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66-746: Chariots of Fire is a 1981 historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson , written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam . It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics : Eric Liddell , a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams , an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice. Ben Cross and Ian Charleson star as Abrahams and Liddell, alongside Nigel Havers , Ian Holm , John Gielgud , Lindsay Anderson , Cheryl Campbell , Alice Krige , Brad Davis and Dennis Christopher in supporting roles. Kenneth Branagh and Stephen Fry make their debuts in minor roles. Chariots of Fire

132-539: A PG rating . An off-camera retort of, "Win it for Israel" among exhortations of fellow students of Abrahams before he takes on the challenge of The Great Court Run was absent from the final cuts theatrically distributed in the U.S. However, they can be heard in versions broadcast on such cable outlets as TCM . Although the film is a period piece set in the 1920s, the Academy Award -winning original soundtrack composed by Vangelis (credited as Vangelis Papathanassiou) uses

198-520: A King" from The Gondoliers . The film also incorporates a major traditional work: " Jerusalem ", sung by a British choir at the 1978 funeral of Harold Abrahams. The words, written by William Blake in 1804–08, were set to music by Hubert Parry in 1916 as a celebration of England. This hymn has been described as "England's unofficial national anthem", concludes the film and inspired its title. A handful of other traditional anthems and hymns and period-appropriate instrumental ballroom-dance music round out

264-818: A backdrop of historical events. A period piece may be set in a vague or general era such as the Middle Ages , or a specific period such as the Roaring Twenties , or the recent past. In different eras different subgenres have risen to popularity, such as the westerns and sword and sandal films that dominated North American cinema in the 1950s. The costume drama is often separated as a genre of historical dramas. Early critics defined them as films focusing on romance and relationships in sumptuous surroundings, contrasting them with other historical dramas believed to have more serious themes. Other critics have defended costume dramas, and argued that they are disparaged because they are

330-575: A contemporary 1980s electronic sound, with a strong use of synthesizer and piano among other instruments. This was a departure from earlier period films, which employed sweeping orchestral instrumentals. The title theme of the film has been used in subsequent films and television shows during slow-motion segments. Vangelis, a Greek-born electronic composer who moved to Paris in the late 1960s, had been living in London since 1974. Director Hugh Hudson had collaborated with him on documentaries and commercials, and

396-647: A feature film, to direct Chariots of Fire . Hudson and Puttnam had known each other since the 1960s when Puttnam was an advertising executive and Hudson was making films for ad agencies. In 1977, Hudson had also been second-unit director on the Puttnam-produced film Midnight Express . Director Hugh Hudson was determined to cast young, unknown actors in all the major roles of the film, and to back them up by using veterans like John Gielgud , Lindsay Anderson , and Ian Holm as their supporting cast. Hudson and producer David Puttnam did months of fruitless searching for

462-473: A film without any US input) at the time, surpassing Meatballs ' $ 43 million. The film was included by the Vatican in a list of important films compiled in 1995, under the category of "Values". The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards , winning four (including Best Picture ). When accepting his Oscar for Best Original Screenplay , Colin Welland famously announced "The British are coming" . It

528-541: A genre directed towards women. Historical dramas have also been described as a conservative genre, glorifying an imagined past that never existed. Historical drama may include mostly fictionalized narratives based on actual people or historical events, such as the history plays of Shakespeare , Apollo 13 , The Tudors , Braveheart , Chernobyl , Enemy at the Gates , Les Misérables , and Titanic . Works may include references to real-life people or events from

594-417: A heat of the 220 yards, which Liddell won, five yards ahead of Abrahams, who did not progress to the final. In the 100 yards, Abrahams was eliminated in the heats and did not race against Liddell, who won the finals of both races the next day. They also raced against each other in the 200 m final at the 1924 Olympics, and this was also not shown in the film. Abrahams' fiancée is misidentified as Sybil Gordon ,

660-523: A leading Gilbert and Sullivan soprano. Eric Liddell , born in China to Scottish missionary parents, is in Scotland. His devout sister Jennie disapproves of Liddell's plans to pursue competitive running. Still, Liddell sees running as a way of glorifying God before returning to China to work as a missionary. When they first race against each other, Liddell beats Abrahams. Abrahams takes it poorly, but Sam Mussabini ,

726-562: A medal will be the 100 metres. He competes in the race and wins. His coach Mussabini, who was barred from the stadium, is overcome that the years' dedication and training have paid off with an Olympic gold medal. Now Abrahams can get on with his life and reunite with his girlfriend Sybil, whom he has neglected for the sake of running. Before Liddell's race, the American coach remarks dismissively to his runners that Liddell has little chance of doing well in his new, far longer, 400-metre race. But one of

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792-404: A narrative bridge in the film. Except for changes in the greetings of the letters from "Darling Mummy" to "Dear Mum" and the change from Oxford to Cambridge, all of the readings from Montague's letters are from the originals. Welland's original script also featured, in addition to Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, a third protagonist, 1924 Olympic gold medallist Douglas Lowe , who was presented as

858-402: A period symphonic score." The soundtrack had a personal significance to Vangelis: after composing the theme he told Puttnam, "My father is a runner, and this is an anthem to him." Hudson originally wanted Vangelis's 1977 tune "L'Enfant", from his Opera Sauvage album, to be the title theme of the film, and the beach running sequence was actually filmed with "L'Enfant" playing on loudspeakers for

924-424: A privileged aristocratic athlete. However, Lowe refused to have anything to do with the film, and his character was written out and replaced by the fictional character of Lord Andrew Lindsay. Initial financing towards development costs was provided by Goldcrest Films , who then sold the project to Mohamed Al-Fayed 's Allied Stars, but kept a percentage of the profits. Ian Charleson wrote Eric Liddell's speech to

990-627: A professional trainer he had approached earlier, offers to take him on to improve his technique. This attracts criticism from the Cambridge college masters, who allege it is not gentlemanly for an amateur to "play the tradesman" by employing a professional coach. Abrahams dismisses this concern, interpreting it as cover for antisemitic and class-based prejudice. When Liddell accidentally misses a church prayer meeting because of his running, Jennie upbraids him and accuses him of no longer caring about God. Eric tells her that though he intends to return eventually to

1056-402: A score of 78 out of 100 based on 19 critics' reviews. For its 2012 re-release, Kate Muir of The Times gave the film five stars, writing: "In a time when drug tests and synthetic fibres have replaced gumption and moral fibre, the tale of two runners competing against each other in the 1924 Olympics has a simple, undiminished power. From the opening scene of pale young men racing barefoot along

1122-530: A seafront plaque. All of the Cambridge scenes were actually filmed at Hugh Hudson's alma mater Eton College , because Cambridge refused filming rights, fearing depictions of anti-Semitism. The Cambridge administration greatly regretted the decision after the film's enormous success. Liverpool Town Hall was the setting for the scenes depicting the British Embassy in Paris. The Colombes Olympic Stadium in Paris

1188-534: A set gofer , appears as an extra in the Cambridge Society Day sequence. Stephen Fry has a likewise uncredited role as a Gilbert-and-Sullivan Club singer. Producer David Puttnam was looking for a story in the mould of A Man for All Seasons (1966), regarding someone who follows his conscience, and felt that sport provided clear situations in this sense. He discovered Eric Liddell's story by accident in 1977, when he happened upon An Approved History of

1254-575: A soprano with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company . In fact, in 1936, Abrahams married Sybil Evers , who also performed with D'Oyly Carte, but they did not meet until 1934. Also, in the film, Sybil is depicted as singing the role of Yum-Yum in The Mikado , but neither Gordon nor Evers ever sang that role with D'Oyly Carte, although Evers was known for her charm in singing Peep-Bo, one of the two other "little maids from school". Harold Abrahams' love of and heavy involvement with Gilbert and Sullivan , as depicted in

1320-745: Is a flashback to when he was young and in a group of athletes running along a beach. In 1919, Harold Abrahams enters the University of Cambridge , where he experiences antisemitism from the staff but enjoys participating in the Gilbert and Sullivan club. He becomes the first person to complete the Trinity Great Court Run , running around the college courtyard in the time it takes for the clock to strike 12, and achieves an undefeated string of victories in various national running competitions. Although focused on his running, he falls in love with Sybil Gordon ,

1386-417: Is that it was he who introduced Abrahams to Sam Mussabini . This is alluded to: in the film, Abrahams first encounters Mussabini while he is watching Liddell race. Abrahams and Liddell did race against each other twice, but not as depicted in the film, which shows Liddell winning the final of the 100 yards against a shattered Abrahams at the 1923 AAA Championship at Stamford Bridge. In fact, they raced only in

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1452-556: Is tripped up by a Frenchman in the 400-metre event of a Scotland–France international athletic meeting. He recovers, makes up a 20-metre deficit, and wins. This was based on fact; the actual race was the 440 yards at a Triangular Contest meet between Scotland, England, and Ireland at Stoke-on-Trent in England in July 1923. His achievement was remarkable as he had already won the 100- and 220-yard events that day. Also unmentioned with regard to Liddell

1518-463: The 400-metre race on the following Thursday to Liddell, who gratefully accepts. Liddell's religious convictions in the face of national athletic pride make headlines around the world; he delivers a sermon at the Paris Church of Scotland that Sunday, and quotes from Isaiah 40 . Abrahams is badly beaten by the heavily favoured United States runners in the 200-metre race. He knows his last chance for

1584-621: The Games of the VIII Olympiad ( French : Jeux de la VIII olympiade ) and officially branded as Paris 1924 , were an international multi-sport event held in Paris , France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had already started on 4 May. The Games were the second to be hosted by Paris (after 1900 ), making it the first city to host the Olympics twice. The selection process for

1650-563: The centenary of the Winter Olympics ; making Paris 2024 the sixth Olympic Games hosted by France (three Summer Olympics and three Winter Olympics ), and the first French Olympics since the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville . Notable debuts of participating countries for the Paris 1924 Olympics include Ireland , Latvia , Lithuania , Philippines , Poland , Romania , and Uruguay ; all of which celebrated their centenary participation at

1716-516: The 1924 Olympics, also declined. Another scene in the film recreates the Great Court Run , in which the runners attempt to run around the perimeter of the Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge in the time it takes the clock to strike 12 at midday. The film shows Abrahams performing the feat for the first time in history. In fact, Abrahams never attempted this race, and at the time of filming

1782-403: The 1924 Olympics, and interviewed everyone involved who was still alive. Welland just missed Abrahams, who died on 14 January 1978, but he did attend Abrahams' February 1978 memorial service, which inspired the present-day framing device of the film. Aubrey Montague 's son saw Welland's newspaper ad and sent him copies of the letters his father had sent home – which gave Welland something to use as

1848-464: The 1924 Summer Olympics consisted of six bids, and Paris was selected ahead of Amsterdam , Barcelona , Los Angeles , Prague , and Rome . The selection was made at the 20th IOC Session in Lausanne in 1921. The cost of these Games was estimated to be 10,000,000  F (equivalent to € 10.1 million in 2022 ). With total receipts at 5,496,610 F (equivalent to € 5.53 million in 2022),

1914-417: The 2024 Summer Olympics back in Paris. One venue from the 1924 Games was used in the 2024 Games. The extensively renovated and downsized main stadium, known since 1928 as Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir , hosted field hockey. The last surviving competitor of the 1924 Summer Olympics was Croatian swimmer Ivo Pavelić , who died on 22 February 2011 at the age of 103; he competed for Yugoslavia, which Croatia

1980-875: The American runners, Jackson Scholz , hands Liddell a note of support that quotes 1 Samuel 2:30 . Liddell defeats the American favourites and wins the gold medal. The British team returns home triumphant. A textual epilogue reveals that Abrahams married Sybil and became the elder statesman of British athletics while Liddell went on to do missionary work and was mourned by all of Scotland following his death in Japanese-occupied China . Other actors in smaller roles include John Young as Eric and Jennie's father Reverend J.D. Liddell, Yvonne Gilan as their mother Mary, Benny Young as their older brother Rob, Yves Beneyton as French runner Géo André , Philip O'Brien as American coach George Collins, Patrick Doyle as Jimmie, and Ruby Wax as Bunty. Kenneth Branagh , who worked as

2046-595: The British Empire, was very ambiguous, meaning "something between a colony and state". It was only years later with the Statute of Westminster 1931 that this ambiguity would be dispelled. And Philippines was an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States . These are the nations that won medals the 1924 Games.   *    Host nation ( France ) The 1924 Summer Olympics

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2112-529: The British track team appears shortly after the beginning of the original film. For the American audience, this brief scene was deleted. In the U.S., to avoid the initial G rating, which had been strongly associated with children's films and might have hindered box office sales, a different scene was used – one depicting Abrahams and Montague arriving at a Cambridge railway station and encountering two First World War veterans who use an obscenity – in order to be given

2178-405: The China mission, he feels divinely inspired when running and that not to run would be to dishonour God. After years training and racing, the two athletes are accepted to represent Great Britain in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Also accepted are Abrahams's Cambridge friends, Andrew Lindsay, Aubrey Montague , and Henry Stallard . While boarding the boat to France for the Olympics, Liddell discovers

2244-661: The Games in cooperation with the YMCA . The following future Olympic sports were exhibited: Seventeen sports venues were used in the 1924 Summer Olympics. Stade de Colombes served as the final venue for the 1938 FIFA World Cup between Italy and Hungary . A total of 44 nations were represented at the 1924 Games. Germany was still absent, having not been invited by the Organizing Committee. China (although it did not compete), Ecuador , Ireland , Lithuania , and Uruguay attended

2310-587: The Olympic Games , a reference book on the Olympics, while housebound from the flu, in a rented house in Malibu . Screenwriter Colin Welland , commissioned by Puttnam, did an enormous amount of research for his Academy Award -winning script. Among other things, he took out advertisements in London newspapers seeking memories of the 1924 Olympics, went to the National Film Archives for pictures and footage of

2376-652: The Olympic Games for the first time, while the Philippines competed for first time in an Olympic Games as a nation (though it first participated in the 1900 Summer Olympic Games). Latvia and Poland also attended the Summer Olympic Games for the first time (having both appeared earlier at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix ). The 1924 Olympics saw a return of the following nations: Austria , Bulgaria , Cuba , Haiti , Hungary , Mexico , Romania and Turkey At

2442-541: The Olympics resulted in a hefty loss despite crowds that reached up to 60,000 in number daily. The United States won the most gold and overall medals, having 229 athletes competing compared to France's 401. 126 events in 23 disciplines, comprising 17 sports, were part of the Olympic program in 1924. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses. The Jeux de L’Enfance, a program of youth sports competitions and activities, were held by Olympic organizers alongside

2508-417: The Olympics; these letters were the basis of Montague's narration in the film. The character of Lindsay was based partially on David Cecil (Lord Burghley) , a significant figure in the history of British athletics. Although Burghley did attend Cambridge, he was not a contemporary of Harold Abrahams, as Abrahams was an undergraduate from 1919 to 1923 and Burghley was at Cambridge from 1923 to 1927. One scene in

2574-527: The Scotland–Ireland meeting was at the nearby Inverleith Sports Ground . The scene depicting a performance of The Mikado was filmed in the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool , with members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company who were on tour. The film was slightly altered for the U.S. audience. A brief scene depicting a pre-Olympics cricket game between Abrahams, Liddell, Montague, and the rest of

2640-577: The actors also created a strong bond and sense of camaraderie among them. The beach scenes showing the athletes running towards the Carlton Hotel at Broadstairs , Kent, were shot in Scotland on West Sands, St Andrews next to the 18th hole of the Old Course at St Andrews Links . A plaque now commemorates the filming. The impact of these scenes (as the athletes run in slow motion to Vangelis's music) prompted Broadstairs town council to commemorate them with

2706-537: The actual historical chronology, the inclusion and exclusion of notable people, and the creation of fictional scenes for dramatic purpose, plot pacing and exposition . The film depicts Abrahams as attending Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge , with three other Olympic athletes: Henry Stallard , Aubrey Montague , and Lord Andrew Lindsay. However, whereas Abrahams and Stallard were indeed students there, Montague attended Oxford and not Cambridge. Aubrey Montague sent daily letters to his mother about his time at Oxford and

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2772-562: The beach, full of hope and elation, backed by Vangelis's now famous anthem, the film is utterly compelling." In its first four weeks at the Odeon Haymarket it grossed £106,484. The film was the highest-grossing British film for the year with theatrical rentals of £1,859,480. Its gross of almost $ 59 million in the United States and Canada made it the highest-grossing film import into the US (i.e.

2838-560: The cast. Thus the small parts of the two American champion runners, Jackson Scholz and Charley Paddock, were cast with recent headliners: Brad Davis had recently starred in Midnight Express (also produced by Puttnam), and Dennis Christopher had recently starred, as a young bicycle racer, in the popular indie film Breaking Away . All of the actors portraying runners underwent an intensive three-month training regimen with renowned running coach Tom McNab. This training and isolation of

2904-469: The film depicts the Burghley-based "Lindsay" as practising hurdles on his estate with full champagne glasses placed on each hurdle – this was something the wealthy Burghley did, although he used matchboxes instead of champagne glasses. Burghley was not willing to be involved in the film and the fictional character of Lindsay was created when Douglas Lowe , who was Britain's third athletics gold medallist in

2970-399: The film holds an 84% rating from the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , based on 117 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "Decidedly slower and less limber than the Olympic runners at the center of its story, Chariots of Fire nevertheless manages to make effectively stirring use of its spiritual and patriotic themes." On Metacritic , the film has

3036-703: The film's soundtrack. The film was distributed by 20th Century-Fox and selected for the 1981 Royal Film Performance with its premiere on 30 March 1981 at the Odeon Haymarket before opening to the public the following day. It opened in Edinburgh on 4 April and in Oxford and Cambridge on 5 April with other openings in Manchester and Liverpool before expanding further in May into 20 additional London cinemas and 11 others nationally. It

3102-417: The film, Lord Lindsay mentions that he and Aubrey Montague are the only members of the 1924 Olympic team still alive. However, Montague died in 1948, 30 years before Abrahams' death. In the film, the 100m bronze medallist is a character called "Tom Watson"; the real medallist was Arthur Porritt of New Zealand, who refused permission for his name to be used in the film, allegedly out of modesty, and his wish

3168-424: The film, is factual. Liddell's sister was several years younger than she was portrayed in the film. Her disapproval of Liddell's track career was creative licence; she actually fully supported his sporting work. Jenny Liddell Somerville cooperated fully with the making of the film and has a brief cameo in the Paris Church of Scotland during Liddell's sermon. At the memorial service for Harold Abrahams, which opens

3234-564: The heats for his 100-metre race will be on a Sunday. Despite intense pressure from the Prince of Wales and the British Olympic Committee , he refuses to run the race because his Christian convictions prevent him from running on the Lord's Day . A solution is found thanks to Liddell's teammate Lindsay, who, having already won a silver medal in the 400 metres hurdles , offers to give his place in

3300-524: The only person on record known to have succeeded was Lord Burghley , in 1927. In Chariots of Fire , Lindsay, who is based on Lord Burghley, runs the Great Court Run with Abrahams in order to spur him on, and crosses the finish line just a moment too late. Since the film's release, the Great Court Run has also been successfully run by Trinity undergraduate Sam Dobin, in October 2007. In the film, Eric Liddell

3366-492: The perfect actor to play Eric Liddell. They then saw Scottish stage actor Ian Charleson performing the role of Pierre in the Royal Shakespeare Company 's production of Piaf , and knew immediately they had found their man. Unbeknownst to them, Charleson had heard about the film from his father, and desperately wanted to play the part, feeling it would "fit like a kid glove". Ben Cross , who plays Harold Abrahams,

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3432-658: The piece. Vangelis's electronic "L'Enfant" track eventually was used prominently in the 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously . Some pieces of Vangelis's music in the film did not end up on the film's soundtrack album. One of them is the background music to the race Eric Liddell runs in the Scottish highlands. This piece is a version of "Hymne", the original version of which appears on Vangelis's 1979 album, Opéra sauvage . Various versions are also included on Vangelis's compilation albums Themes , Portraits , and Odyssey: The Definitive Collection , though none of these include

3498-526: The post-race workingmen's crowd at the Scotland v. Ireland races. Charleson, who had studied the Bible intensively in preparation for the role, told director Hugh Hudson that he didn't feel the portentous and sanctimonious scripted speech was either authentic or inspiring. Hudson and Welland allowed him to write words he personally found inspirational instead. Puttnam chose Hugh Hudson , a multiple award-winning advertising and documentary filmmaker who had never helmed

3564-620: The relevant time period or contain factually accurate representations of the time period. Works that focus on accurately portraying specific historical events or persons are instead known as docudrama , such as The Report . Where a person's life is central to the story, such a work is known as biographical drama , with notable examples being films such as Alexander , Frida , House of Saddam , Lincoln , Lust for Life , Raging Bull , Stalin , and Oppenheimer . 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics ( French : Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924 ), officially

3630-434: The runners to pace to. Vangelis finally convinced Hudson he could create a new and better piece for the film's main theme – and when he played the "Chariots of Fire" theme for Hudson, it was agreed the new tune was unquestionably better. The "L'Enfant" melody still made it into the film: when the athletes reach Paris and enter the stadium, a brass band marches through the field, and first plays a modified, acoustic performance of

3696-410: The time,  Australia , New Zealand ,  Canada , South Africa and Ireland were all dominions of the  British Empire . India was also part of British Empire, but was not a dominion. For other sovereign states (i.e. United States, France, Brazil, Japan, etc) and the international community as a whole (i.e  League of Nations ) the term dominion , used internally in

3762-433: The version used in the film. Five lively Gilbert and Sullivan tunes also appear in the soundtrack, and serve as jaunty period music which counterpoints Vangelis's modern electronic score. These are: "He is an Englishman" from H.M.S. Pinafore , " Three Little Maids From School Are We " from The Mikado , "With Catlike Tread" from The Pirates of Penzance , "The Soldiers of Our Queen" from Patience , and "There Lived

3828-655: Was accepted by the film's producers, even though his permission was not necessary. However, the brief back-story given for Watson, who is called up to the New Zealand team from the University of Oxford , substantially matches Porritt's history. With the exception of Porritt, all the runners in the 100m final are identified correctly when they line up for inspection by the Prince of Wales. Historical drama Historical drama can be differentiated from historical fiction , which generally present fictional characters and events against

3894-446: Was also particularly impressed with his 1979 albums Opera Sauvage and China . David Puttnam also greatly admired Vangelis's body of work, having originally selected his compositions for his previous film Midnight Express . Hudson made the choice for Vangelis and for a modern score: "I knew we needed a piece which was anachronistic to the period to give it a feel of modernity. It was a risky idea but we went with it rather than have

3960-475: Was discovered while playing Billy Flynn in Chicago . In addition to having a natural pugnaciousness, he had the desired ability to sing and play the piano. Cross was thrilled to be cast, and said he was moved to tears by the film's script. 20th Century-Fox , which put up half of the production budget in exchange for distribution rights outside of North America, insisted on having a couple of notable American names in

4026-542: Was inspired by the line "Bring me my Chariot of fire!" from the William Blake poem adapted into the British hymn and unofficial English anthem "Jerusalem" ; the hymn is heard at the end of the film. The original phrase "chariot(s) of fire" is from 2 Kings 2:11 and 6:17 in the Bible. During a 1978 funeral service in London in honour of the life of Harold Abrahams , headed by his former colleague Lord Andrew Lindsay, there

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4092-467: Was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four, including Best Picture , Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score for Vangelis 's electronic theme tune . At the 35th British Academy Film Awards , the film was nominated in 11 categories and won in three, including Best Film . It is ranked 19th in the British Film Institute 's list of Top 100 British films . The film's title

4158-761: Was represented by the Oval Sports Centre , Bebington , Merseyside. The nearby Woodside ferry terminal was used to represent the embarkation scenes set in Dover . The railway station scenes were filmed in York, using locomotives from the National Railway Museum . The filming of the Scotland–France international athletic meeting took place at Goldenacre Sports Ground in Edinburgh , owned by George Heriot's School , while

4224-663: Was shown in competition at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival on 20 May. The film was distributed by The Ladd Company through Warner Bros. in North America and released on 25 September 1981 in Los Angeles, California and in the New York Film Festival , on 26 September 1981 in New York and on 9 April 1982 in the United States. Since its release, Chariots of Fire has received generally positive reviews from critics. As of 2024,

4290-491: Was the first film released by Warner Bros. to win Best Picture since My Fair Lady in 1964 . American Film Institute recognition Other honours Chariots of Fire is a film about achieving victory through self sacrifice and moral courage. While the producers' intent was to make a cinematic work that was historically authentic, the film was not intended to be historically accurate. Numerous liberties were taken with

4356-516: Was the second edition of the Summer Olympics to be held in Paris. 100 years later, the city has hosted the games once again with the 2024 Summer Olympics , marking its third time, becoming the second city ever to host the Summer Olympics three times (after London , which hosted the 1908 , 1948 , and 2012 Games). Paris 2024 also marks the centenary of Chamonix 1924 , which in turn marks

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