Chariots of Fire

I saw this film - an account of British athletes at the Paris Olympics of 1924 - twice when it came out, but i was prompted to watch it again by the holding of the 2012 Olympic Games in my home city of London. The contrast between the movie of the 1926 Games and the television coverage of the 2012 extravaganza showed just how massive the Games have become and yet how the personal factors involved are essentially the same.

"Chariots Of Fire" opens and closes with the iconic scene of the British bare-foot runners exercising on a beach by the sea as the haunting music of Vangelis soars - a scene borrowed by Mr Bean (aka Rowan Atkinson) for a very funny pastiche at the 2012 Opening Ceremony.

All the characters are real life, even if some of them seem larger than life and there is a degree of artistic licence in the story-telling. The two main ones are Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a sprinter driven by a need to prove himself in a world where being Jewish is still a problem for the English Eastablishment, and Eric Liddell ( Ian Charleston, a deeply religious Scot who refuses to take part in an Olympic heat because it is scheduled for a Sunday (an issue echoed in the 2012 Games which coincided with Ramadan and posed problems for some Muslim athletes). Among a strong support cast, special mention should be made of Ian Holm as the Arab-Italian trainer Sam Mussabini.

It is a wonderfully uplifting story told with style and panache. The film won five Academy Award, including Best Picture, leading the writer Colin Welland to shout: "The British are coming!"