The Wreck and Rescue of the Schooner J.H. Hartzell

During the late 1800s, when the Lifesaving Service and the Lighthouse Keepers were working to save lives, they often faced some extreme circumstances and this film portrays the difficult conditions. This unique video offers a fairly realistic interpretation of maritime history on Lake Michigan and it seems the film crew was able to depict a story on a fairly lean budget with some significant investment of personal time...The weather, proximity to the crash and the challenges of reaching those in distress were often horrendous obstacles for the men who were attempting to retrieve survivors. The video is entertaining and based on the information that I have the documentary provides fairly accurate portrayals, through good character development, of what may have occurred at that time based on what is available. I imagine that Shipwrecks will always fascinate the viewer but it's nice when there is an attempt at getting the history right.