In 2013 Daniel James Brown published his epic work on the historical achievements of the University of Washington eight-man crew.
They had risen from obscurity to defeat the strongest teams on the West Coast, traveled to the East Coast to confront the strongest American crews of their time in Poughkeepsie, to earned seats in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin Germany.
Against all secular odds, and in fulfillment of the visions of only a small group of dedicated believers, this crew was forced in Germany to surrender the lane they had earned by their placement trials, and into the worst lane possible for the gold medal race by corrupt games officials. Yet, they fought to overcome every obstruction to victory.
In the book, the author explores the cultural and economic hardships in which these young rowers competed, largely through the childhood of Joe Rantz, filling in these hardships with stunning detail.
The author also draws the reader into the world of the “shell” through the life story of the “Husky Clipper’s” builder, and then Germany’s culture under the Führer in the mid-1930s.
All of this context is avoided by the movie's screenwriters, “The Boys in the Boat.”
The story was condensed into a single year of training and competition by the University of Washington crew in 1936. Had the movie included all of the supporting documentation in the book, I believe it would have rivaled the length of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
All in all, the heart of this heroic account was masterfully displayed in the movie. The cinematography, casting, and emotion conveyed are a tribute to all involved in the movie’s making.
God bless you, Dave
“Duty is ours, results are God’s” John Quincy Adams