Justin Hardy’s feature, Captain Webb, which tells the story of the first man to successfully swim the English Channel in 1875, will be released in cinemas on 14 August 2015.
The film stars Warren Brown (Luther, Good Cop) in the lead role of Captain Webb, whilst Terry Mynott (The Mimic) plays Captain Paul Boyton, Webb’s American rival at the time who developed a rubber, kayak-like suit for his own crossing attempt. British Independent Film Award (BIFA) winner Steve Oram (Sightseers) assumes the role of Webb’s eccentric trainer Professor Beckwith, whilst Hannah Tointon (The Inbetweeners, Mr Selfridge), Georgia Maguire (Love me till Monday) and Tom Stourton (Horrible Histories) make up the principle cast. Mercury Prize nominees British Sea Power (“The best band in Britain” – Sunday Times) provide the soundtrack.
In 1875 Captain Matthew Webb, a retired merchant seaman, survived fierce winds, treacherous currents and multiple jellyfish stings to swim from Dover to the shores of France, a crossing that took almost 22 hours and spanned 39 miles. The Channel would not be swum again for 36 years, and to this day more people have climbed Everest than successfully swum across the Channel.
Captain Webb’s achievement is all the more remarkable given that it came before sport was a fully developed industry; before the expertise and precautions found today had even been thought of. There were no sports psychologists, isotonic drinks or television contracts. Purpose-built swimming pools were rare, and front crawl was only just beginning to be heard of in the UK. The Football Association was founded just 12 years prior, whilst the Channel Swimming Association was established 52 years after Webb’s first crossing. His coach was a self-proclaimed ‘swimming professor’ whose star turn was ‘smoking underwater’.
Director Justin Hardy said: “Captain Webb is a largely forgotten British hero. He attempted to swim the English Channel when the very idea was seen as beyond impossible, equipped only with his moustache, doses of Brandy and a wire wool swimsuit. We want to tell the story of a classic underdog who fought against all odds to make it to the other side.”
Captain Webb is directed by multiple-award winning filmmaker Justin Hardy (Relief of Belsen, 1066, City of Vice, 37 Days), one of the UK’s foremost directors of historical films and winner of four Royal Television Society (RTS) awards and an Emmy and BAFTA nominee.
The screenplay is by Jemma Kennedy (Excellent Women (forthcoming adaptation of Barbara Pym’s novel), Frozen), based on Kathy Watson’s book The Crossing, and director of photography is Matt Wicks (Love me till Monday). The film is produced by Jack Fishburn and Muireann Price, who were shortlisted for the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) 2013’s Best British Newcomer Award for their debut feature, Love me till Monday.
The film is executive produced by John Toba, Paula Prynn and James Salter for Marathon Films. The latter has swum the English Channel multiple times, including a World Record crossing in September last year when he completed the swim with his 17-year old son.
Worldwide TV distribution for Captain Webb is with Miramax.
