Friday brings the release of Disney’s “The Finest Hours,” a big budget dramatization of one of the greatest small boat rescues ever recorded.
On Feb. 18, 1952, a massive storm splits the SS Pendleton in two, trapping more than 30 sailors inside the tanker’s sinking stern.
Despite the ferocious weather, coxswain Bernie Webber takes three men on a lifeboat to try and save the crew against seemingly impossible odds.
Creating the film version that is “The Finest Hours” meant a lot of frigid temperatures, a lot of cold steel, but also a lot of heart, according to Jim Whitaker, the producer of the movie.
While the film captures a rescue story that is Coast Guard legend, Whitaker said it is a story that honors the humble humanity that is characteristic of members of the Coast Guard.
“What is most incredible to me is the incredible selfless nature of these men who woke up and said there is something that needs to be addressed,” Whitaker said. “It’s perilous, our lives will be in danger, and we need to do it; and in this particular story, not to make a fuss about it.”
Click here for the full report by The Maritime Executive and click here to find a movie theater to see it on the big screen.
