Now the Euro 2016 competition is over roll on the start of the Football season and a special shout out for the upcoming Olympics. I have always been a massive fan of the Olympics I love all the sports you rarely see and I revel in them.
Mountain Biking is one and Modern Pentathlon, Trampolining will all get a viewing and much more. Rio de Janeiro hosts the Olympic Games in less than four weeks, but economic crisis and crime mean the party-loving city is glum and struggling to find its vibe.
Some of the venues are going down to the wire along with some of the infrastructure and there is a mad dash to sign off on everything. There is still plenty to worry the team managers. The condition of the water at the water venues has been a major concern. I distinctly remember the day when Rio was chosen as the host city for the Olympics when the Brazilian economy was buoyant. Even the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo have downgraded some of their spending plans.
With the opening of the Olympics weeks away, I reset my not so big brain to come up with some films based around the Olympics. Three came easy but even after searching the internet other films were rare most being of the documentary type. I come to the conclusion the Olympics are not a great subject for films maybe Quentin Tarantino next film should be an Olympic epic.
Chariots of Fire (1981)
I cannot have a best of without the Chariots of Fire. I remember Colin Welland shouting when receiving the award for Best Original Screenplay for Chariots of Fire at the 1982 Academy Awards, "The British are coming” in his acceptance speech.
It tells the fact-based story of two 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. Ian Charleson and Ben Cross in the starting roles.
Well-acted, well-scripted, great cinematography and great soundtrack by Vangelis, including the theme song hit. Why can't films use synthesizers in the score as they did in the 70s and 80s? They often sound so good with films.
A great historical story deserves a great film to preserve it for eternity. This film does the events and characters justice. This film was a huge critical and box office success. As you can see, today's "groupthink" critical minions no longer think so. Fair to them, the film has not held up well 35 years after its release. This is not as complex and sophisticated as many movies of today, but still provides a perfect cinematic viewing every time.
The Games (1970)
A film I love and is my favourite of the three. The Games is set during the Rome Olympics. The film zeroes in on four contestants in the 26-mile marathon race. Michael Crawford plays the British competitor Harry Hayes a milkman by trade who likes to run and is encouraged to join an athletics club. Taken under the wing of obsessive coach Bill Oliver played by screen stealer Stanley Baker Hayes makes the Olympics where he is destroyed after Oliver sets him an impossible winning time.
Ryan O'Neal, Scott Reynolds is a free spirited party loving American ‘Jock’ who the ladies flock to and takes competing as a means to travel. After a medical check, O'Neal finds he is suffering with a dangerous heart condition and would have to give up running. He lines up at the start after setting up a deal with a friend to spot him some pills along the route.
Charles Aznavour is a Czech runner and record holder past forty who is pressured out of retirement by his government to compete. A refusal could mean prison for the devoted family man then there is Australian Sunny, Athol Compton an aborigine. He learnt to run chasing kangaroos in the bush. A chance meeting with bookie Jim Harcourt played by Jeremy Kemp, sweet talks him into racing in fairs around Australia so he can make money through betting.
Overall, it is a great film with top performances all around.
Geordie (1955)
Wee Geordie grows up from a stunted weakling into a braw man with shoulders of an ox. His amazing growth was down to a bodybuilding correspondence course offered by Henry Samson, he sends for the course and embarks diligently on Samson's fitness programme. He's no longer Wee Geordie. He is Geordie who excels at throwing a hammer guided by Alistair Sim the Laird on whose land Geordie is the happy gamekeeper.
News of Geordie’s hammer throwing attracts officials of the British Olympics team and he is soon whisked off to Australia to compete in the Olympics. He is a fish out of water yearning to be back in Scotland instead of a ship to Australia, which was full of other competitor’s from around Europe. In Australia, he becomes a national hero for lifting a van off a man caught under it.
Geordie tells the British officials he will not take part in the opening ceremony unless he can wear his father's kilt during the event. There's also a brief misunderstanding concerning a blond female Danish shot putter who finds Geordie attractive and is not afraid of demonstrating her affection, much to the shock of his girlfriend back home.
It's a charming story in the end, it's one of those movies that you watch in delight and, when it's over, wistfully wonder what it would be like to live in Geordie's world.
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