The Summer Olympics are one of many events which are making 2024 a year for the books. I find it very interesting that the 2024 Olympics are taking place in Paris, since they also were in Paris in 1924. I’m sure this is no coincidence, but I’m surprised that I haven’t seen any news medium point out this parallel.
The Latest
“Young Woman and the Sea” was based on the 2009 book of the same name by Glenn Stout. It was directed by Joachim Rønning and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Chad Oman, and Jeff Nathanson, who also wrote the screenplay. It was made by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Although the original plan was for it to be released straight to Disney+, successful advanced screenings convinced Disney to release it theatrically as well. It had its world premiere in Hollywood on May 19, 2024, and was released on Disney+ on July 19.As a child, Trudy Ederle (Olive Abercrombie) is the sickly daughter of a German immigrant butcher (Kim Bodnia). After a boating accident leaves hundreds of women dead because they didn’t know how to swim, his determined wife (Jeanette Hain) vows that her children will learn. Against all odds, Trudy survives the measles, and she is very upset when she doesn’t get to have swimming lessons like her sister, Meg (Lily Aspell), for fear she’ll lose her hearing. Her stubbornness eventually gets her into the water. As young women, Mrs. Ederle brings Trudy (Daisy Ridley) and Meg (Tilda CobhamHervey) to a strongminded female swimming coach, Charlotte Epstein (Sian Clifford) of the Women’s Swimming Association. Under her tutelage, Trudy becomes a skilled swimmer and begins breaking records. As she heads to the 2024 Olympics and eventually bids to cross the English Channel, she faces prejudice against her sex in addition to family problems and enormous physical challenges.
The Greatest
“Dangerous When Wet” is an MGM musical. It is one of many musical aquacades the studio made to feature swimming star Esther Williams. Her leading man in this film is Fernando Lamas, whom she would marry 16 years later. It was directed by Charles Walters and produced by George Wells. The original story and screenplay, first titled “Everybody Swims,” was written by Dorothy Kingsley. This film is noteworthy for featuring Tom and Jerry, MGM’s cartoon stars of the day, in a semi-animated underwater dream sequence alongside Williams.Traveling salesman Windy Weebe (Jack Carson) thinks he’s found his latest great gimmick when he meets the Higgins family, dairy farmers who pride themselves on healthy living and physical fitness. The family includes the strongminded Pa (William Demarest), hard-working Ma (Charlotte Greenwood), and their three daughters, Katie (Williams), Suzie (Barbara Whiting), and Junior (Donna Corcoran). Windy takes an instant liking to the beautiful Katie, who is annoyed by his attentions. Motivated by their need for money to improve the farm, the Higginses agree to become the poster family for the health tonic Windy is peddling, Liquipep. Windy plans for the whole family to swim the English Channel as a huge publicity stunt, so they travel to France to prepare for the grueling challenge. It’s quickly determined that Katie is the only Higgins who is a strong enough swimmer to attempt the crossing. As she prepares, she meets a charming, wealthy Frenchman, André Lanet (Lamas). Windy tries to keep her focused, but Katie’s focus has been stolen by André, personally and professionally.
These movies are very similar in that they both are about a woman who swims the English Channel. “Young Woman and the Sea” is a biographical film directly based on the life of Trudy Ederle, whereas Katie Higgins and her story are fictional. However, the scenario of André’s jumping into the water to encourage Katie by swimming alongside her was apparently added after Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller pulled a similar stunt in 1952 to inspire a female swimmer in her Catalina Channel swim, Florence Chadwick.
Women Who Swim
“Young Woman and the Sea” is, in general, a good film. However, I think it could have been better if it had focused on telling Trudy’s story for its own sake instead of using her biography to push an agenda. “Dangerous When Wet” is also about a female swimmer, but it focuses on the story and the athletic prowess of its leading lady, Esther Williams, instead of victimizing its central character because of her sex.It’s true that Trudy Ederle went against the odds when she decided to swim the English Channel. She was the first woman to even attempt a Channel crossing, which many thought wasn’t possible for a female at the time. She proved them wrong when she became the third person in recorded history to complete the cross on her second attempt, beating the previous man’s time record by almost two hours.
The most crippling sexism Ederle faced came from her trainer for the crossing, Jabez Wolffe (Christopher Eccleston in the movie), who failed to cross the Channel 22 times himself. He had her pulled out of the water during her first attempt because he claimed she was struggling, but she insisted that she was merely resting. Whether this was intentional sabotage to keep a woman from succeeding where he failed remains unsolved.
Unfortunately, “Young Woman and the Sea” also fabricated scenarios and altered historical facts to make the early 20th century appear even more prejudiced toward women. The 1924 Olympics were not the first time women competed in the swimming division; Ederle was very successful at these Olympic Games; she was a lauded swimming champion before she swam the Channel; Wolffe did not drug her during her first Channel swim; and her two Channel attempts were a year apart, not a few days.
If you want to see a movie about an amazing female swimmer, I would suggest any movie starring Esther Williams, since she was an exceptional swimmer in real life, not just an actress pretending to be a swimmer.
