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It's one reason Lord Burghley did not allow his name to be used in the movie. Goofs In the s, American flags had 48 stars, not Quotes Eric Liddell : I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. Alternate versions There is at least one slightly different version of the movie, issued in Europe on homevideo. The beginning is different - shorter - and introduces Harold Abrahams while playing cricket with his colleagues. The scene in the train station, where Monty meets Harold is absent, as well as the loading of the baggage in the taxi they share.

We simply see Monty writing a letter to his parents, mentioning that "Harold is as intense as ever" cut to the cricket scene, maybe 30 seconds long , and then continues with "I remember our first day This alternate version also have slightly different end credits, and does not mention Harold marrying Sybil.

The differences are minor the U. Soundtracks He is an Englishman uncredited from "H. User reviews Review. Top review. Harold Abrahams The strength of this movie is the study in character contrast and development, with the added attractions of a historical setting and the soaring, ethereal musical score of Evangelos Papathanassiou.

The film is anchored in the character study of the introspective, brooding, and complex persona of Harold Abrahams, wonderfully portrayed by Ben Cross. Here is a man with all of the outward trappings of success: academic achievement, unexcelled athletic ability, wildly popular with his peers, yet tortured by an inbred inferiority complex and driven to lash out at the world in response.

In the end, he conquers his inner demons through hard work, sacrifice, understanding of his fellow man, and the love of a good woman, to whom he opens his heart. I found myself thinking that Harold Abrahams is the kind of man I would want as my best friend, yet at the same time would find hard to become close with and relate to.

Ian Charleston's character Eric Liddell is a bit more one-dimensional. He is the archetypical Good Man, faithful to his family, his country, his friends, and his God. And in the end he triumphs through sheer force of will and by tapping that reservoir of inner strength that sustains him.

As the crusty coach Sam Mussambini says, "He's a gut runner. Digs deep It's a bit of a pity that the movie, long though it is, could not have delved more deeply into the other characters' background. Lord Andrew Lindsey is particularly appealing as Harold's and Eric's faithful friend who gives up his spot in his specialty race the m to allow Eric a chance at the gold.

Sybil Gordon is wonderful as Harold's love interest who tries to draw him out of his lonely world of bitterness and resentment and self-hatred "You ran like a God. I was proud of you Even some of the American competitors, who are only peripherally portrayed in the concluding segments, lend some color.

Jackson Scholtz' reaching out to Eric Liddell gives one the sense that he knows the greatness of spirit that quietly resides in this unassuming Scotsman.

Its a wonderful story wonderfully told, and when its over you find yourself longing for it to continue, to see how these characters we've come to know over the previous two hours will turn out in the rest of their lives.

Surely the grass wouldn't notice if he substituted a decent prosecco. Rather than champagne, the real Lord Burghley used matchboxes. Abrahams attends a performance of The Mikado, and falls for its star. In the film, she is Sybil Gordon. In real life, she was Sybil Evers. It's easy to see why the film has its Sybils in a twist: both were real people, and both were singers with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the interwar years.

But Harold Abrahams only courted and indeed later married one of them — Sybil Evers. Also, he didn't meet her until , which doesn't really work out in time for her to kiss him goodbye on the way to the Olympics. His metres heat is on a Sunday, but he's a devout Christian, raised by missionaries in China to respect the sabbath. His head rings with the voice of his God-bothering sister, Jennie, who just won't let him be great.

She scowls any time he starts enjoying himself, and even accuses him of insulting God, which goes rather too far: in real life, she was supportive of her brother's running. Eventually, Liddell comes up with a solution: "There's Paris. The film's underlying point of view is a poignant one: These men were once young and fast and strong, and they won glory on the sports field, but now they are dead and we see them as figures from long ago.

The film is unabashedly and patriotically British in its regard for these two characters, but it also contains sharp jabs at the British class system, which made the Jewish Abrahams feel like an outsider who could sometimes feel the lack of sincerity in a handshake, and placed the Protestant Liddell in the position of having to explain to the peeved Prince of Wales why he could not, in conscience, run on the Sabbath.

Both men are essentially proving themselves, their worth, their beliefs, on the track. It does not, until near the film's end, stage them as contests to wring cheers from the audience. Instead, it sees them as efforts, as endeavors by individual runners -- it tries to capture the exhilaration of running as a celebration of the spirit. Two of the best moments in the movie: A moment in which Liddell defeats Abrahams, who agonizingly replays the defeat over and over in his memory.

And a moment in which Abrahams' old Italian-Arabic track coach, banned from the Olympic stadium, learns who won his man's race. First he bangs his fist through his straw boater, then he sits on his bed and whispers, "My son!

Neither Ben Cross , as Abrahams, nor Ian Charleson, as Liddell, are accomplished runners but they are accomplished actors, and they act the running scenes convincingly. Ian Holm , as Abrahams' coach, quietly dominates every scene he is in. There are perfectly observed cameos by John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson , as masters of Cambridge colleges, and by David Yelland, as a foppish, foolish young Prince of Wales.

These parts and others make up a greater whole.