Big Screen: The Finest Hours

A fine Cape Cod story with a fine [and fine-looking] cast.

My parents, above, on their honeymoon road trip to Cape Cod and Maine in June 1951.
"The Finest Hours" begins on the Cape in winter that year.

Note the big sandbar in this photo I took recently of Chatham Beach.
The Coast Guard rescue boat had to make it out over the treacherous Chatham sandbar in a fierce nor'easter/blizzard,
when the waves were ferocious and super-rocking high.
 Looked like dangerous Hawaiian surfing waves but much worse, and in an ice storm.

Pop in a quarter for a better view.

H., Figgy and me on Chatham Lighthouse Beach in summer 2000, right when she turned 5
and was about to start kindergarten.
H. often walked her out on the sandbar when the tides were right. They once saw a dead sand shark.

Paradox.ChathamBeach/playland+sea grave.

Yikes! I'm so frustrated. Just blogged for about an hour and lost all the text. Tired now, so will try to recover it in my mind.

Go see this film! It's about a daring Coast Guard rescue of 32 men in February 1952, when an oil tanker is sinking off the coast of Chatham. I drove 30 minutes each way in dark rain by myself tonight to the nearest theater showing it; H. lives and dies by movie reviews, and wasn't convinced he would like it. But my Sis told me she did. It is so good.

It's by Disney and I want the soundtrack, which includes sea shanties, but am trying to stick to budget.

I will never walk by that plaque I see every summer in the same way again. It's across from the stalwart white Chatham Lighthouse, and commemorates the rescue mission. I've often stopped to read it, passing by while lugging a lawn chair, sand on my feet, my hair whipped by wind.

List:

• Great-looking cast. Dripping with talent, too. Classically handsome Chris Pine as rescue captain Bernie Webber, Casey Affleck on the sinking oil tanker, Holliday Grainger as Miriam, a Wellfleet girl who has her heart set on marrying Bernie. I'm blue crushing on the first two. 
• 1950s role model, even on old-fashioned Cape. Grainger is captivating; can't take your eyes off her. Perfect red Cupid's bow lips and matching nail lacquer; eyes like pools of blue; tailored dresses; stylish coats; a career as a switchboard operator and confidence behind the wheel of a big honking car [even on a snowy Cape road], like the one my Dad is leaning on in photo above. Miriam will not take no for an answer. In real life, she and Bernie were married 58 years.
• Iconic Cape Cod cottage. When Miriam's car swerves in the snow, a kind young mother driving by stops and takes her to her cottage for help. We only see it for a moment, but the camera sweeps through three rooms and every detail about the tidy home says authentic Cape, from the traditional mantel to well-scrubbed stovetop. Neat as a pin. Salt-of-the-earth values. These are practical people.
• The magic of the townspeople. I recognized names of old salts like Nickerson and Snow [fishermen here] from Cape landmarks I know--Nickerson State Forest, Snow's Garden Center right off the bike trail. Loved when everyone pulls their cars up to the pier, lights on, so the rescue boat can spot the shore when the town power goes out in the storm. Also: Women tote food in baskets, tins and casseroles to the Coast Guard Station to feed the ones who make it back. 
• True to history. Adored Eric Bana as the head of the Coast Guard Station, Daniel Cluff. The real Cluff grew up in Chincoteague, Virginia and Bana perfects a southern persona. [H. and I took a road trip there one summer.]
• Wellfleet! We Hurleys and our friends the Mernins love going to Wellfleet, and that town is portayed here, too--old fishing pier and all. [I'm not sure it was actually filmed there.] 
• Rite & Bob Bremner. My parents' and my dear friends, who led us on the path to Cape Cod, spent the end of their long lives in assisted living at Broad Reach Healthcare in North Chatham. I visited them there, driving that beautiful winding road. They died within the last couple of years, and I miss them still. They were married 65 years and wouldn't be surprised if they had a Bernie and Miriam sighting story. I wish I could ask Bob now. And, again, having seen likable old Nickerson on film, am reminded that Rite was laid out in Nickerson Funeral Home in Orleans.
• Figgy and H. Let's face it, I love my memories of day trips to Chatham with H. and Figgy, Punchy, Christy, the Mernins, Sis and Don, and even my fluffball, Sugar. So I loved this film. Fig, H. and I had sushi and sips one summer evening on the porch of the Chatham Bars Inn. My dream is to stay and spa there one night but it is Sooooooo pricey. Alas, Chatham is for the well-heeled--and the Coast Guard.

I'm missing my Cape; hope to get there soon. Well, I better get to sleep. Go see!