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| British athletes train on the beach for the 1924 Games in the opening scene from "Chariots of Fire." |
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy
Few sporting events capture the world’s attention as do the
Olympics, and few have its international flavor.
That makes sense considering 10,490 athletes from 204
countries are expected to compete in 26 sports for a chance to win one of 302
medals that will be given out at the London Games, which kick off Friday.
London is the first city to host the Games three times since
they were revived in 1896. The British capital hosted the Games in 1908 and
again in 1948.
Although the Olympics have not inspired filmmakers the way
sports such as baseball or football have, there have been plenty of movies made
about the Games and the athletes.
Cary Grant stars in “Walk, Don’t Run,” about a race walker
at the Tokyo Games in 1964. “Wee Geordie” is about an undersized Scottish
athlete training for the hammer throw at the 1956 Games in Melbourne. “It
Happened in Athens” is a film about the effort to bring back the Olympics.
Many movies have focused on individual athletes and their lives or accomplishments. “The Bob Mathias Story” was a bio-pic about the 1948 and 1952 decathlon champ. He starred as himself. “Berlin 36” is a film about Gretel Bergmann, a female Jewish German athlete trying to compete in the 1936 Games in Berlin. “Forever the Moment” is a film about the South Korean women’s handball team that lost to Denmark in a shootout at the 2004 Games in Seoul.
Some movies about the Olympics are just plain silly or
stupid. Chinese detective Charlie Chan uncovers a spy ring in Berlin while
watching No. 1 son compete in the 1936 Games in “Charlie Chan at the Olympics.”
Susan Anton is the daughter of an ex-Nazi scientist who has been pumping her
full of secret drugs to make her an Olympic hero in “Goldengirl.” Dolph
Lundgren portrays an American penthathlete who foils bad guys at both the 1992
and 1996 Games.
Here are six films about the Summer Olympics available on
video, DVD, on demand and streaming that can get your juices flowing until the
real Games start on Friday, or that can get you through the lean days of canoe
slalom and synchronized swimming over the next two weeks.
Chariots of Fire
(1981) – This is an epic film about two British track stars – one a Jew and the
other a devout Christian – who take different paths to the 1924 Games in Paris.
Stars include Ben Cross as Harold Abrahams, Ian Charleson as Eric Liddel, Ian
Holm, Alice Krige and John Gielgud.
Running Brave
(1983) – A heartwarming film about the shocking upset by U.S. Marine Billy
Mills in the 10,000 meters race at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. Robbie Benson stars
as Mills, a Sioux who must fight prejudice and his own coach to be a champion.
Other stars include Pat Hingle, Graham Greene and Claudia Cron.
Without Limits
(1998) – Billy Crudup stars as the University of Oregon track star in this film
that traces his life leading up to the 1972 Games in Munich and his untimely
death in 1975 at age 24 in a car crash. Other stars include Donald Sutherland
as his college coach Bill Bowerman, Monica Potter and Jeremy Sisto. “Prefontaine”
is another bio-pic starring Jared Leto as the runner.
Personal Best
(1982) – Mariel Hemmingway stars as a talented but naïve pentathlete in this
film about two young women fighting for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team leading
up to the 1980 Games in Moscow. Complicating matters is that both her teammate
and coach fall in love with her. Other stars include real-life pentathlete
Patrice Donnelly and Scott Glenn.
The Jesse Owens Story
(1984) – Dorian Harewood stars as the African-American athlete who demolished Hitler’s
notion of Aryan superiority with a string of track victories at the 1936 Games
in Berlin. Other stars include Levar Burton, Tom Bosley, Georg Stanford Brown
and Norman Fell.
Jim Thorpe – All American
(1951) – Burt Lancaster stars in this bio-pic of Native American athlete Jim
Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Games in Sweden
and then had his medals stripped when he was discovered to have played semi-pro
baseball. Thorpe is considered one of the greatest athletes of the 20th
century. He went on to play college and pro football as well as pro baseball
and basketball. In 1983, the International Olympic Committee restored his
Olympic medals. Other stars include Charles Bickford as Pop Warner, Steve
Cochrane and Phyllis Thaxter.
For more on movies, visit What to Watch.
For more on movies, visit What to Watch.
