he is." Ritt asserts that they cannot kill the German according to international law, and suggests they let the majority rule. Only Kovac and his friend Gus are in favor of getting rid of Willi. Joe is surprised when he asked by Ritt for his vote, although Ritt repeatedly calls him George, his son's name, even after being told his name is Joe. In the night, they bury the baby at sea, and Ritt starts a prayer that Joe has to finish. Mrs. Higley awakes to find the baby gone and is hysterical and the group tie her to a salvaged chair to keep her under control. The next morning as daylight appears, they discover Mrs. Higley is missing and the taut rope is trailing over the side of boat and Kovac somberly cuts the rope. Ritt tries to cheer the survivors by taking stock of their small store of provisions and organizing jobs for everyone as they rig a sail out of the damaged mast. They have no compass and the lifeboat was damaged along with some of the supplies and the fresh water stores. Willi consults a secret compass he has hidden in his pocket. When Ritt suggests following the German's advice about setting a course rather than Sparks direction, Kovac accuses him of electing himself captain. There is a discussion about who should be captain but Gus and Sparks say they aren't qualified. Ritt's background as an industrialist who owns a shipyard and has experience leading people is discounted by Kovac as qualifications to captain a boat. Connie tricks the German into revealing his true rank when she calls him Kapitän and he responds. Although Connie argues that the German is best qualified to run the lifeboat, Kovac angrily proclaims himself captain and orders them to follow Sparks's course to Bermuda and not the German's. As Sparks moves to the tiller with the guide rope in his hand the rope knocks Connie's typewriter over the side into the ocean. Sparks is steering the boat and Alice is nestled next to him in conversation. As they sail, Gus's wounded leg is found to be infected with gangrene, and Willi recommends they amputate and volunteers to do the amputation as he was a surgeon in civilian life. Gus resists but Connie convinces him that his dance crazy girlfriend would want him to survive, even if he doesn't have both legs. Connie provides a flask of brandy for Gus and Alice assists Willi as he amputates the leg in rough water. Later, having gained some of the group's trust, Willi convinces the others they are on the wrong course and Kovac, hoping to save Gus's life, reluctantly accepts Willi's advice. That night as Sparks is at the tiller with Alice alongside, he notices Mars and Venus in the clear starry sky and that tells him that they are heading away from Bermuda, and not toward it. The next morning, with Willi sleeping Sparks brings up his suspicions and the group discusses why Willi asked Connie for the time if he has what they believe to be a watch that he has been seen checking. Kovac urges Joe, a reformed pickpocket, to get the suspicious watch from the sleeping Willi. Joe trips and falls onto Willi and comes away with what turns out to be a compass that Willi had secretly been using to steer them toward a German supply ship. Kovac is about to stab the German when a huge storm strikes, and Gus is washed overboard and rescued and in the chaos Willi takes the tiller and starts giving orders to the group in English to get the lifeboat safely through the storm. During the storm the survivors lose their remaining food, water, and the boat's mast along with Connie's suitcase. Connie and Kovac are thrown into an embrace that turns into a kiss. In the calm following the storm, Willi is rowing the lifeboat towards the German ship. Kovac laughs about their "prisoner" taking control, but Willi asserts it is the logical thing to do now that the storm has blown them off course. The group have all grown weak without food and water except Willi. Gus is delirious and starts to hallucinate that he is back in the States and begins drinking seawater. Connie and Kovac are shown together with Connie laying on Kovac's lap and Alice and Sparks are also huddled together. Connie and Kovac have a heated discussion about her diamond bracelet and she reveals they both come from the same neighborhood on the south side of Chicago but she got out. An angry Kovac starts a card game with Ritt an and forces the stakes higher until the pot is $50,000 but before they can reveal their hands the wind comes up and blows the paper cards into the water and there is a dispute over who won. One night Gus sees Willi drinking water from a bottle and wakes Sparks to tell him but Sparks pays not attention to his rambling. Hoping to keep his water supply a secret, Willi then pushes Gus overboard where his weak, drowning cries reach Sparks. Upon waking, the others discover Gus missing and Willi is questioned. Willie gives the group a lecture about how he, as a German, was better prepared than them. After the group realizes that Willi is sweating, which requires hydration, Joe grabs a water flask from Willi's shirt. The flask is broken, and Willi admits that he has been subsisting on hoarded water, food tablets and energy pills. In a spasm of anger led by Alice, the group, except Joe, descend upon him as a group, beat him, and eventually push him overboard. Ritt then strikes Willi in the water multiple times with Gus' boot. Utterly disillusioned by Willi's behavior, Ritt laments, "What do you do with people like that?" Later, the survivors are defeated and Connie yells at them for being quitters. Joe had been unsuccessfully fishing without bait and Connie gives Kovac her diamond bracelet to use as a lure. Just as they are pulling a fish in Joe spots a ship and the fishing line is released and Connie loses her final possession after previously losing her film camera, her mink coat, her typewriter and her suitcase. The ship is the German supply vessel that Willi was trying to reach and it sends a launch over to pick them up. Just as they German launch is hailing them the ship signals them to return and they turn away from the lifeboat. A boom on the horizon turns out to be gunfire from an Allied warship. The German launch is sunk, the ship tries to escape and almost swamps the lifeboat before it is also hit and sinks. As the group awaits rescue by the Allieds Joe shows Ritt a picture of his family and reveals that his son's name is George. Ritt offers to pay Kovac the $50,000 he lost on the last hand of the card game and Kovac initially refuses but Connie interjects and advises Kovac that he owes her a new bracelet. Then a young German sailor grasps the lifeboat rail and is brought on board. Swayed by his youth, the women want to save him, but Kovac and Ritt want him thrown overboard. The German sailor pulls a gun on the boat occupants but is surprised and disarmed. He asks in German, "Aren't you going to kill me?" Kovac muses, "'Aren't you going to kill me?' What do you do with people like that?"
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