Bring me my bow of burning gold;
Bring me my arrows of desire;
Bring me my spear, O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
William Blake, from ‘Milton’
Thirty-nine years ago, a low-budget UK film about two runners who represented the country in the 1924 Paris Olympics garnered worldwide acclaim and went on to win four Academy Awards, including best picture and best film score. Chariots of Fire (produced by David Putnam) tells the story of Jewish Englishman and Cambridge student at the time, Harold Abrahams (played by Ben Cross) and the Christian Scotsman Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson). Liddell made headlines during the 1924 Games after refusing to compete in the 100-meter dash because his heat was scheduled for the Sabbath. Nevertheless, he won a gold medal in another event, cementing his reputation as both an extraordinary athlete and a man of unshakeable religious convictions. Liddell later became a missionary in China, like his parents, and died in 1945 during the Japanese occupation.
You can catch the engrossing film on Youtube. Here, I want to introduce the film’s stirring score to a young generation of readers who may not have watched the film. Composed by Vangelis (born 1943, Greece), the score is notable for its throbbing electronic tune which no doubt helped propel the film’s commercial success. It, and Vangelis’s score for the dystopian film, Blade Runner (1982) were nominated by the American Film Institute for their list of the 25 Greatest Film Scores.