In the Spring of 2000 I was approached by Jim Lambie, the Buyer
for Oswego Productions, a movie production company based in Toronto. The
firm was contracted by Los Angeles based Citadel Entertainment to produce
a TV mini-series titled "HAVEN", starring Natasha Richardson with American
co-stars Anne Bancroft, Hal Holbrook and Martin Landau. CBS Television
will air this $30 million production in February 2001 during the TV "sweeps".
HAVEN tells the true story of a brilliant young Jewish government official
who finagled President Roosevelt to provide an aging army troop ship to
transport 1,000 Holocaust survivors across the Atlantic to an interment
camp in Oswego, New York. In spite of the reference to a Liberty in the
book that documents this event, a Liberty ship played no part in the real
story. It was the HENRY GIBBINS an Army troop ship. (This is according
to Ernest F. Imhoff of the Baltimore Sun).
Jim was tasked with the job of procuring equipment typical of the period
and of equivalent functionality. Seeing that a merchantman's radio room
was too small for a camera and actor, a suitable set would have to be constructed
in the studio. Initially, there were only two options available. The first
was to construct mockups of the equipment based on photos of the radio
room aboard the museum Liberty ship, SS. John Brown. Vintage knobs,
meters and controls would have to be located in Toronto's three radio surplus
stores. This was a costly and time consuming option so it was on to the
next idea. Perhaps some vintage Radio Marine Corporation of America (RMCA)
radios could be located, rented and transported to Toronto assuming some
reasonable shipping distance. That option proved to be impractical as no
equipment of this type could be located anywhere. Realizing that another
solution was in order, I proposed they rent some of the radios fitted aboard
HMCS HAIDA. It wasn't RMCA or Mackay gear but it was Marconi shipborne
equipment and it was WWII vintage.
Months went by, then I was contacted by Oswego. Jim decided that the
best and only option was to use HAIDA's radio equipment. In late July,
various radios were designated, de-installed, picked up and transported
to the company's studio located on Eastern Avenue in Toronto. Within days,
a realistic looking and correct-vintage ships radio room was created by
the artistry of the production company. The finish on the set included
spots of grime, rust and grey peeling paint, all undesirable characteristics
which come free on real ships. The amount of effort devoted to such small
visual details was incredible and the epitome of that effort was the fuse
panel and bare copper transmission line. Both ideas originated from HAIDA's
radio rooms. For making the equipment available for use in the movie, Oswego
made a generous donation to Friends of HMCS HAIDA.
