Local school staple 'Lost on a Mountain in Maine' from 1939 hits the big screen nationwide

PORTLAND, Maine -- Most Maine schoolchildren cognize astir nan boy mislaid for much than a week successful 1939 aft climbing nan state’s tallest mountain. Now nan remainder of nan U.S. is getting successful connected nan story.

Opening successful 650 movie theaters connected Friday, “Lost connected a Mountain successful Maine” tells nan harrowing communicative of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who spent 9 days connected Mount Katahdin and nan surrounding wilderness earlier being rescued. The gripping communicative of endurance commanded nan nation’s attraction successful nan days earlier World War II and nan boy’s grit earned an grant from nan president.

For decades, Fendler and Joseph B. Egan's book, published nan aforesaid twelvemonth arsenic nan rescue, has been required reference successful galore Maine classrooms, for illustration third-grade coach Kimberly Nielsen's.

“I emotion that nan overarching taxable is that Donn ne'er gave up. He conscionable ne'er quits. He goes and goes,” said Nielsen, a coach astatine Crooked River Elementary School successful Casco, who besides publication nan book aggregate times pinch her ain kids.

Separated from his hiking group successful bad upwind atop Mount Katahdin, Fendler utilized techniques learned arsenic a Boy Scout to survive. He made his measurement done nan woods to nan eastbound branch of nan Penobscot River, wherever he was recovered much than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from wherever he started. Bruised and cut, starved and without pants aliases shoes, he survived 9 days by eating berries and mislaid 15 pounds (7 kilograms).

The boy’s peril sparked a monolithic hunt and was nan attraction of newspaper headlines and nightly power broadcasts. Hundreds of volunteers streamed into nan region to help.

The movie builds connected nan children's book, arsenic told by Fendler to Egan, by drafting upon further interviews and archival footage to reenforce nan value of family, religion and organization during difficult times, head Andrew Boodhoo Kightlinger said.

“Times are acheronian successful nan state successful a weird way. You know, location are governmental divisions, nine is simply a small connected edge, and everything. And I thought, here’s a movie that reminds group astir conscionable nan powerfulness of community, nan powerfulness of caring astir your neighbors. And nan themes were truthful basal and simple. And for immoderate reason, we conscionable sometimes look to beryllium reminded of those things,” he said.

The movie brings a vintage vibe to nan large screen.

Filming took spot successful nan woods of upstate New York, pinch nan unit battling insects and wading done shoulder-height h2o for scenes successful a canoe. Other scenes were filmed connected Mount Katahdin and a replica mountaintop built successful a soundstage, complete pinch lichen-covered granite stones, blowing upwind and rainfall and lightning.

The movie gives nan position of nan distraught family arsenic good arsenic nan terrified boy, played by Luke David Blumm. His begetter is played by Paul Sparks (“House of Cards,” “Boardwalk Empire”). Maine autochthonal Caitlin FitzGerald (“Masters of Sex,” “Succession”), who publication nan book and met Fendler arsenic a girl, takes connected nan domiciled of Donn's mom.

FitzGerald isn’t nan only Mainer progressive successful nan film. A shaper Ryan Cook, who besides grew up successful Maine, collaborated pinch different Mainer, Dick Boyce. Both were acquainted pinch nan book and Cook became adjacent to Fendler and antecedently produced a documentary astir him.

Sylvester Stallone's Balboa Productions took connected nan task because he liked nan communicative of nan plucky underdog.

Kightlinger, who hiked Katahdin to audition for nan occupation of directing nan movie, said escapade stories are a dime a dozen. This one, he feels, was made stronger by nan backstory of nan difficulties Donn and his begetter had connecting.

“It’s yet astir a kid who conscionable wants a hug from his dad,” Kightlinger said. “That’s specified a pure, elemental message, and I deliberation much movies should aspire to conscionable do that and punctual group of nan elemental things, because there’s a batch of sound successful our world now, and nan elemental things sometimes get lost.”

Nielsen said nan communicative is some riveting and practical. In her classroom, nan book inspires discussions astir geography, plants and wildlife; mentation and endurance skills; and resilience successful nan look of adversity.

Her teenage boy learned a valuable from nan book: Stay together successful nan wilderness.

The 16-year-old was hiking Mount Katahdin pinch friends a fewer weeks ago. After hiking supra nan trees, they were traversing rocks erstwhile a large wind came in. The 3 made nan difficult determination arsenic a group to move back.

“My boy wanted to support going, but he knew that they had to enactment together. He learned that instruction from nan book. I’m 100% certain,” she said.