Lifeboat

December 16, 2025 - Lifeboat was originally planned to be filmed in Technicolor with an all-male cast, many of whom were going to be unknowns. Canada Lee, who was primarily a stage actor with only one film credit at the time, was the first actor cast in the film.

Lifeboat (1944) Canada Lee as Joe Spencer

One by one the survivors find precarious refuge on the lifeboat. Finally they pick up a survivor from the German U-boat. He is first tolerated and then welcomed into their midst. And he repays their trust and confidence with murderous treachery. Walter Slezak, as the German, comes through with a terrific delineation. Henry Hull as the millionaire, William Bendix as the mariner with a jitterbug complex who loses a leg, John Hodiak as the tough, bitter, Nazi-hater, and Canada Lee as the colored steward, deliver excellent characterizations.

May 8, 2020 - At a time when black people were exclusively offered stereotypical roles, Canada Lee refused to engage in such portrayals. Even if he had to rewrite lines, he would constantly fight for dignity in his portrayals, he would not back down. Against great odds and opposition, he was successful in bringing dignity to the role of the stevedore, George ‘Joe’ Spencer, in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1944 film, “Lifeboat.” This role was one of the first in Hollywood for a black character that departed from the stereotypical casting of the era.

August 11, 2025 - A Black minister, Stephen Kumalo (Canada Lee, Lifeboat) lives a quiet life as a parish priest in the backcountry of South Africa. When his son, Absalom (Lionel Ngakane, Danger Man), leaves the small valley where he grew up for the bright lights ...

Canada Lee (1907–1952), born Lionel Cornelius Canegata, was an actor who pioneered roles for African-Americans. With Hitchcock... Lifeboat (1944) — cast: George 'Joe' Spencer · articles about Canada Lee · Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all ...

Remarkable performances from a great cast such as tunnel-voiced Tallulah Bankhead as spoiled reporter Constance 'Connie' Porter , the veteran Henry Hull , the beautiful Mary Anderson , a tough John Hodiak , Canada Lee who was allowed to write his own lines , the character actor Hume Cronyn , William Bendix who joined the cast a few days into shooting when the original actor as Gus -Murray Alper- fell sick and special mention for Walter Slezak as astute Nazi in growing suspicion of the other survivors about him .

Actor: Lifeboat. Lee played Danny (opposite of Hilda Simms, who played Anna) in Anna Lucasta on Broadway in 1944. Anna Lucasta was the first non-black written play performed by an all black cast on Broadway.

From director Alfred Hitchcock's witty opening, on the smokestack of a steamship, in the end revealed to be sinking, now finding Tallulah Bankhead (as journalist "Connie") then oiler Kovac (John Hodiak), in Lifeboat, 1944, from the written-for-hire novella by John Steinbeck. ... John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Tallulah Bankhead and Hume Cronyn, pre-empted by Canada Lee, do what they can for the deceased infant, Bankhead and nurse Mary Anderson then helping the delirious mother Heather Angel, German Walter Slezak observing, in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, 1944.

August 20, 2017 - Principal cast: Tallulah Bankhead ... Henry Hull (Charles Rittenhouse, Jr.), Walter Slezak (Captain Willi), Canada Lee (Joe Spencer), Heather Angel (Mrs....

June 29, 2008 - In 1934, after leading an unsuccessful ... but soon turned to motion picture acting. In 1935 at the age of 28 he played a stevedore named Charlie in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, Lifeboat....

Canada Lee (born Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata on March 3, 1907) was one of the greatest actors of his generation. No one who witnessed his performances on the stage and screen (his films included: “Lifeboat”, “Body and Soul”, “Cry, the Beloved Country”) could fail to be affected by his blazing talent, and the dignity and humanity he always imparted.

Actor: Lifeboat. Lee played Danny (opposite of Hilda Simms, who played Anna) in Anna Lucasta on Broadway in 1944. Anna Lucasta was the first non-black written play performed by an all black cast on Broadway.

Alfred Hitchcock stages a gripping World War II drama by cramming eight survivors of a German torpedo attack into the hull of a tiny lifeboat. Starring: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak · Classic Movies, Drama Movies, Movies ...

American professional boxer and actor Canada Lee gives a doll to an unidentified girl in New York, New York, circa 1940. ... Poster for Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 thriller 'Lifeboat' starring Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, Walter Slezak, William ...

He became an actor with the Harlem YMCA and won critical success in plays like Othello, Macbeth, and Body and Soul. In 1939 he went to Hollywood and appeared in Lifeboat (1944) and Body and Soul (1947).

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Canadian Coast Guard accepts delivery of 2 more Bay Class high-endurance search and rescue lifeboats (January 9, 2023)