The Stowaway: A Young Man’s Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica

The Stowaway starts in 1928 with 18-year-old Billy Gawronski, a first-generation New Yorker from a Polish Catholic family, jumping into the Hudson River at night as he tries to sneak aboard Admiral Richard Byrd’s ship. The Eleanor Bolle is bound for Antarctica and the South Pole—the most sought-after final frontier at the time, and certainly a hell of a lot more exciting than the Gawronski family upholstery business. The backdrop is Jazz Age America—think Rockefellers, flappers, and early years of The Explorers Club—when the U.S. careened forward with heady optimism. Using original Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times expedition footage and historical photos, documentary filmmaker Shapiro weaves a downright plucky true tale of polar fever. Beneath the romance, though, is a thoughtful take on an age-old question: Just what is it that emboldens some to knock down barriers in order to chase a dream? Stowaway is a well-researched and entertaining coming-of-age story of a boy, a country, and an era of exploration.