The way Great Britain really were in 1924.
By Philip Barker
It seems incredible but Chariots of Fire is 40 years old.
Despite reservations at the Warner Brothers studios when it was released in 1981, it won four Oscars, and is considered by some, including Honorary IOC President Jacques Rogge, to be the greatest sports film ever made.
It tells the story of “those few young men with hope in our hearts and wings on our heels.”
At the 1924 Olympics, Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams both won gold on the track for Great Britain.
Producer David Puttnam admitted “I literally stumbled across this story.”
He had read an early edition of Bill Henry’s history of the Olympics.
“Now it turned out that the book got all sorts of things wrong, but the important thing that he got right was this guy who refused to run in the heats which were run on a Sunday,” said Puttnam.
Scottish actor Ian Charleson was cast as Liddell and Ben Cross played Harold Abrahams.
The eminent athletics coach and sports historian Tom McNab, recruited as “Athletics Consultant,” held some unusual auditions.
“Puttnam said to me, only choose the ones you can train as athletes. None of them had done any sport at all.
“I had about 32 actors at Putney on a cinder track in the middle of the winter. Most of them were sick during the warm up. They weren’t fit in any way.
“I chose Ben and Ian. Puttnam heaved a sigh of relief and said, ‘they were the ones I’d wanted.’”
Abrahams himself was from a prominent Jewish family. The film hints at prejudice and discrimination from the academics at Caius College Cambridge. The disapproving Dons were played by Sir John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson. In one scene they admonish Abrahams for employing Sam Mussabini, a professional coach, played by Ian Holm.
By the time production began, Abrahams was 79 years old and an elder statesman of British athletics, but he agreed to help.
“We started working with Harold, but on the third meeting, we met his coffin,” recalled Puttnam.
Screenwriter Colin Welland attended the memorial service held for Abrahams in London.
“That is why the film begins with the memorial service. Colin went and that is where he had the idea of starting the film in that way,” said Puttnam.
The film switches to Scotland to tell the story of Liddell. The son of a missionary, he had been born in China and was a devout Christian.
He returned to Scotland to study and also won seven international rugby union caps.
His refusal to run on a Sunday was decided long before the Games took place, but the episode was changed in the film for greater dramatic effect.
McNab recalled, “We have him changing his mind on the boat. That was nonsense but it doesn’t matter, the basic principle is that he didn’t run on the Sunday. It just didn’t occur in that way.”
Puttnam agreed, “I have never felt for one moment that any of the liberties that we took were wrong. I never felt there were any distortions in the story.”
After his victory in Paris, Liddell returned to China as a missionary. He was interned during the war and died in 1945.
The film’s title name Chariots of Fire is now synonymous with the Olympics. It incorporated the words featured in the hymn “Jerusalem,” which is heard at the end of the film.
As McNab recalled, the working title at the outset was different.
“The film was originally called “The Runners.” I’ve still got a copy of it somewhere.”
The original storyline had also given prominence to Douglas Lowe who had won gold over 800m.
“In our first draft, Lowe was quite an important figure and we wrote to him,” said Puttnam.
“I got a letter back from what was now His Honour Judge Lowe, saying how much money do we pay?
I wrote what I thought was rather a nice letter saying we are going to make an honorarium of 500 guineas to all involved. He wrote back to say he wanted nothing to do with it.”
McNab suggested “Why don’t we have a rather dilettante sort of person, a rather aristocratic person and make him something different, a hurdler? Something that I could maybe coach him to do.”
The part of a hurdling aristocrat went to Nigel Havers.
It was broadly based on Lord Burghley, Marquess of Exeter, a 1924 competitor in 110m hurdles who won 400m hurdles gold in 1928.
By the time the film was made, Exeter had just resigned as the head of world athletics but was still a member of the International Olympic Committee.
Puttnam said “He was very helpful and said he was very happy to involve himself, but didn’t want us to use his name, which is why he became Lord Lindsay in the film.”
In a memorable sequence, Havers is shown hurdling outside a stately home with a glass of champagne on each hurdle. “If I shed a drop I want to know. Touch but not spill!”
The scene was in fact inspired by Don Finlay, a team mate of Exeter’s who had won Olympic bronze in 1932 and silver in 1936 and took the athletes oath in 1948.
“Colin had read that Don used to put match boxes on top of the hurdles.” said McNab.
“I said that’s no good with matchboxes, he’s an aristocrat. He said we’ll put champagne glasses on.”
In fact, as the crew discovered, they did not contain champagne, but what became warm ginger beer.
The film won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume and Best Musical Score.
The music by Vangelis is known to many who have never watched the film.
Before London 2012, a stage production of the story was performed in the West End and then came a surprise at the Olympic opening ceremony. This featured a sequence with comedian Rowan Atkinson.
The official media guide for the ceremony described the scene.
“The audience discover Rowan Atkinson sitting with the orchestra. As the music rises, we see that he is daydreaming and focus shifts to the screens where Atkinson is seen on a beach.”
The scene from the opening titles was then recreated using computer technology and that unforgettable theme by Vangelis.
Organisers said it was “to honour Britain’s cinematic tradition, this segment honours the film most associated with the Olympics: Chariots of Fire.”
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