The Race for the Double Helix (TV 1987)
"Life Story" (original title)

Watson and Crick race to find the structure of DNA before Linus Pauling, Maurice Wilkins, or Rosalind Franklin can find the key to unlocking the secret.

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writers:

William Nicholson, James Watson (book)

Stars:

Jeff Goldblum, Tim Pigott-Smith, Alan Howard

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Goldblum	...	Jim Watson
Tim Pigott-Smith	...	Francis Crick
Alan Howard	...	Maurice Wilkins
Juliet Stevenson	...	Rosalind Franklin
Betsy Brantley	...	Elizabeth Watson
John Moreno	...	Vittorio Luzzati
Daniel André Pageon	...	First Colleague
Yves Aubert	...	Second Colleague
Anthony Benson	...	J.T. Randall
Clive Panto	...	Max Perutz
Rupert Massey	...	John Kendrew
Geoffrey Chater	...	Sir Lawrence Bragg
Nicholas Fry	...	Raymond Gosling
Tom McCabe	...	Bill Seeds
Petronella Ford	...	Odile Crick

Storyline

Watson and Crick race to find the structure of DNA before Linus Pauling, Maurice Wilkins, or Rosalind Franklin can find the key to unlocking the secret.

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Plot Keywords:

scientist | biochemistry | university | discovery | race against time | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Race for the Double Helix

Filming Locations:

Old Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&E Television Networks, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Horizon Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was originally shown as a "Horizon special" on the BBC, Horizon being the name of BBC2's main science programme.

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Quotes

Watson: A humiliated Linus is a dangerous Linus.
Crick: A Linus cheated of his prey.

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Soundtracks

"Grande Chorale"
Georges Delerue

User Reviews

Incredibly rich, well-acted, well-told

One of the first multimedia products was developed around this film, which I worked on, so I've probably seen it about 100 times. In the course of creating the disc around it, I had to read a lot of the actual history as well as watching interviews with the real people (except Rosalind, unfortunately, but we did talk to her very fierce and wonderful biographer, who vigorously attacks some of the scenes in the movie on the disc). On the whole, I found it remarkably accurate as these things go (except with respect to some aspects of Franklin's story and character), very rich, very well-acted, well-paced, but I can see (I guess?) how today's 9th grader (the most recent review) might find it terrible and boring, though that's sad...I found this site while looking for a DVD of it--I wish someone would make one...