Olympics Films, Part 1: From the Beginning to Leni Riefenstahl’s Berlin Docudrama

By David Wallechinsky

 

Introduction

In 2017, Criterion Collection, with the collaboration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), released a boxed set of 53 of the official films of the Olympics from 1912 through 2012. The set consists of 43 DVDs or 32 Blu-ray discs and 114 hours of footage. There is also a book with commentary by noted film critic Peter Cowie and a fascinating essay by restoration producer Adrian Wood about the history of the restoration project. This boxed set, although expensive, is an invaluable addition to any library, public or private, that takes seriously its collection about the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. I watched all 114 hours. In addition, I watched the official films of the Sochi 2014 Olympics, the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics and the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, as well as an extra Seoul 1988 film that is not included in the boxed set. Thanks to Robert Jaquier, the IOC’s Olympic films project manager, Jean-Louis Strangis and others in Lausanne, I was also able to view the existing footage for those Olympics for which there is not an official film.

Most of the official films fall into one of three categories: 1) Reporting Films that try to cover as many sports and events as possible; 2) Profile Films that focus on a select number of individual athletes; and 3) Auteur Films, in which the filmmaker is more concerned with expressing his or her vision than with portraying the competitions. Once in a while, a film successfully combines these three genres. The best examples are The Olympics in Mexico, covering the 1968 Games and directed by Olympian Alberto Isaac, and Rings of the World, the official film of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, directed by Sergei Miroshnichenko.

Almost all official films begin with the Olympic Flame being lit in Olympia and carried to the host city and then to the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony. Summer Olympics films tend to emphasize track and field (athletics), which is not surprising since running, jumping and throwing are the most universal sporting activities. Films of the Summer Games more often than not include a montage of divers, one of gymnasts and another of weightlifters. One of the highlights is Bud Greenspan’s riveting 23-minute portrayal of the 1996 weightlifting battle in the featherweight division between Naim Süleymanoğlu of Turkey and Valerios Leonidis of Greece.

Winter Olympics films usually include a montage of ski jumpers and another of figure skaters, as well as coverage of the men’s 50-kilometre cross-country race.

Most official films also include footage of athletes crashing and being injured. For the Winter films, these unfortunates are usually skiers, although sometimes they are competing in sliding sports and even skating events. The most violent aspects of ice hockey are also emphasized. In the official films of Summer Olympics, the most common falls that are shown take place in the cross-country portion of the equestrian three-day event.

Here are my comments on the films, with emphasis on Olympic history.

 

1906—Athens

 

 

 

 

The IOC does not recognize the 1906 Games as officially part of the Olympics because they were staged by the Greeks between scheduled Games. However, most Olympic historians do consider the 1906 Games legitimately part of Olympic history because they were so recognized at the time and because they saved the Olympic Movement after the disastrous Games of 1900 and 1904. In 1948, Hungarian Olympic historian (and IOC member) Ferenc Mezö proposed that the 1906 Games be officially recognized. In January 1949, a three-man commission headed by future IOC president Avery Brundage rejected this proposal. In the seventy years since then, the IOC has refused to reconsider this decision.

The 1906 Games were also the first to be recorded on film. The IOC has assembled nine minutes of footage from 1906. Most of this footage covers the day of the Opening Ceremony, with emphasis on the arrival of the royal families of Greece and Great Britain. (King Georgios of Greece and Queen Alexandra of Great Britain were brother and sister.) There are two minutes of competition footage, showing team gymnastics, tug-of-war and two heats of the 110-metre hurdles.

Other sources appear to include footage of the running and standing high jump, the pole vault and the 100 metres.

 

1908—London

 

There is no official film for the 1908 London Games. However, the IOC has assembled 14 minutes and 38 seconds of footage. The longest segment, by far, concerns the marathon. This is not surprising considering that it was the finish of this single event that attracted the attention of international sports fans and, to a certain extent, stabilized the Olympic Movement after the failed Games of 1900 and 1904.

We see the runners gather for the start, and later the leaders run along a street as spectators shout their encouragement. Then, the drama begins. Dorando Pietri of Italy enters the White City Stadium. He is staggering and barely conscious. He collapses, and someone massages his legs. He is helped to his feet and stumbles on while police officers shove away men in suits who surround him. Pietri crosses the finish line and is carried to a stretcher. Two police carry the stretcher off the track. The officials in charge of the race knew that if they helped Pietri, he would be disqualified, but they did so anyway. In the words of the Official Report of the 1908 Games, “It was impossible to leave him there, for it looked as if he might die in the very presence of the Queen.”

The stadium was used for many sports and included a pool next to the track. One marathon runner, after staggering across the finish line, pushes aside an official and goes straight to the pool, using the water to revive himself.

Johnny Hayes of the United States was finally declared the winner. We see him being presented a large sculpture. The sculpture, along with Hayes, himself, is placed on a table. Hayes’ U.S. teammates haul the whole assemblage onto their shoulders and walk off the track while Hayes waves an American flag.

From a modern perspective, some of the footage of other events is instructive. The pole vaulters and high jumpers try to land on their feet. This is not a bad idea considering that there is no landing pit. And the high divers enter the water feet first. The women archers are so overdressed it’s impressive that they can even move.

We also see a couple events that no longer exist: tug of war and so-called Greek-style discus throw, in which the competitors throw from a tilted platform. The use of the stadium for multiple sports can be seen during coverage of water polo with cycling in the background, and the regular discus throw with race walkers in the background.

 

1912—Stockholm

 

A Swedish-French coproduction, The Games of the V Olympiad Stockholm, 1912 is actually a compilation of newsreels. For those interested in Olympic history, it is a goldmine, a chance to see video of athletes and competitions previously only available as still photographs. Although the 1912 Olympics were formally opened by King Gustaf V on 6 July, the competitions in tennis, shooting and football began earlier. During the “Olympic Week”, which stretched from 6 July to 15 July, the bulk of the sports were staged. The equestrian events, rowing and sailing took place after the Olympic Week, as did the finals of some of the Olympic Week events.

At the Olympics of 1896 Athens Games, the 1908 London Games and the 1912 Stockholm Games, the royal families of the host nations exploited the excitement of the Olympics by inserting themselves into the proceedings. This is clearly seen in the 1912 newsreel footage, which includes endless coverage of King Gustaf V waving to crowds, handing out medals and other prizes and chatting with selected athletes. Today, medal winners stand on a podium and the medal givers look up to them. In 1912, it was Gustaf who stood on a platform and the medal winners who looked up to him. He can be seen repeatedly placing wreaths on their heads and giving the wreaths a thump to make sure they are secure, although visually the gesture has the appearance of condescension. Sometimes, the athlete isn’t even included in the frame, and we only see Gustaf.

One scene includes rare footage of Baron Pierre de Coubertin looking on while Gustaf, surrounded by family and retainers, commands the limelight during the prizegivings.

There is a famous legend that when Gustaf presented the gold medals to Jim Thorpe (USA) for the pentathlon and decathlon, he told Thorpe that “You sir, are the greatest athlete in the world,” to which Thorpe allegedly replied, “Thanks, King.” This encounter was captured on film. Alas, because the footage is silent, we do not have evidence of their exchange. Thorpe does look awkward, particularly when the officials try to load him down with two trophies: an enormous Viking ship, lined with gold and embedded with jewels that was donated by Czar Nicholas II of Russia, and a bronze bust of—guess who—King Gustaf V.

The filmmakers were good at convincing the winners of various events to pose for the camera. Judging by the athletes’ frequent huffing and puffing, it is clear that the filmmakers often caught them just as their event finished. In this sense, the 1912 coverage anticipates today’s television, although, because it was silent, we are spared the wince-making experience of watching today’s TV interviewers asking the exhausted athletes, “How do you feel?”

Today we are accustomed to multiple athletic events taking place in the stadium at the same time, such as a running race being contested while field events, such as the long jump, pole vault or hammer throw, continue in the infield. In 1912, diverse sports would take place simultaneously in the stadium. For example, while the camera focuses on a Greco-Roman wrestling match, race walkers can be seen in the background trundling around the track.

In addition to footage of Pierre de Coubertin, we are treated to video of Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who, at age 64, is, to this day, the oldest person to become an Olympic champion. Finnish long-distance runner Hannes Kolehmainen, having swept three individual events and added a silver medal in a team race, poses for the camera multiple times.

During the extensive coverage of the marathon, we even see Francisco Lázaro of Portugal stop at the water station at the halfway point. He collapsed a few kilometers later and died the following morning, one of only two athletes in Olympic history to die as a direct result of the competition.

 

1920—Antwerp

 

 

The IOC’s official films project team has assembled 67 minutes of footage from the Antwerp Games, almost all of it produced by a Swedish film crew. Not surprisingly, there is an emphasis on Swedish athletes. We also see a large Swedish choir performing, although the coverage is, of course, silent. And we see Swedish system team gymnastics, which was an official event, although only three nations took part. The Swedish system consisted of calisthenic-type exercises.

For the Opening Ceremony, most of the coverage deals with the Parade of Nations and the Belgian royal family. There is a definite martial air about the ceremonies. Less than two years after the end of World War I, the IOC barred the losers of the war, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria, from taking part. For the first time in Olympic history, homing pigeons are released as a symbol of peace. However, this peaceful message is somewhat blunted by the fact that the pigeons are released from cages by soldiers wearing helmets.

The sports coverage begins with tug-ofwar. However, most of the sports footage is of standard track and field events. In the middle- and long-distance races, what became known as the “bell lap” (the last lap) is signaled by the waving of a white flag. There is a false start in the 10,000 metres final, with Paavo Nurmi of Finland going on the win the first of his nine career gold medals. His teammates throw him in the air, and he almost manages a smile for the camera.

There is rare footage of some soon-to-be discontinued events, most notably the 56-pound weight throw, but also the beginning and end of the cross-country race. Some athletics events are poorly attended, but others appear to have attracted a reasonable crowd.

The equestrian events, in which only military officers could compete, earns extended coverage, including the bizarre event known as vaulting or figure riding, which consisted of jumping on and off horses. We are shown various soldiers running towards a row of horses, landing on one horse’s saddle with their hands and doing a somersault back to earth. Only three nations took part in this event, and it was never again included in the Olympic program.

Thirteen-year-old Aileen Riggin of the United States won the springboard diving event, and Nils Skoglund of Sweden, who had just turned fourteen, earned the silver medal in plain diving. They are shown smiling and chatting.

After Finland’s Hannes Kolehmainen wins the marathon, he is compelled to take a victory lap while loaded down with a wreath, a national flag and a sign with an “M” on it. Silver medal winner Jüri Lossman of Estonia accompanies Kolehmainen around the track.

At the Closing Ceremony, King Albert I and his family are back at the center of attention, presenting the winners with their medals and a statuette of a naked man. Although this is in honor of the ancient Greek tradition, it is a bit awkward when King Albert presents a naked man to 13-year-old Aileen Riggin, who came from a country that was not accustomed to such public displays of male nudity.

 

1924—Chamonix

The Olympic Games Held at Chamonix in 1924 is a short film, just 35 minutes, but it does a good job of covering the first Winter Olympics. For the first time, we see some events, such as ski jump and figure skating, shown in slow-motion. Although they were not acknowledged by the IOC as Olympic Games until after they were finished, the Chamonix Games began with a Parade of Nations, with the athletes tromping through the village. Many of them carry their sporting gear, in some cases, brooms. This was a sign that curling was part of the first Winter Games, albeit with only three nations participating.

Already, we are reminded of the danger of some events and told, through intertitles, that a Swiss bobsleigher broke both legs in a spill, as did an American ski jumper.

There is footage of 11-year-old Sonja Henie. We even see her falling during one spin attempt. But her skill at such an early age is evident. She went on to earn the gold medal at the next three Olympics.

The 50-kilometer cross-country course was covered in such deep snow that the organizers had to plant 6,200 flags to show the way.

 

1924—Paris

 

The first surprise in The Olympic Games in Paris 1924 comes when the international dignitaries arrive for the Opening Ceremony and take their places inside the stadium. Not only do we see the 30-year-old Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VIII and abdicate “for love” less than a year later, but there is 31-year-old Haile Selassie, who, six years later, would become emperor of Ethiopia. We also watch the uncaging of carrier pigeons who have been transported to Paris from their home countries and are now released to return home.

Like the 1912 Stockholm film, the Paris 1924 official film covers a lot of ground, showing, at least for a minute or so, as many sports as possible. Only weightlifting, shooting and modern pentathlon failed to make the grade. The finals of team sports, such as football, rugby union and polo are shown in extended sequences. All of them were won by teams from the Western Hemisphere: Uruguay, United States and Argentina, respectively.

Some events appear to have been well-attended—40,000 spectators filled the stadium for the finals of football and rugby. However, for many sports, the stands are far from full, and upper-class sports, such as equestrian, yachting, polo and fencing, might as well have been attended by private invitation. Running events also fill the stands. We are treated to views of Paavo Nurmi winning four different races, checking his watch in each, except the cross-country. No mention is made of the fact that Nurmi won the 1500 meters and the 5000 meters, not only on the same day, but 42 minutes apart.

At the refreshment stations during the marathon race, the French hosts offer not just the usual fare, but glasses of white wine as well. We watch one runner hesitate and then, why not, down a glassful after all.

Despite its inclusion of most sports, the film avoids covering the controversial incidents that accompanied the fencing and boxing competitions. For example, in the team foil event, the crucial match between Italy and France was decided in France’s favor as the result of a controversial decision made by a Hungarian judge. After an ugly confrontation about verbal abuse, the Italian fencers walked off, singing the Fascist hymn as they left. The film, in an intertitle, merely states that the Italians forfeited their matches.

The film concludes with coverage of the spirited finals of three boxing divisions: bantamweight, light-heavyweight and flyweight. No mention is made of the welterweight and middleweight divisions. In a preliminary welterweight match, the English referee, T.H. Walker, disqualified an Italian boxer, Giuseppe Oldani, for persistent holding. Oldani’s supporters pelted Walker with various objects, and Walker had to be escorted out of the ring by a contingent of English-speaking boxers. However, this was nothing compared to the middleweight division. Frenchman Roger Brousse was unexpectedly declared the quarter-final winner over Britain’s Harry Mallin. However, Brousse was later disqualified for having robustly bitten Mallin. When this decision was announced the following evening, a riot broke out, and police had to intervene to prevent Brousse’s supporters from occupying the ring. Mallin went on to earn the gold medal.

Coverage of women’s event is limited to tennis and a few seconds of fencing, even though women also competed in swimming and diving.

1928—St. Moritz

 

The White Stadium, the official film of the Second Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz, is a combination of staged scenes and actual competition. It begins with what amounts to a 25-minute travelogue promoting the high-end resort of St. Moritz and the surrounding region of Engadin in Switzerland. We are shown many scenes of natural beauty, as well as children engaging in a snowball fight and a mostly-naked couple cross-country skiing on a sunny day.

Unfortunately, the Opening Ceremony did not take place on such a pleasant day. The athletes and officials marching in the Parade of Nations struggle against heavy winds. At least they were able to move around a bit, unlike the spectators, who are seen cringing in the bitter cold.

At the 35-minute mark of the film, we finally see some competition, beginning with heats of the 500-metre speed skating event. Coverage of the 50-kilometre cross-country reveals a course that is more authentically “cross-country” than what we are used to today. The skiers appear exhausted throughout.

The ski jump is well-attended, and the beautiful presentation includes close-up head shots of the smiling participants, as well as slow-motion coverage of many of the jumps.

Much less well-attended is the curling tournament, which, even back in 1928, is viewed with a sense of humor. The sequence concludes with an intertitle stating that with curling, victory is not as important as…and we see a curler drinking wine. Aficionados of curling will note that the exact center of the house is marked with a short, movable pole resembling the hole pole used in golf.

The head-first skeleton, which, until 2002, was included in the Olympic program only when the Games were held in St. Moritz (1928 and 1948) is shown. But we also learn that in 1928 the bobsleigh teams competed head first while lying on top of each other.

Demonstration events presented include horse racing on a frozen lake, harness racing and skijöring, in which skiers are dragged along behind a galloping horse, while attached by a tow rope. Earlier in the film, we watch an actress try skijoring, the actress being none other than Leni Riefenstahl, who also appeared in narrative films directed by Arnold Farck, the director of The White Stadium.

Although the figure skating competitions are presented, special coverage is given Sonja Henie, who is shown not in competition, but performing for the camera, The extended sequence is intercut with numerous shots of adoring boys and stadium spectators who were clearly filmed separately, a staged sequence twelve years before Leni Riefenstahl did the same in the Berlin Summer Games film.

Although the ice hockey tournament consisted of 18 matches, the only one shown is referred to in the intertitle as “The Hockey Match.” This was Canada’s 13-0 victory over the Swiss team, and we are shown all 13 goals.

The film concludes with a show put on by professional figure skaters who jump over barrels, clown around, present a mock-sexy dance and generally are at least as skilled as the Olympic competitors, if not more so.

 

1928—Amsterdam

There are two films of the 1928 Summer Games in the IOC/Criterion collection, one made by an Italian company and one by the Dutch. After a contract dispute, the responsible Dutch officials signed away the exclusive film rights to an Italian company. This caused understandable outrage in the Netherlands and there was an industry boycott of the film there. The German company, UFA, purchased the rights to the Italian footage and then made a deal with a Dutch company to use the footage for a Dutch version.

The Italian version, The IX Olympiad in Amsterdam, is more than four hours long, and the Dutch one, The Olympic Games, Amsterdam 1928, more than three hours long. The Italian film covers a wide range of events, but often in an odd way. Sometimes we are told an athlete’s country, but not his or her name. Often, we are told the winner before a race is shown. The Dutch version is far superior. Not only does it identity the athletes and often add commentary about the progress of an event, sometimes it even tells us which athletes are in which lanes.

In the Italian version, for example, an intertitle introduces the men’s 100 metres as a highlight of the Olympics, but all we see is the start from behind, and the unnamed winner (Percy Williams of Canada) is only seen in the distance being photographed. The Dutch version, on the other hand, shows the full race and close-ups of Williams after his victory, including being hoisted on the shoulders of his countrymen.

Today, there is an ongoing controversy about whether the governments in non-dictatorships should help fund the staging of the Olympics, and referendums often reveal that locals reject holding the Games in their hometown. The Dutch version of the 1928 film reveals a reverse situation. The Dutch national parliament voted against funding the Olympics, but Amsterdam organizers managed to cobble together funding anyway, including loans from the government.

In the Italian version, we are shown some of the boxing finals, but the contestants are identified by nation, not by name (except for one Italian). The Dutch version shows slightly less footage, but does identify the boxers. There are no referees in the ring. In the featherweight semi-final, Harry Devine of the United States twice slips and falls…and his opponent, Bep van Klaveren of the Netherlands, lends him a hand to get back up. When van Klaveren is declared the winner, he kisses Devine, who is clearly unfamiliar with this custom.

Paavo Nurmi wins the 10,000 metres, this time without consulting a watch. However, as intertitles in both versions note, he refuses to be filmed afterwards, so we get to see second place finisher Ville Ritola instead. The Dutch film shows Nurmi collapsed on his back, exhausted after placing second to Ritola in the 5,000 metres. But he jumps up and rushes away when he realizes that cameramen are coming towards him. The Italian version also includes an unusual moment in Nurmi’s illustrious career. During a qualifying heat in the 3.000-metre steeplechase, Nurmi falls on his side into the pool at the first water jump. Lucien Duquesne of France stops to help him up. Nurmi would repay the favor by pacing Duquesne for the rest of the race. In the final, Nurmi earned another silver medal.

For some sports, such as swimming, water polo, show jumping (which was held in the stadium preceding the Closing Ceremony) and some (but not all) of the athletics events, the stands are full of spectators. For other sports, like gymnastics, they are almost empty.

Speaking of gymnastics, the events in the men’s competition are recognizable (pommeled horse and rings), but the women’s team event is really a series of dance routines with a few exercise moves thrown in.

There is a wonderful shot of Johnny Weissmuller beaming after winning the 100-metre freestyle final. In an early case of media awareness, Weissmuller, apparently at the request of the cameraman or someone beside him, stands on tiptoes so that the U.S. emblem on his swimsuit can be seen, and, again at someone’s request, he points a finger at it.

For the first time, women were allowed to compete in athletics, (in four events compared to 22 for men). An intertitle tells us that the winner of the woman’s high jump, Ethel Catherwood of Canada, was deemed the most beautiful athlete of the 1928 Games and then shows us a close-up of her to prove it. After footage of the women’s discus throw competition, we are introduced to the lively and expressive winner, Halina Konopacka of Poland. There is a story that the male sports officials in charge of athletics were so appalled by the sight of women collapsing in exhaustion after the final of the 800 metres, that they forbid women to run Olympic races longer than 200 metres, a prohibition that would last until 1960. However, coverage of the race in the Dutch film shows that only one woman fell to the ground after crossing the finish line. By the way, as a reminder that men become exhausted too, we are told in an intertitle that after winning the 1,500-metre swimming final, Sweden’s Arne Borg had to be helped from the pool.

The Italian film dismisses the marathon with footage of the start and close-ups of the winner, Boughera El Ouafi of France, the first African-born Olympic champion. The Dutch version, on the other hand, devotes thirteen minutes to the race and includes commentary about its progress. The marathon was filmed from automobiles and there is also a beautiful shot of El Ouafi taken from a boat following along part of the course.

Apparently, some footage was poorly developed and/or disappeared. Coverage of cycling is reduced to one photo in the Dutch film, and there is no coverage at all of football, field hockey, modern pentathlon, weightlifting or wrestling.

At the Closing Ceremony, the prizegiving begins with flags being raised for events that were held outside the stadium. The medals are distributed by nation rather than by event. When the Italian winners come forward to receive their medals, they each give the Fascist salute. The gold medals are handed out by Queen Wilhelmina, while the silver medal winners receive theirs from grumpy Prince Consort Henrik and the bronze medal winners from IOC President Henri de Baillet-Latour. The horses of the winning Dutch team in show jumping are given cockades to wear as they take a victory lap with their riders.

A lot of people today complain that there is too much emphasis on national medal totals, but it already existed back in 1928. Not only did the medal winners come forward by nation rather than by event, but the Italian film ends by awarding the team prize to the United States based on three points for a first place, two points for a second place and one point for a third. One more thing that seems like a modern phenomenon but isn’t: after the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremonies of the Amsterdam Games, the exiting spectators have to stand in long, long lines as they wait to board public transportation.

 

1932—Lake Placid

 

In 1930, the IOC stipulated that Olympic organizing committees must produce an official film of their Games. Alas, if such films were made for the Winter and Summer Games of 1932, they have not survived.

However, the IOC has restored 18 minutes from the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics. Ten of those minutes are silent sequences from men’s speed skating. The other eight minutes are taken from newsreel reports produced by Hearst Metrotone, Fox Movietone and Pathé. We have entered the sound era, so, for the first time, we hear athletes speaking to the camera. Most notably, Jack Shea wins the 500 metres speed skating event and explains that he did so “for the glory of the United States.” Another American, bobsleigher Hubert Stevens, who won the two-man event with his brother Curtis, says, “It’s the thrill of the sport rather than the victory that really counts in bobsledding.”

After watching British stilt skater Phil Taylor and the Parade of Nations, we see a welcoming speech given by New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, nine months later, would be elected president of the United States.

We are shown the obligatory ski jump crash, but most of the coverage is of American speed skaters winning races. Irving Jaffee dives across the finish line of the 10,000 metres and “wins by a chin.” Although the women’s speed skating events were unofficial, non-medal contests, the most dramatic scene is the climax of the women’s 1,000 metres, won by Elizabeth DuBois when Canadian Jean Wilson stumbles and falls just before the finish line. For the record, Wilson returned the next day to defeat DuBois in the 500 metres.

 

1932—Los Angeles

 

The IOC has managed to assemble 49 minutes of sound coverage and 99 minutes of silent footage from the 1932 Summer Games, using material from U.S., British, German and Swedish newsreels.

These were the first Summer Olympics of the “talkie” era and so we get to hear athletes speak. There are many shots of winning athletes being interviewed. For the most part, they are so unaccustomed to filmed interviews that the athletes give short, generic answers, apparently suggested by the interviewers. However, there are some notable exceptions.

Bob Tisdall of Ireland, after winning the 400-metre hurdles, says he planned to have this be the last race of his career, “because I want to play football. But now I’m not so certain. I may run next year.”

American Jean Shiley, winner of the high jump, relates this anecdote: “My father always told me I could jump five-foot five. I didn’t quite believe him. But just before that last jump, I said ‘here goes five-foot five and a quarter, Dad.’”

Lillian Copeland had earned a silver medal in the discus throw at the 1928 Olympics. She stopped training for three years to study law at the University of Southern California, which was nearby the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, site of the Olympic competitions. After winning the gold medal this time around, she tells the camera, “Now that it’s all over, I can get back and get started on the old profession of law…perhaps.” Copeland, who was Jewish, boycotted the 1936 Berlin Games to protest the German refusal to allow Jews on their teams.

There are a couple of narration highlights from the U.S. newsreel coverage. We get to see American Georgia Coleman perform four different dives in the springboard diving event, while the narrator tells us the name of each dive. The competitors in the 50-kilometre walk are described as “Just a flock of animated pretzels.”

The silent, raw footage primarily covers diving and swimming, but also shows boxing, fencing, the gymnastics horse vault, lacrosse (a demonstration sport) and field hockey. We also get to see the one and only time that tumbling was included in the Olympic program. And there is even footage of workers constructing the Olympic Village for the athletes.

 

1936—Garmisch-Partenkirchen

 

The official film of the 1936 Winter Games, Youth of the World, is about 35 minutes long. After some obligatory scenes of winter beauty, we jump right into the Opening Ceremony, held in a snowstorm, with the athletes already having marched in. The proceedings are watched over by Adolf Hitler, who, in smiling profile, looks uncomfortably like Tom Hanks. The first event shown is a demonstration sport, military ski patrol, the precursor to biathlon. There is something ominous about the immediate emphasis on shooting, even when it turns out that the targets are balloons.

This is an “art” film. Although we see many sports, not one athlete is identified by name. And unless you are familiar with national flags, you won’t know who won the various events. Ice hockey play is already quite violent. Several bobsledders are shown crashing, as are Alpine skiers, this being first time the sport was included in the Olympics, and one ski jumper appears to be badly injured.

Nazi propaganda is slipped in, and there appear to be an unusually large number of shots of Japanese, whom Hitler was starting to cultivate as possible allies. Shots of ski jumpers flying through the air on the last day of the Games are interspersed with those of eagles, which happened to be part of the emblem of the Nazi government.

 

1936—Berlin

Directed by Leni Riefenstahl, Olympia is the most famous of Olympic films. Much praised for its technical innovations, it even won the Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the 1938 Venice Film Festival. The IOC presents a restoration of the 226-minute domestic version that was released in Germany less than 17 months before Germany invaded Poland to launch World War II. In 1935, Riefenstahl had directed the frightening Nazi propaganda documentary Triumph of the Will.

Part one of Olympia, subtitled Festival of Nations, begins with a nine-minute montage of ancient Greek architecture and sculpture. This morphs into another montage, this one of naked men and women. When we finally get to the Opening Ceremony, again overseen by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi imagery is inescapable. For example, when weightlifter Rudolf Ismayr (the defending middleweight Olympic champion) reads the Athletes’ Oath, he does so while holding the Nazi flag.

The rest of part one is devoted to athletics, although some events, such as the decathlon and the relays, are saved for part two. The coverage is compelling, and some of the running finals are shown in their entirety. But, from the point of view of Olympic history, it is clear that the film is more of a docudrama—a drama based on fact—than an actual documentary. Riefenstahl freely combined competition footage with staged shots filmed after the events were over, and she did not hesitate to include shots of spectators cheering to make it appear that her post-Olympics sequences were taken while the competitions were in progress. She also inserted fake audio to make it seem like fans are chanting cheers for their own countries’ athletes. For example, during the decathlon, we might hear in the background, “USA, USA, Morris, Morris”, but with a distinctly German accent.

At the beginning of the women’s 4×100-metre relay, Hitler is seated with one set of sycophants, but seconds later he is surrounded by a different group of sycophants. Riefenstahl evidently didn’t think moviegoers would notice, or she didn’t care.

The throwing and jumping events are also manipulated to make it seem like they are decided with the final throw or jump. For example, Gerhard Stöck of Germany won the javelin event with his fifth throw, not his sixth, as did his countryman Hans Woellke in the shot put. Both of these events, by the way, slip in Nazi propaganda. We see Hitler congratulate Woellke. Despite calling the Berlin Olympics a “Festival of Peace,” Stöck’s victory is underlined with the singing of the German national anthem which, at the time, was translated as “Germany, Germany above all, Above everything in the world.”

Riefenstahl does present us with some lovely shots of Jesse Owens running, jumping and just smiling. And there are a few seconds in the women’s high jump coverage of Dora Ratjen, who two years later, was outed as a hermaphrodite and no longer allowed to compete as a woman.

Another story that Riefenstahl missed was that of “Kitei Son,” who won the marathon as a member of the Japanese team. In fact, he was Korean, and his real name was Sohn Kee-chung. The bronze medal was earned by another Korean, Nam Seung-yong, who was forced to compete as Shoryu Nan. Sohn repeatedly tried to describe his true nationality to sports reporters and to explain that his country was under Japanese occupation. Riefenstahl shows Japanese fans cheering, but at the Medal Ceremony, Sohn and Nam bow their heads, and Sohn uses the oak tree he is given as champion to cover up the Japanese rising sun on his outfit.

Part two of Olympia, subtitled Festival of Beauty, opens with more naked men, this time running, cavorting in the water and laughing together in a sauna. A section displaying the pleasures of the men’s Olympic Village ends with what would turn out to be an ominous symbol: a watchtower above the camp with a Nazi flag waving nearby.

Coverage of the field hockey final shows Germany scoring a goal against “British India” without pointing out that India eventually won the match 8-1.

Quite a bit of time is devoted to sharing the dangers of the cross-country course in the three-day equestrian event. We are shown no less than 13 spills. The German riders, who had practiced on the course, won both the individual and team events. Horse lovers might find the sequence upsetting. Indeed, although it is not mentioned in the film, three of the horses were so badly injured that they were “put down,” which is to say, killed.

The decathlon also earns extended coverage, perhaps because Riefenstahl engaged in a brief but torrid affair with winner Glenn Morris of the United States. She also directed a staged version of the ending of the final event, the 1,500 metres, having apparently missed cinematic coverage of the actual race.

The last sport to be shown in the almost four-hour long film is diving. Again mixing competition coverage with staged footage, the sequence is magnificent. However, none of the divers are identified by name.