By Coastal Angler Staff Writer
As Disney’s The Finest Hours takes its bow on the big screen on January 29, 2016, I’ve taken a moment to reflect on the incredible journey that began more than 60 years ago.
The Finest Hours chronicles the greatest small boat rescue in American history. It happened on February 18, 1952 after two 500 foot-long T2 oil tankers were split in half during a deadly winter nor’easter off Chatham, Massachusetts. The catastrophic event triggered an unprecedented response by the United States Coast Guard as 84 men were trapped at sea.
Filming for The Finest Hours began at the Old Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, MA.
I researched and wrote The Finest Hours, with my co-author Mike Tougias in 2007 and saw it published by Simon & Schuster in 2009. After its release, I met with Hollywood studio executive after studio executive trying to convince them that the book would make a great film. Each had told me that it was “the wrong time” for a movie such as this because the economy had turned sour and that studios could not invest in a production like this – a historical drama shot on the ocean. They told me that their bosses were only “green lighting” super hero films. “This is a movie about super heroes,” I argued. “These heroes don’t wear capes. Instead, they wear foul weather gear and galoshes that were handed down from the Navy after WWII and they faced the most unpredictable killer of all – Mother Nature.”
The studios turned me away and I returned home to Boston with my book under my arm and more determined than ever to get this film made, as I felt I owed it to the heroes to continue to share their incredible story. in 2010, I met with producer Dorothy Aufiero who was interested in making a movie based on my book true crime novel Bad Blood. Aufiero’s “The Fighter” was about to hit theatres and there was already Oscar buzz around the movie. Aufiero was looking for a blockbuster and Bad Blood wasn’t that. I could tell that I was losing her interest and at the end of the meeting I asked to walk her to her car. During that walk, I told her that I had her next blockbuster and I pulled a copy of The Finest Hours from my jacket. “This is Disney,” I said at the time. “Trust me.” Aufiero looked at me strangely and threw my book into the back of her car. “You’re gonna call me in two weeks,” I told her confidently. Two weeks later, Aufiero called me from Hollywood where she was screening “The Fighter” at the Producer’s Guild Dinner. The talk at the reception after the movie among Spielberg, Hanks, Howard, etc. was that Hollywood was ready to invest in “real stories” again. Aufiero called me at 2am and asked me about “that book you gave me.” I described it to her briefly and she began to circulate it in the room. Next, she asked me to FED-EX ten copies to LA. The screenwriters for “The Fighter” loved it and soon we began working on a pitch presentation. Weeks later, they met with every studio and most wanted to do it – but all passed because of the challenges of shooting on the water. Ben Affleck wanted it but chose Argo instead, which for him was the right choice. Hanks was especially enthused but would not commit as he had just signed to do “Captain Phillips”. After three weeks of heavy pitching, we had reached the end of the line. We decided to take the project off the market for a while to regroup. That night, I felt that I had failed those brave men. I bought a 12 pack of Sam Adams to drown my sorrows, opened my first bottle and the phone rang. It was Aufiero and the screenwriters. “Disney has swooped in,” they said. “They’ve made an offer and told us ‘don’t negotiate with anyone else. This is the movie we’ve been waiting to make.’” That was 2011.
Scenes from Disney’s The Finest Hours starring actors Chris Pine and Casey Affleck (Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures).
Production on the film began in late 2014 here in Massachusetts with stars Chris Pine and Casey Affleck on board. A massive soundstage was constructed at the old Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. There, Disney’s team created Hollywood magic by recreating the rescue in a gigantic water tank. Disney also filmed in Cohasset, Duxbury, Marshfield, Norwell and in the town of Chatham, where the drama unfolded so long ago.
I grew up on Cape Cod – Cape Cod is my home. To be able to deliver a Valentine like this to communities down there that struggle during the off-season and to tell the story of these real life heroes to audiences around the world is surreal.
Bernie Webber, the hero of The Finest Hours (played by Chris Pine) always said to me that he wasn’t THAT good a skipper, and that something else was at the helm that night. Webber passed away before our book came out and I always his steady hand on my shoulder as we fought to get this film made. I truly hope audiences will gravitate to this film because it symbolizes the very best we Americans have to offer – grace under pressure and humility.