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Title: Chariots of Fire (1981)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Nicholas Farrell | ... | ||
| Nigel Havers | ... |
Lord Andrew Lindsay
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| Ian Charleson | ... | ||
| Ben Cross | ... | ||
| Daniel Gerroll | ... |
Henry Stallard
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| Ian Holm | ... | ||
| John Gielgud | ... |
Master of Trinity
(as Sir John Gielgud)
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| Lindsay Anderson | ... |
Master of Caius
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| Nigel Davenport | ... | ||
| Cheryl Campbell | ... |
Jennie Liddell
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| Alice Krige | ... | ||
| Dennis Christopher | ... | ||
| Brad Davis | ... | ||
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Patrick Magee | ... |
Lord Cadogan
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| Peter Egan | ... |
Duke of Sutherland
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It's the post-WWI era. Britons Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell are both naturally gifted fast sprinters, but approach running and how it fits into their respective lives differently. The son of a Lithuanian-Jew, Harold, who lives a somewhat privileged life as a student at Cambridge, uses being the fastest to overcome what he sees as the obstacles he faces in life as a Jew despite that privilege. In his words to paraphrase an old adage, he is often invited to the trough, but isn't allowed to drink. His running prowess does earn him the respect of his classmates, especially his running teammates, and to some extent the school administration, if only he maintains what they consider proper gentlemanly decorum, which isn't always the case in their minds. Born in China the son of Christian missionaries, Eric, a Scot, is a devout member of the Church of Scotland who eventually wants to return to that missionary work. He sees running as a win-win in that the notoriety of being fast gives him... Written by Huggo
I had never seen this movie until the fall of 1997 and after watching 40 minutes wondered, "What's the big deal?"
Well, the second half of the film and then subsequent viewings have done more than just answer my question.
It's one of the RARE movies in the past 30 years which portrays a Christian in a positive light. Ian Charleson does a convincing job of portraying a 100 percent sincerely good man who walks the talk.
In here is also a good portrayal of a Jewish man, a student at Cambridge, acted well by Ben Cross. This man is too defensive about being Jewish and carries a chip on his shoulder until the end where he comes out a hero and a fine man as well, the bitterness gone.
The story of those two men and their quest for a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics in France makes for an inspiring film. It's also aided by very nice photography and a wonderful score by Vangelis. A recently-issued widescreen DVD finally shows off the award-winning cinematography. The feel- good ending doesn't hurt, either, especially since these main characters were real-life people.
Her extraordinary beauty made Alice Krige an interesting person to watch in the film, and I wonder why she never made it as a "big-name" actress. Perhaps that was her decision.
In summary, a very classy film, that still lives up to its reputation.