Chariots of Fire (1981)

Director:

Hugh Hudson

Writer:

Colin Welland (original screenplay)

Release Date:

9 October 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Sport

Tagline:

This is the story of two men who run...not to run...but to prove something to the world. They will sacrifice anything to achieve their goals...Except their honor.

Plot:

The story of two British track athletes, one a determined Jew, and the other a devout Christian who compete in the 1924 Olympics.

Plot Keywords:

Olympics | Missionary | Race | Athlete | Jew

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Nicholas Farrell	...	Aubrey Montague
Nigel Havers	...	Lord Andrew Lindsay
Ian Charleson	...	Eric Liddell
Ben Cross	...	Harold Abrahams
Daniel Gerroll	...	Henry Stallard
Ian Holm	...	Sam Mussabini
John Gielgud	...	Master of Trinity (as Sir John Gielgud)
Lindsay Anderson	...	Master of Caius
Nigel Davenport	...	Lord Birkenhead
Cheryl Campbell	...	Jennie Liddell
Alice Krige	...	Sybil Gordon
Dennis Christopher	...	Charles Paddock
Brad Davis	...	Jackson Scholz
Patrick Magee	...	Lord Cadogan
Peter Egan	...	Duke of Sutherland

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:PG (DVD rating) (2005) | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1986) | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

Enigma Productions

Trivia:

Producer David Puttnam was looking for a story in the mold of A Man for All Seasons (1966), regarding someone who follows their conscience; he felt sports provided clear situations in this sense, and happened upon the story by accident while thumbing through an Olympic reference book in a rented house in Los Angeles. Screenwriter Colin Welland took out advertisements in London newspapers seeking memories of the 1924 Olympics. Many athletes were still living, and Aubrey Montague's son sent him copies of the letters his father had sent home - which gave Colin Welland something to use as a narrative bridge in the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before the last race Scholz gives a piece of paper to Lidell with a Bible quote, which he holds in his left hand. This piece of paper disappears during the race and reappears at the finish line.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lord Andrew Lindsay: Let us praise famous men and our fathers that begat us. All these men were honoured in their generations and were a glory in their days. We are here today to give thanks for the life of Harold Abrahams. To honour the legend. Now there are just two of us - young Aubrey Montague and myself - who can close our eyes and remember those few young men with hope in our hearts and wings on our heels.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Campbells are Coming

Sheer Beauty

I was a student at Edinburgh University in 1981 and was actually lodging with one branch of Eric Liddell's family.

My friends and I all went to see this movie repeatedly -- and I mean five, six, or seven paid entrances. Why?

Personally, I don't think it had anything to do with the plot, character development, the music, or moral virtue. It was simply that the film was so utterly beautiful.

The men were beautiful in a clean, non-glamorous way that we had never seen before. Not in British films, and certainly not in Hollywood movies.

The social and educational expectations shared by all were beautiful. I know it is fashionable to decry the British class system, and in principle I agree with all the criticisms. But it also seems that erasing class-by-birth leaves little else but crass meritocracy and the sheer vulgarity of the uneducated masses. Abraham's fellow students at Cambridge and Liddell's at Edinburgh participated in a social and educational system not driven by concerns about jobs, and not pathetically challenged by students who saw themselves as consumers and professors as entertainers.

Britain was beautiful. Of course some parts still are, but Nazi bombs, post-war architecture, and modern cars have destroyed much. This was a Britain where people at the time might have decried "Victorian" architecture, but we in 1981 were just coming to realize how great it was. And this was a Britain where, for good or ill, middle class people kept their houses tasteful, and working-class door-steps were white-stoned each week.

In all this movie was a connection to the beautiful aspects of the British past. That past might never have existed in reality, but in 1981 we could just about touch it, above all in Edinburgh, spared by German bombs and still one of the most beautiful cities in the world.