Editing Chariots of Fire (section)

=== 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>