“Except for a cameo appearance in Stage Door Canteen, Tallulah Bankhead had not appeared in a film since Faithless in 1932. She was paid $75,000 for her work in Lifeboat.”

TALLULAH BANKHEAD:
In 1944, Alfred Hitchcock cast her as the cynical journalist, Constance Porter, in Lifeboat. The performance is widely acknowledged as her best on film, and won her the New York Film Critics Circle Award. Almost childlike in her immodesty, a beaming Tallulah accepted her New York trophy and exclaimed, “Dahlings, I was wonderful!”

Rumors about her sex life have lingered for years, and she was linked romantically with many notable female personalities of the day, including Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Eva Le Gallienne, Laurette Taylor, and Alla Nazimova, as well as writer Mercedes de Acosta, the wealthy Betty Carstairs, and singer Billie Holiday.

She was reportedly extremely excited when she was first able to meet the elusive Garbo, but whether they were sexually involved has never been determined beyond a doubt. The two women played tennis together often, and were said to have enjoyed one another’s company, but Garbo was extremely protective of her private life and secretive about her lovers.

Lifeboat is a 1944 World War II war film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. The film stars Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee, and is set entirely on a lifeboat. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Original Motion Picture Story and Best Black and White Cinematography.

CAST OF LIFEBOAT:

* Tallulah Bankhead as Constance “Connie” Porter
* William Bendix as Gus Smith
* Walter Slezak as Willy
* Mary Anderson as Alice MacKenzie
* John Hodiak as John Kovac
* Henry Hull as Charles D. “Ritt” Rittenhouse
* Heather Angel as Mrs.Higley
* Hume Cronyn as Stanley “Sparks” Garrett
* Canada Lee as George “Joe” Spencer
* William Yetter Jr. as German sailor