The Race for the Double Helix

Name: Life Story
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1987-09-14
Duration: 1 h 37 min
Rating: 7.4
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Tim Pigott-Smith, Alan Howard

Original title: Life Story

Episode aired Sep 14, 1987
1h 37m

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

723

YOUR RATING

Jeff Goldblum in The Race for the Double Helix (1987)

Documentary

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.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.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
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

723

YOUR RATING

Director
- Mick Jackson
Writers
- William Nicholson
- James Watson
Stars

33User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 4 wins & 4 nominations total

Photos

Storyline

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Did you know

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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.

Crazy credits
Cards before the closing credits mention Franklin's early death and Watson, Crick and Wilkins' subsequent award of the Nobel Prize, pointedly adding that Nobel prizes cannot be awarded posthumously.

Connections
Featured in Hyperland (1990)

Soundtracks
Come On-a My House
Written by Ross Bagdasarian and William Saroyan
Performed by Rosemary Clooney

User reviews33

Review

Featured review

9/10

Well-done drama about science

The Race for the Double Helix effectively brings to life James Watson's book (upon which it was based), which tells the story of how he and Francis Crick came to be the first to correctly describe the molecular structure of DNA. Crick and Watson's scrappy, boyish spirit is translated well by Jeff Goldblum and Tim Pigott-Smith. The story follows the highs and lows of the two and their drive to make the discovery, thankfully without enshrining them; their success was as much due to luck and rudeness as it was to genuine scientific integrity. The film is also set well in Europe of the 40s and 50s.