Where to watch Chariots of Fire (1981)
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In the class-conscious and religiously divided United Kingdom of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Olympics. One sees running as an expression of Christian faith, while the other faces prejudice and class barriers as he pursues victory and self-worth.
Cast: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Nigel Havers, Ian Holm, Nicholas Farrell, Daniel Gerroll, John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Nigel Davenport, Dennis Christopher
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Trivia & production notes
- Producer David Puttnam discovered the story of Eric Liddell by chance in 1977 while bedridden with the flu in a rented Malibu house, when he picked up a reference book about Olympic history.
- Screenwriter Colin Welland interviewed everyone still alive who was involved with the 1924 Olympics and even placed newspaper advertisements in London seeking personal memories of the Games for his research.
- Ian Charleson, who studied the Bible intensively for his role, rewrote Eric Liddell's post-race inspirational speech himself because he felt the original scripted version was inauthentic and sanctimonious.
- Ian Charleson was discovered for the role of Eric Liddell while performing in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Piaf, though he had already heard about the film from his father and desperately wanted the part.
- Ben Cross, cast as Harold Abrahams, was found performing in the musical Chicago and was selected partly because he could both sing and play piano.
- Hugh Hudson, who directed Chariots of Fire, had never helmed a feature film before and was a multiple award-winning advertising and documentary filmmaker.
- Cambridge University refused to grant filming rights because it feared the film would depict anti-Semitism, so all indoor Cambridge scenes were shot at Eton College instead.
- The iconic beach running scenes were filmed at West Sands in St Andrews, Scotland, next to the Old Course, with the location later commemorated by a plaque placed by Broadstairs town council.
- All actors portraying runners completed an intensive three-month training regimen with renowned running coach Tom McNab, which bonded the cast together.
- The American theatrical release was altered to receive a PG rating instead of G by adding a scene with World War I veterans using profanity, avoiding a rating associated with children's films that could hurt box office performance.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article Chariots of Fire, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.
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