Interwar · Film · 2023
The Boys in the Boat
A crew of broke, working-class students from the University of Washington rows its way from Depression-era Seattle to the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 4 places.
Stop 1: University of Washington, Seattle
Living in an abandoned car, engineering student Joe Rantz tries out for the crew for a bed, a job and a meal.
Stop 2: Lake Washington, Seattle
Racing arch-rival California before a huge crowd, the junior crew stuns its own coach.
Stop 3: Hudson River, Poughkeepsie
On the Hudson, the underdogs must beat the elite East Coast crews to earn their Olympic chance.
Stop 4: Grünau regatta course, Berlin
Key location
With their stroke oarsman sick and a bad lane, the Americans line up against the best crews in Europe in front of Hitler.
What really happened
The film adapts Daniel James Brown's book about the University of Washington eight, sons of loggers, farmers and shipyard workers who began rowing together in 1933. Coached by Al Ulbrickson, with boats built by George Pocock, they won the national title at Poughkeepsie in June 1936 and then the US Olympic trials.
At the Berlin-Grünau course on 14 August 1936 they came from behind in a poor outside lane to beat Italy by about 0.6 seconds, with Germany third, as Hitler watched. The film simplifies the story: the crew's story spans three years, not one season, and the Olympic trials were held at Princeton, not at Poughkeepsie.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- The Boys in the Boat
- Directed by
- George Clooney
- Countries
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 2023
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- The Americas, Western Europe
- Themes
- True story
- Biography
