The True Story Behind The Upcoming Film

Out in theaters December 25th, The Boys in The Boat will mark George Clooney’s return behind the camera. Starring Callum Turner, Joel Edgerton, Hadley Robinson, The Boys in the Boat is based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by Daniel James Brown, telling the true story of the University of Washington rowing crew, who won the Gold medal during the Olympic Games of 1936 in Germany.

The real story behind The Boys in the Boat is full of dreams and hopes, but it is also the story of a strong, epic sense of brotherhood. For his novel, Daniel James Brown focused on the story of Joe Rantz, here portrayed by Callum Turner, and decided to make him the main character of his novel. The movie -and the book- will showcase the outstanding performance of a group of 8 young men – underdogs who had just worked their way out of The Great Depression- and that everyone had underestimated before their victory at the Olympic Games.

Before their legendary performance – that actually took place in front of Hitler- at the Olympic Games, the Washington team had to beat the best and the most notorious teams of rowers, which was considered to be a very prestigious, almost elitist sport at the time. These teams included rowers from all over the world, who came from universities of the highest standing such as Oxford. In short, the odds weren’t in the favor of this group of young men, who all came from a lower social class. And yet, they proved everyone wrong.

Joe Rantz was a young boy from a small town near Seattle. His family -he also had an older brother- was poor, and their resources very limited. Rantz’s childhood was filled with trauma and abandonment: his mother died from lung cancer when he was 4, and he was then sent away to live with his aunt. After a while, his father made him come back to live with him and his new stepmother, Thula, who detested young Joe. She wanted him out of the house, so his father abandoned Joe and left him at the schoolhouse, where the teacher had agreed to let him stay if he took care of some chores. Joe was only 10. After a few months, his father got him back, so that the family could move to a new town. There, the financial troubles only worsened, and one day, as Joe was coming home from school, he found his family and their luggages in the car: they were abandoning him, once again. At only 15, the teenager kept going to school, having to haunt, fish and care for himself.

After a couple of years, his older brother told him to come live with him in Washington, where Joe was able to keep going to school. There, the young man practiced a lot of sports until one special day, when destiny itself came to Joe in the form of Al Ulbrickson -played by Joel Edgerton in the film-, the University of Washington crew coach, who was searching for the next generation of rowers and had noticed the physical abilities of Joe Rantz.

The rest is History: Joe and his team competed against the biggest teams of rowers of the world, and they kept going, until the incredible day where they found out they would actually be participating in the Olympics Games. The Summer Olympics of Berlin were the first games to be televised, which had been enabled by Hitler to promote the supremacy of the Nazi government across the world. These games were also the last ones to be held, since the Olympic Games of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled during the Second World War.

After their victory, Joe Rantz married his first love -they were married for the rest of their lives-, Joyce Simdars. Having studied chemical engineering and graduated in 1939, Rantz then worked for the Boeing Corporation for 35 years. Daniel James Brown met Rantz when 7 crew members of the team had already passed away. Joe Rantz himself died shortly after their meeting, in 2007. However, thanks to Joe and Joyce’s daughter, Judy, who had recorded on tapes the story of her father, the author was able to work on his novel, as well as get in touch with members of the families of the different members of the crew.

The movie rights of The Boys in the Boat were sold immediately after the book rights, and while it took about a decade, we will finally be able to watch this inspirational story on the big screen this Christmas, December 25th.