Editing Chariots of Fire (section)

== Production ==
=== Screenplay ===
[[File:Charleson as Liddell.jpg|thumb|[[Ian Charleson]], who studied the Bible intensively for his role, wrote Eric Liddell's post-race inspirational speech to a working-class crowd.]]
Producer [[David Puttnam]] was looking for a story in the mould of ''[[A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)|A Man for All Seasons]]'' (1966), regarding someone who follows his conscience, and felt that sport provided clear situations in this sense.<ref>Goodell, Gregory. [https://books.google.com/books?id=T1kc5_QjiF4C&pg=PR17&q=%22man%20for%20all%20seasons%22 ''Independent Feature Film Production: A Complete Guide from Concept Through Distribution.''] New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982. p. xvii.</ref> He discovered Eric Liddell's story by accident in 1977, when he happened upon ''[[An Approved History of the Olympic Games]]'', a reference book on the Olympics, while housebound from the flu, in a rented house in [[Malibu, California|Malibu]].<ref>{{cite web |title=REEL BRITANNIA |url=https://www.abacusmediarights.com/programme/3486/reel-britannia |website=Abacus Media Rights |access-date=8 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Reel Britannia |url=https://www.britbox.co.uk/programme/Reel_Britannia_64276 |website=[[BritBox]] |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref><ref>Nichols, Peter M. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zOTlRsWVkKgC&pg=PA59&q=%22david%20puttnam%22%20olympics%20book%20rented%20house ''The New York Times Essential Library, Children's Movies: A Critic's Guide to the Best Films Available on Video and DVD''.] New York: Times Books, 2003. p. 59.</ref><ref name=reunion>Hugh Hudson in ''Chariots of Fire – The Reunion'' (2005 video; featurette on 2005 ''Chariots of Fire'' DVD)</ref>

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 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.<ref name=rw /> [[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 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.<ref name=hudson />

Welland's original script also featured, in addition to Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, a third protagonist, 1924 Olympic gold medallist [[Douglas Lowe (athlete)|Douglas Lowe]], who was presented as 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.{{sfn|Chapman|2005| pp= 274–295}}

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.<ref>{{cite book |title=My indecision is final |last1=Eberts |first1=Jake |last2=Illott |first2=Terry |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=1990 |page=34}}</ref>

[[Ian Charleson]] wrote Eric Liddell's speech to 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.<ref>Ian McKellen, Hugh Hudson, Alan Bates, et al. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0094702500 ''For Ian Charleson: A Tribute'']. London: Constable and Company, 1990. pp. 37–39. {{ISBN|0-09-470250-0}}</ref>

Puttnam chose [[Hugh Hudson]], a multiple award-winning advertising and documentary filmmaker who had never helmed 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 (film)|Midnight Express]]''.<ref name=round>Round, Simon. [http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/the-simon-round-interview/58023/interview-hugh-hudson "Interview: Hugh Hudson"]. ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]''. 10 November 2011.</ref>

=== Casting ===
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 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 (play)|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".<ref>Ian McKellen, Hugh Hudson, Alan Bates, et al. ''For Ian Charleson: A Tribute''. London: Constable and Company, 1990. pp. xix, 9, 76.</ref>

[[Ben Cross]], who plays Harold Abrahams, was discovered while playing Billy Flynn in ''[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]''. In addition to having a natural pugnaciousness, he had the desired ability to sing and play the piano.<ref name=hudson /><ref>[http://www.bencross.net/biography.html Ben Cross – Bio on Official site] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022043111/http://www.bencross.net/biography.html |date=22 October 2009}}</ref> Cross was thrilled to be cast, and said he was moved to tears by the film's script.<ref name=wings>''Wings on Their Heels: The Making of'' Chariots of Fire. (2005 video; featurette on 2005 DVD).</ref>

[[20th Century-Fox]], which put up half of the production budget in exchange for distribution rights outside of North America,{{sfn|Chapman|2005| pp= 273–274}} insisted on having a couple of notable American names in the cast.<ref name=reunion /> Thus the small parts of the two American champion runners, Jackson Scholz and Charley Paddock, were cast with recent headliners: [[Brad Davis (actor)|Brad Davis]] had recently starred in ''[[Midnight Express (film)|Midnight Express]]'' (also produced by Puttnam), and [[Dennis Christopher]] had recently starred, as a young bicycle racer, in the popular indie film ''[[Breaking Away]]''.<ref name=wings />

All of the actors portraying runners underwent an intensive three-month training regimen with renowned running coach Tom McNab. This training and isolation of the actors also created a strong bond and sense of camaraderie among them.<ref name=wings />

=== Filming ===
[[File:Chariots of Fire beach.jpg|thumb|The beach running scene was filmed on West Sands, [[St Andrews]], Scotland, adjacent to the [[Old Course at St Andrews|Old Course]].]]

The beach scenes showing the athletes running towards the Carlton Hotel at [[Broadstairs]], Kent,<ref>{{cite web |title=Carlton Hotel, Victoria Parade, Broadstairs |url=http://www.dover-kent.com/2015-project/Carlton-Hotel-Broadstairs.html |website=www.dover-kent.com |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> were shot in Scotland on West Sands, [[St Andrews]] next to the 18th hole of the [[Old Course at St Andrews|Old Course]] at [[St Andrews Links]]. A plaque now commemorates the filming.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chariots of Fire – St Andrews Scotland: The Movie Location Guide |url=http://www.scotlandthemovie.com/movies/andrews.html |website=www.scotlandthemovie.com |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Grannie Clark's Wynd |url=http://www.graylinescotland.com/tour.asp?tourid=46 |website=www.graylinescotland.com |date=14 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614053333/http://www.graylinescotland.com/tour.asp?tourid=46 |archive-date=14 June 2010 |quote=Grannie Clark's Wynd, a public right-of-way over the 1st and the 18th of the Old Course, which was where the athletes were filmed running for the final titles shot}}</ref> The impact of these scenes (as the athletes run in slow motion to Vangelis's music) prompted Broadstairs town council to commemorate them with a seafront plaque.<ref>{{cite news |title='Chariots of Fire' plaque unveiled in Broadstairs |url=https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2017/06/29/chariots-of-fire-plaque-unveiled-in-broadstairs/ |date=29 June 2017 |publisher=www.theisleofthanetnews.com}}</ref>

All of the indoor 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.<ref name=hudson />

[[Liverpool Town Hall]] was the setting for the scenes depicting the British Embassy in Paris.<ref name=hudson /> The [[Colombes]] [[Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir|Olympic Stadium]] in Paris was represented by the [[The Oval (Wirral)|Oval Sports Centre]], [[Bebington]], Merseyside.<ref name=where>{{cite web |title=Chariots of Fire |url=http://www.wheredidtheyfilmthat.co.uk/film.php?film_id=60 |publisher=Where Did They Film That? |access-date=18 February 2007}}</ref> The nearby [[Woodside, Merseyside|Woodside]] ferry terminal was used to represent the embarkation scenes set in [[Dover]].<ref name=where /> The railway station scenes were filmed in York, using locomotives from the [[National Railway Museum]].<ref name=hudson /> The filming of the Scotland–France international athletic meeting took place at [[Goldenacre Sports Ground]] in [[Edinburgh]], owned by [[George Heriot's School]], while the Scotland–Ireland meeting was at the nearby [[Inverleith Sports Ground]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chariots of Fire | url=https://www.movie-locations.com/movies/c/Chariots-Of-Fire.php|website=Movie Locations}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chariots of Fire | url=https://www.movielocationhunter.co.uk/show/movie/chariots-of-fire|website=Movie Location Hunter}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bradley |first=Ian |title=The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pPj0nly_1OQC&q=%22savoy+theatre%22+%22chariots+of+fire%22&pg=PA576 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2005 |page=576 |isbn=9780198167105}}</ref>

=== Editing ===
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 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 [[shit|obscenity]] – in order to be given a [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|PG rating]].<ref>Puttnam interviewed in BBC Radio obituary of [[Jack Valenti]].</ref> 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 [[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]].

=== Soundtrack ===
{{main|Chariots of Fire (album)}}
[[File:Charleson on beach.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|[[Ian Charleson]] (foreground) and [[Ben Cross]] (left) running in the "[[Chariots of Fire (instrumental)|Chariots of Fire]]" music scene which bookends the film.]]
Although the film is a period piece set in the 1920s, the [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-winning original soundtrack composed by [[Vangelis]] (credited as Vangelis Papathanassiou) uses 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 [[Chariots of Fire (instrumental)|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.<ref name="dt">{{cite web| url = http://vangeliscollector.com/telegraph112182.htm| title = ''Daily Telegraph'' newspaper, 21 November 1982}}</ref> Director Hugh Hudson had collaborated with him on documentaries and commercials, and was also particularly impressed with his 1979 albums ''[[Opera Sauvage]]'' and ''[[China (Vangelis album)|China]]''.<ref>MacNab, Geoffrey. [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/everyone-was-a-winner-when-british-talent-met-the-olympic-spirit-7640574.html "Everyone Was a Winner when British Talent Met the Olympic Spirit"]. ''[[The Independent]]''. 13 April 2012.</ref> David Puttnam also greatly admired Vangelis's body of work, having originally selected his compositions for his previous film ''[[Midnight Express (film)|Midnight Express]]''.<ref>Hubbert, Julie. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gmc28iYGdMcC&pg=PA426&q=puttnam%20vangelis ''Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History'']. University of California Press, 2011. p. 426.</ref> 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 a period symphonic score."<ref name=round /> 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."<ref name=rw>McLaughlin, John. [https://archive.today/20130104210643/http://www.runnersworld.com/article/printer/1,7124,s6-243-297--14187-0,00.html "In Chariots They Ran"]. ''[[Runner's World]]''. February 2012.</ref><ref name="dt" />

Hudson originally wanted Vangelis's 1977 tune "L'Enfant",<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kRS4pkrBqE| title = "L'Enfant", from ''Opera Sauvage''| website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref> 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 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.<ref>Vangelis in ''Chariots of Fire – The Reunion'' (2005 video; featurette on 2005 ''Chariots of Fire'' DVD)</ref> 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 the piece.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.elsew.com/data/trivia.htm| title = Trivia about Vangelis}}</ref> Vangelis's electronic "L'Enfant" track eventually was used prominently in the 1982 film ''[[The Year of Living Dangerously (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 (Vangelis album)|Themes]]'', ''[[Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear)|Portraits]]'', and ''[[Odyssey: The Definitive Collection]]'', though none of these include 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 (opera)|Patience]]'', and "There Lived a King" from ''[[The Gondoliers]]''.

The film also incorporates a major traditional work: "[[And did those feet in ancient time|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",<ref>Sanderson, Blair. [http://www.answers.com/topic/sir-charles-hubert-hastings-parry ''Hubert Parry''.] [[AllMusic]] Guide, reprinted in Answers.com.</ref> concludes the film and inspired its title.<ref>Manchel, Frank. [https://books.google.com/books?id=pSKLfQYNYDAC&pg=PA1013&q=jerusalem%20%22chariots%20of%20fire%22 ''Film Study: An Analytical Bibliography''.] Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990. p. 1013</ref> A handful of other traditional anthems and hymns and period-appropriate instrumental ballroom-dance music round out the film's soundtrack.