A Rabbi, a Priest, and Two Ministers...

While this starts off like some old-school joke, I assure you -- this is nothing of the kind. Variety reports that producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano are developing a World War II drama written by Michael Justiz and Steven Sikes called Lifeboat 13, and the inclusion of these religious figures is anything but funny.

The film will focus on the story of a rabbi, a Catholic priest, and two Protestant ministers (along with an African-American Coast Guardsman) who gave up their lives when the USAT Dorchester went down due to a U-boat torpedo in 1943. They had given away their life jackets as the ship sunk off the coast of Greenland in less-than-pleasant 36-degree waters.

It's a story that sounds similar to the post-sinking trauma of the Titanic. The waters were frigid and killed many of the life-jacket-wearing people with hypothermia. Lifeboats were overcrowded and began to sunk -- all in all, a terrible experience which should make for one depressing film.

However, considering the title of the film, maybe we'll get some survivor hope on Lifeboat 13, because it surely didn't come for those four men. From Wikipedia: "'As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under. The last thing I saw, the Four Chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets.' Grady Clark, survivor."