Life Story (1987) (TV)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writers:

William Nicholson (writer)
James Watson (book)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Watson and Crick race to find the structure of DNA before Linus Pauling, Maurice Wilkins, or Rosalind...

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Biochemistry | University | Discovery | Race Against Time

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

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
Ian Harvey	...	Bruce Fraser
Vass Anderson	...	Alex Stokes
Jill Johnson	...	Freda Ticehurst
Rachel Weaver	...	First French Girl
Katherine Kath	...	Pop Prior
Gaby Lister	...	Second French Girl
David Allister	...	John Griffith
Anna Skye	...	Girl at Party
Lyndon Brook	...	Erwin Chargaff
Vincent Marzello	...	Peter Pauling
Ray Charleson	...	Jerry Donohue

Directed by
Mick Jackson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William Nicholson		writer
James Watson		book "The Race for the Double Helix"

Produced by
Mick Jackson	....	producer

Original Music by
Peter Howell

Cinematography by
Andrew Dunn

Film Editing by
Robin Brightwell
Jim Latham

Production Design by
John Bone

Art Direction by
Robert Foster

Costume Design by
Charlotte Holdich
Gilly Martin

Makeup Department
Jan Nethercot	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
John Hale	....	dubbing mixer

Visual Effects by
Claudio Villa	....	molecular models

Camera and Electrical Department
Brian Beaumont	....	gaffer

Other crew
Richard Bonehill	....	sword master
Claudio Villa	....	molecular models

Production Companies

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

Also Known As:

Double Helix
The Race for the Double Helix (USA)

Runtime:

USA:97 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

A&E Television Networks

Trivia:

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

Quotes:

Watson: Gotta get famous.

Soundtrack:

Come On-a My House

Francis Crick's comments

The late Francis Crick said: "In spite of the intention to soft pedal the science, a surprisingly large amount has been included... It is obviously unfair to criticise the BBC for not achieving complete accuracy... What Life Story was trying to do was to get over the general nature of the discovery and how it was received... The ending was distorted to make a theatrical climax whereas Watson & I were worried that it might all be wrong and we had again made fools of ourselves...I think Jeff Goldblum is too manic as Jim Watson and far too interested in girls... Mick Jackson complained to me that no-one had told him that Jim didn't chew gum...Jim's natural manner was more subdued. Goldblum caught it rather well in the costume party scene when he is asked whether he is a real vicar. His American questioner quizzed him for half an hour about the upbringing of her children and was rather cross when she eventually discovered he was not a vicar at all... The other actors were all immediately recognisable as the people they portrayed... The key performance is by Juliet Stevenson. Her comments show that she had a real insight into Rosalind's character... The film gets over the obvious fact that scientific research is performed by human beings with no trace of the stereotyped emotionless scientist...It tells a good story at a good pace so that people from all walks of life can enjoy it and absorb some of its lessons. All in all, Life Story must be considered a success. In other hands it could easily have been nothing quite as good." End of quote

and I think it is brilliant!