Chariots of Fire (1981) Movie Script
MAN:
"Let us praise famous men...
...and our fathers that begat us."
All these men were honored
in their generations...
...and were a glory in their days.
We are here today to give thanks...
...for the life of Harold Abrahams...
...to honor the legend.
Now there are just two of us.
Young Aubrey Montague...
...and myself...
...who can close our eyes...
...and remember those few young men...
...with hope in our hearts...
...and wings on our heels.
[DOG BARKING]
[HORN HONKS]
AUBREY [IN VOICEOVER]:
Carlton Hotel, Broadstairs, Kent.
June 28, 1924.
Dear Mom, I'm most awfully sorry about
your cold and the general dreariness.
We're also having quite bad
weather here, too.
Thanks for your letters.
I'm sorry you and Pa are disappointed...
...that I should be letting the Olympic
Games interfere with my shorthand.
But if you were my age, with a chance
to win the championship in Paris...
...you'd be just as big a fool as I am.
By the way, it's awfully kind of Pa
to finance me here, in spite of my idiocy.
His marvelous esprit de corps.
Most of the chaps have managed to get down.
- Cricket, Montague, in the ballroom.
Splendid. - Now. Come on.
MAN:
No ball!
HAROLD:
Come on, Aubrey, the old leg break.
- How's that?
MAN: Not out.
What do you mean?
You could hear it in Bournemouth.
- Come on, Liddell, my innings.
- I didn't touch it.
Must've been the crack of my wrist.
HAROLD: I saw the bloody thing bend. Andy!
- No tickle for me, I'm afraid, old chap.
He's out, I tell you. You're all deaf.
Deaf and bloody blind.
Aubrey, I ask you, for God's sake.
It's not fair.
[ALL LAUGHING]
All right.
AUBREY:
Harold's here, as intense as ever.
Just as he was
on our very first day at Cambridge.
I remember we shared a taxi together.
I'll take these.
- See you inside, Aubrey.
- Right.
- Name, please.
- We're new.
Yes, I can see that, laddie.
What's your name?
Abrahams, H.M.
Top of the list. Repton. That the one?
That's it. Left a year ago.
Oh, been doing your bit,
have you? France?
- No. Joined too late.
ROGERS: Bad luck, lad.
Many a dead man would've
liked a share, bad luck or not.
RADCLIFFE:
You're right there, sir.
Welcome to Caius.
Sign here.
Thank you.
It's across the courtyard,
top right-hand corner...
- ...up the stairs.
- Thanks.
By the way, what are your names?
Rogers, Head Porter,
and this is Mr. Radcliffe, my assistant.
Well, Mr. Rogers, Radcliffe...
...I ceased to be called laddie
when I took up the king's commission.
- Is that clear?
- Yes, Mr. Abrahams. Quite clear.
Thank you.
I'd be obliged if you'd remember it.
- See you later.
- Fine.
ROGERS:
What's your friend studying, then, son?
Barrack-room law?
AUBREY: I've no idea.
- Mm.
One thing's certain.
Name like Abrahams, he won't
be in the Chapel Choir, now, will he?
- Name?
- Montague.
- What?
- Montague.
[CHOIR SINGING IN LATIN]
I take the War List and I run down it.
Name after name which I cannot read...
...and which we who are older than you...
...cannot hear without emotion.
Names which will be only names to you,
the new college...
...but which to us summon up
face after face...
...full of honesty and goodness...
...zeal and vigor...
...and intellectual promise.
The flower of a generation,
the glory of England.
And they died for England
and all that England stands for.
And now, by tragic necessity,
their dreams have become yours.
Let me exhort you: Examine yourselves.
Let each of you discover
where your true chance of greatness lies.
For their sakes...
...for the sake of your college
and your country, seize this chance.
Rejoice in it.
And let no power or persuasion
deter you in your task.
AUBREY:
Thursday, October the 10th, 1919.
My first day at Cambridge was rounded off
by the Freshmen's Dinner...
...a sumptuous affair.
The master gave us a moving speech,
and I am now eagerly awaiting...
...the start of term proper.
Rugby Club, Golfing Society,
Tennis, Squash Club...
...Flora and Fauna, Philately. Is that all?
- You're idle, man. Idle.
- Can't join everything.
- I've got to work sometime.
- Birdwatching? You can take a book.
How can I watch if I'm reading?
Follow in the footsteps of W.G.
Any Yorkshire men here?
- You are, Stallard.
- I can't bat for toffee.
[MEN SINGING
"THE SOLDIERS OF OUR QUEEN"]
Upon the battle scene
They fight the foe together
There ev'ry mother's son
Prepared to fight and fall is
The enemy of one
The enemy of all is
The enemy of one
The enemy of all is
HAROLD: Abraham, H.M.
- Can't manage tenor, can you?
- Desperately short of tenors.
HAROLD: Afraid not, except under torture.
How about you, Aubrey? Sing, do you?
AUBREY: School choir, that's all.
HAROLD: You, Stallard?
STALLARD: Not on your life. They kicked
me out of Ring a Ring of Roses.
Sorry about that. We can't all be gifted.
[SINGING]
If everybody's somebody
Then no one's anybody
- Put my friend here down as well.
AUBREY: Steady on.
MAN 1: Excellent.
MAN 2: Splendid.
- Rehearsals start on Monday, Iolanthe.
- But I was a boy alto.
- Perfect. You can be Queen of the Fairies.
MAN 3: Brought us to the brink!
Where were you
when your country needed you?
We have a duty, a solemn duty to those
countless millions of lives needlessly...
MEN [SINGING]:
Afar away they dream of home
Glad to have you. Good middle-distance
men don't grow on trees.
STALLARD:
I can't vouch for those times.
Taken with the school alarm clock,
most of them.
Give or take a second,
they're good enough for me.
Have you come across a fellow
called Abrahams? H.M. Abrahams?
He's challenged for the College Dash.
What's so special about that?
It's special because in all of 700 years...
...nobody's ever done it.
What do you do?
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Right, chaps. Thank you. Thank you.
Let it be known that
H.M. Abrahams of Gonville and Caius...
...has formally made challenge
for the College Dash.
[CROWD BOOING AND CHATTERING]
AUBREY:
You show them, Harold.
For those of you not familiar
with the rules, they are as follows.
The challenger will run
the perimeter of the court...
...to and from a fixed point
beneath the clock...
...within the time taken
by the sound clock to strike midday.
A distance traditionally recognized
as one of 188 paces.
MAN 1: I say, Abrahams, what've you got
on your feet? Rockets?
Challenge will commence
on the stroke of 1.
MAN 2: Abrahams, you haven't got a chance.
MAN 3: Do it for Israel.
The challenge will commence
on the stroke of 1.
The challenger must reach his mark
before the stroke of 12.
MAN 4:
Come on, Abrahams, you swank.
[MEN LAUGHING]
Will the challenger
please make himself ready.
[SCATTERED BOOS AND APPLAUSE]
This Abrahams.
What do you know about him?
Repton chap.
Jewish.
His father's a financier in the city.
Financier.
What's that supposed to mean, I wonder?
I imagine he lends money.
Exactly.
What do they say about the son?
Academically sound. Arrogant.
Defensive to the point of pugnacity.
Hmm. As they invariably are.
Yet possessing
a keen sense of duty and loyalty.
Do they say he can run?
Like the wind.
[MEN CHATTERING]
Gentlemen, would you draw back, please.
Away from the course.
Thank you.
Mr. Abrahams, your position, please.
Owing to the absence of any other
challenger, Mr. Abrahams will run alone.
MAN:
Not so, Mr. Starter!
[MEN MURMURING]
Your name and college, sir?
Lindsay. I race beside my friend here.
We challenge in the name
of Repton, Eton, and Caius.
[CROWD CHEERING]
HAROLD: I didn't know you ran.
- Nor I you.
Some chap tell me about
this over breakfast.
Thought I'd push
you along a bit.
- Delighted.
- Splendid.
Good luck.
Gentlemen, to your marks, if you please.
Now, remember. On the first strike of 12.
[BELL CHIMING]
[CHIMING ENDS]
[CLOCK STRIKING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
MAN 1:
Come on!
MAN 2:
Come on, stay with it.
MAN 3:
Run harder, come on.
MAN 4:
Come on!
STALLARD:
Get those legs working!
AUBREY:
More leg when you stride, keep going.
[CROWD CHEERING]
Go on. Go on, Harold!
[CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE]
[CROWD CHEERING]
MASTER OF CAIUS: Did they both do it?
- I think not.
- Young Lindsay failed by a whisker.
- Pity.
MASTER OF TRINITY: Well, it's been done,
and by a Caius man.
You must be very proud.
The first man in seven centuries.
Perhaps they really are
God's chosen people after all.
[MASTER OF CAIUS LAUGHS]
MASTER OF CAIUS: I doubt
if there's a swifter man in the kingdom.
ERIC:
Get to your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
MAN 1:
Go on, Angus, run.
MAN 2:
Sprint, Johnny, sprint.
MAN 3:
Oh, run, Steve!
MAN 4:
Come on, faster.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Oh...
[CHILDREN CLAMORING]
JENNIE: He may be your best friend,
Sandy, but he's my best brother.
I'm thinking of him
and not your blessed athletics team.
His heart's set on following
Father in the mission.
Do you not think he's got enough
on his plate without racing?
He's fast, Jennie, really fast.
You've seen him with a ball in his hands.
And I've seen him
with a Bible in his hands.
I know which is the most important.
You can't deny him the chance.
Get him on a track
with a piece of technique, I tell you...
Please don't tell me, Sandy,
I don't want to hear.
Eric's special to me, precious.
I don't want his work spoiled
with all this running talk, do you hear?
ERIC:
Is there a John MacMillan anywhere?
Go on, get your consolation prize.
There you are.
Well done.
You know, ladies and gentlemen...
...one of the real compensations
of achieving a certain notoriety...
...if only as a rugby player,
is that occasionally you're asked...
...to come along and give things away.
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
It's often said that
giving beats receiving.
And let me tell you...
...the look of delight
on those little boys'
faces is worth 10 of
any of the tin pots...
...I've got gathering dust
in my Edinburgh sideboard.
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
When we were in China, my father here...
...was always waxing lyrical
about his wee home in the glen.
But being Oriental-born myself,
like my brothers and my sister here...
...I suffered from a natural incredulity.
But looking about me now...
...the heather and the hills...
...I can see he was right.
It's very special.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Thank you for welcoming us home,
and thank you...
...for reminding me that I am,
and will be whilst I breath...
[COW MOOS]
[CHILDREN LAUGH]
...a Scot.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Mr. Provost, sir...
Before you allow Eric here to go...
...is it not true
that the main event of the meeting...
- ...is still to be run?
PROVOST: It is.
The 200-yards Open Championship.
It's the last event of this gathering
by tradition.
Do you not think,
if we can find him some kit...
...we might persuade
Scotland's finest wing...
...to show us his paces?
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
MAN 1:
What do you say, Eric?
MAN 2:
To your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
Didn't I tell you, Eric? Didn't I tell you?
A touch of liberality would do no harm.
Sandy, the Kingdom of God
is not a democracy.
The Lord never seeks reelection.
There's no discussion, no deliberation...
...no referenda as to which road to take.
There's one right, one wrong,
one absolute ruler.
- A dictator, you mean.
- Aye.
But a benign, loving dictator.
So much for your freedom of choice.
ERIC:
You've still got a choice, Sandy.
Nobody's forcing you to follow him.
Oh! Hey, hey.
- Do you know what day it is?
- Yeah.
- Tell me, then.
- Sunday.
Sabbath's not a day
for playing football...
- ...is it?
- No.
- You up early in the morning?
- Ma gets me up at 7.
We'll have a game then. Okay?
Mr. Liddell, is it okay if my dad comes?
Sure. Bring your whole family.
I'll give you a five-goal start.
- You've got a train to catch at 9:00.
- There's plenty of time.
You want the kid to grow up
thinking God's a spoilsport?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[GLASS CLINKING]
MAN:
Come on.
SANDY: If I may, I'd like to propose
a toast to the Liddell family...
...whom I'm fortunate enough
to call my friends.
The reverend J.D.,
Mrs. L., young Ernest...
...bon voyage,
and safe journey back to China.
May the years ahead
be happy and content.
For those who remain...
...may God protect them, inspire them,
and lead them to glory.
Thank you, Sandy. That was very nice.
I'm relying on you now
to keep them all out of mischief.
That I will, Mrs. L. If they do transgress,
I'll pop the details on a postcard.
And you can read all about it
before you can say "Marco Polo."
It'll cost you a fortune
in postage stamps.
SANDY: Don't worry,
I intend to protect my investment.
I'm going to rule you with a rod of iron.
[MEN LAUGHING]
ERIC: Oh, well, we have to
watch ourselves then.
[MEN LAUGH]
You're a very lucky young man, Eric.
You're the proud possessor
of many gifts.
And it's your sacred duty
to put them to good use.
That's right. Run like we know you can,
strong and true...
...and the mission cannot but gain
by your success.
What we need now
is a muscular Christian...
...to make folks sit up and notice.
How good are you, Eric?
Sandy reckons he'll run for Scotland
before the month's out.
- And after that, the sky's the limit.
- Meaning what?
The Olympic Games, maybe.
J.D.: Eric, you can praise the Lord
by peeling a spud...
...if you peel it to perfection.
Don't compromise.
Compromise is a language of the Devil.
Run in God's name...
...and let the world stand back in wonder.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND CHATTERING]
CHORUS [SINGING]:
Lean and his mercy will provide
Trust and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life and Christ its love
[CROWD CHEERING]
Run the straight race
Through God's good grace
Lift up thine eyes and seek his face
Life with its way before us lies
Christ is the path and Christ the prize
You came to see a race today.
To see someone win.
It happened to be me.
But I want you to do more
than just watch a race.
I want you to take part in it.
I want to compare faith
to running in a race.
It's hard.
It requires concentration of will,
energy of soul.
You experience elation
when the winner breaks the tape.
Especially if you've got a bet on it.
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
ERIC:
But how long does that last?
You go home,
maybe your dinner's burnt.
Maybe... Maybe you haven't got a job.
So who am I to say, "Believe...
...have faith,"
in the face of life's realities?
I would like to give you
something more permanent...
...but I can only point the way.
I have no formula for winning the race.
Everyone runs in her own way,
or his own way.
And where does the power come from
to see the race to its end?
From within.
Jesus said:
"Behold, the Kingdom of God
is within you.
If with all your hearts
you truly seek me...
...you shall ever surely find me."
If you commit yourself...
...to the love of Christ...
...then that is how you run
the straight race.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
Cheers. Thanks for coming.
Thanks for coming.
[CHURCH BELL TOLLING]
It's an ache...
...a helplessness...
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
...an anger.
One feels humiliated.
Sometimes I say to myself, "Hey, steady on,
you're imagining all this."
And then I catch that look again.
Catch it on the edge of a remark...
...feel a cold reluctance in a handshake.
That's my father.
A Lithuanian Jew.
He is alien.
He's as foreign as a frankfurter.
AUBREY:
And a kosher one at that.
[SNICKERS]
I love and admire him.
He worships this country.
From nothing he built
what he believed was enough...
...to make true Englishmen of his sons.
My brother's a doctor.
[HAROLD CLEARS THROAT]
A leader in his field.
Which one...?
That's me with the curls on his back.
AUBREY [WHISPERS]:
God.
[LAUGHS]
He wanted for nothing.
Hmm.
And here am I...
...setting up shop
in the finest university in the land.
[CHOIR SINGING]
But the old man forgot one thing.
This England of his
is Christian and Anglo-Saxon...
...and so are her corridors of power.
And those who stalk them
guard them with jealousy and venom.
You're right to study law.
You're quite an advocate.
Heh. A rare ethnic advantage.
It's called the gift of the gab.
AUBREY:
So, what now? Grin and bear it?
No, Aubrey. I'm gonna take them on.
All of them. One by one.
And run them off their feet.
He is an Englishman
He is an Englishman
For he himself has said it
And it's greatly to his credit
That he is an Englishman
That he is an Englishman
HAROLD: England beckons for Sprint Blue.
From our special correspondent.
A French or Turk or Prussian
HAROLD:
A clean sweep for Cambridge star.
Abrahams' hat trick...
...from a special correspondent.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[BELL RINGING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
He remains an Englishman
He remains an Englishman
[CHATTERING]
But in spite of all temptations
To belong to other nations
CHORUS [SINGING]:
He remains an Englishman
He remains an Englishman
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
Bravo, Harold.
[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
[BAND PLAYING "LA MARSEILLAISE"]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[CHORUS SINGING IN FRENCH]
[CROWD YELLING AND CHATTERING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]
[CROWD CHATTERING]
Mr. Mussabini, I believe?
My name is Keddie.
Colonel John Keddie. I'm...
President of the Scottish Three A's.
I know, and I'm glad to know you, sir.
[SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
- How's the leg? Nasty fall you took.
- Okay.
- Nice to see you.
- Good luck.
You're very welcome here, of course...
...but we do have a strict amateur code.
Colonel, don't worry your head.
- I'm here spectating, that's all.
- Yes. I felt sure you would understand.
[SAM COUGHS]
Well, to battle.
I hope you enjoy the games.
Games? You must be joking,
I've seen better organized riots.
MAN:
Come on, Scotland!
[YELLS IN FRENCH]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
OFFICIAL:
Gentlemen, get to your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD GROANS]
Get up, lad. Get up.
MAN 1: Come on!
MAN 2: Come on!
[CROWD CHEERING]
He'll never do it.
Don't you believe it.
His head's not bad yet.
Come on, Eric!
[CROWD CHEERING]
[MOUTHS]
Go on.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[ERIC PANTING]
Well done, Eric. Well done.
He'll be all right in a jiffy.
I'll get his clothes.
You take good care of this lad of yours,
Mr. McGrath.
Because if you drop him,
you'll never find another one like this.
It was not the prettiest quarter
I've ever seen, Mr. Liddell...
...but certainly the bravest. Get him up.
- Come on.
- Gently.
[APPLAUSE BUILDING]
Keep your arm around.
Mr. Mussabini.
Mr. Abrahams, isn't it?
So you've traveled 300 miles
just to see me?
HAROLD: You and Liddell.
I'd heard you were both the best.
- And what do you think now?
- Eric Liddell?
I've never seen such drive,
such commitment in a runner.
He runs like a wild animal.
He unnerves me.
So he should.
Frightens the living daylights out of me.
Yes, well, I want you to help me
take him on.
Oh, em...
- Now, Mr. Abrahams, are you married?
- No, why?
Well, when the right girl comes along...
...how will you feel if she pops the
questions, hmm?
[MUTTERS THEN CHUCKLES]
You see, Mr. Abrahams,
like the bridegroom...
...it's the coach that should
do the asking.
Mr. Mussabini...
...I can run fast. With your help...
...I think I can run even faster,
perhaps faster than any man ever ran.
I want that Olympic medal.
I can see it there. It's waiting for me.
But I can't get it on my own.
Well, we've an old saying
in my game, son.
"You can't put in what God's left out."
Now, you leave it to me.
I'll watch you, I'll observe,
and if I think I can help...
...if I can see
the big prize hanging there...
...believe me, I won't waste any time.
When we meet again...
...I'll be the one that does the begging.
So you will watch me?
Son, if you're good enough...
...I'll take you apart,
piece by bloody piece.
Thank you.
Everything is a source of fun
Nobody's safe, for we care for none
Life is a joke that's just begun
CHORUS [SINGING]:
Three little maids from school
Three little maids who all unwary
Come from a ladies' seminary
Freed from its genius tutelary
Three little maids from school
Three little maids from school
One little maid is a bride
Yum-Yum
Two little maids in attendance come
SINGER 1:
Three little maids is the total sum
CHORUS:
Three little maids from school
SINGER 2:
Three little maids take one away
Two little maids remain, and they
Won't have to wait very long, they say
CHORUS:
Three little maids from school
Three little maids from school
Three little maids who all unwary
Come from a ladies' seminary
Freed from its genius tutelary
Three little maids from school
Didn't I tell you? Isn't she a peach?
She's magnificent.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Bravo, bravo.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
MAN 1:
It's going rather well.
MAN 2: I didn't know anything,
but I must say, I enjoy it.
MAN 1:
What about you?
MAN 3: I've done better productions
myself. Remember them offhand?
MAN 2:
I don't remember seeing any.
So the stone heart's frail after all.
Abrahams' smitten, is he?
Smitten? He's decapitated.
He won't listen to reason.
Reason? The lad's in love.
He just set eyes on her.
I've worshiped her for years.
By the way, where is he now?
He's gone to ask her out to dinner.
- Has he, by Jove?
- In the interval?
- Good for him.
- Thank you.
- Mine, I take it? Mm.
- Harold.
Lovely.
- Uh... Well?
- Well, what?
- Did you speak to her?
- Yes.
- Is she coming?
- Yes.
AUBREY: To dinner?
HAROLD: Yes.
She has a kid brother, athletics-mad.
Never stops talking about me.
I think you better have my glass.
I have a terrible feeling
you're going to need it.
[BELL RINGS]
Sorry, Monty.
Yes, thank you very much, sir.
Yes, of course.
Good evening, Miss Gordon.
A triumph, I hear.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Who was that chap over there?
Music critic of the Star.
Boring old buffer, really.
- Well, he obviously enjoyed it.
- I shouldn't think so.
They always say that.
They save the poison for the print.
- Bit off tonight, I thought.
- What?
- You were magnificent.
- Thank you.
One of our little maids has gone
and got herself preggers with a gondolier.
[CHUCKLES]
We had to shove her second on tonight.
TOFFY:
Here you go, Miss Sybil.
Thank you, Toffy.
And you, sir.
Thank you.
This is Mr. Abrahams.
He's a very famous runner.
He's trying your special
for the first time tonight.
- I hope you enjoy it, sir.
- I'm sure I shall.
- Well, go on then.
- Ah.
It's a secret concoction of Toffy's.
A sort of cocktail de maison.
So you'd jolly well better enjoy it.
- Excellent.
- There, Toffy.
You've won yourself a friend for life.
My favorite, please.
[HAROLD MUMBLES]
- For two.
TOFFY: My pleasure, sir.
What have I ordered?
[SOFTLY]
Surprise.
- Cheerio.
- Cheerio.
The great Harold Abrahams.
My brother will be insanely jealous.
So will mine.
- You don't look very ruthless.
- Should I?
According to my brother.
Tim says that's why you always win.
- Why running?
- Why singing?
My job.
No, that's silly.
I do it because I love it.
Do you love running?
I'm more of an addict.
It's a compulsion, a weapon.
Against what?
Being Jewish, I suppose.
[LAUGHS]
You're not serious?
You're not Jewish, or you wouldn't ask.
Fiddlesticks. People don't care.
Anyway, being Jewish
hasn't done you any harm.
I'm what I call semi-deprived.
That sounds clever. What does it mean?
It means they lead me to water
but they won't let me drink.
You're a funny old stick,
Mr. Harold Abrahams.
Funny...
...but fascinating.
I'll settle for the fascinating.
Life isn't that gloomy, is it?
[SOFTLY]
Not tonight.
You're so beautiful.
Like you.
[TOFFY SPEAKING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
Pig's trotters.
Oh, my God.
[BOTH LAUGH]
MAN [OVER PA]:
Train arriving at platform two.
The overnight Flying Scotsman
from Aberdeen.
Seven-thirty, Mr. Liddell.
Seven-thirty on the dot.
There you are, sir. Hot tea and toast.
- All right.
- You sleep all right?
Like a log.
Must have a clear conscience.
Far from it. Are we here?
Aye, sir. Just pulled in. King's Cross.
Oh, and...
...here's the paper,
with your picture in it.
Expecting great things,
from all accounts.
Well, indeed.
- Here you are.
MAN: Seven-eighteen.
Oh, much obliged, sir.
Now, no hurry.
You've got an hour before we kick you out.
And good luck for this afternoon.
- Thank you.
- Come on, sir. Wake up King's Cross.
ERIC:
Aye, Mr. Abrahams. So's the Scot.
Mr. Abrahams.
Mr. Liddell.
I'd like to wish you the best of success.
Thank you. And may the best man win.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
OFFICIAL:
Get to your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
Extraordinary.
[CHAIRS CLACKING]
SYBIL:
Harold.
Harold.
Harold.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
It's a race you've lost, not a relative.
Nobody's dead.
For goodness sake, snap out of it, Harold.
You're behaving like a child.
I lost.
I know. I was there, remember?
Watching.
It was marvelous. You were marvelous.
He was more marvelous, that's all.
On the day, the best man won.
I had to look for him. It's absolutely
fundamental. You never look.
He was ahead. There was nothing you
could have done. He won fair and square.
Well, that's that, Abrahams.
If you can't take a beating,
it's for the best.
I don't run to take beatings.
I run to win.
If I can't win, I won't run.
If you don't run, you can't win.
Give me a ring
when you've sorted that one out.
Sybil.
Don't go.
I just don't know what to do.
Try growing up.
[SIGHS]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
Harold...
...you're a great man.
You ran like a God.
I was proud of you.
Don't make me ashamed.
It's not the losing, Syb.
Eric Liddell's a fine man,
and a fine runner. It's me.
After all that work.
And now, God knows,
what do I aim for?
Beating him the next time.
Sybil, I can't run any faster.
SAM:
Oh, Mr. Abrahams.
Mr. Abrahams.
I can find you another two yards.
Sam.
SAM:
Charlie Paddock, Californian Cannonball.
World's fastest human.
Winner, 100 Meters,
Olympic Games, 1920, Antwerp.
- Time?
- Ten point three.
Jackson Scholz,
the New York Thunderbolt.
Runner-up, Olympic Games, 1920.
Lost by looking right.
Look, there's the finish.
See Paddock leaping past him at the tape?
That glance cost Scholz the race.
Scholz's fastest?
Ten point three... Four.
Eric Liddell.
Well, you know all about him.
Look at them.
Think them, breathe them.
I want their faces leering at you
every time you shut your eyes.
The Flying Scotsman first.
That bloody well hurt.
What, Eric Liddell? He's no real problem.
[SNIFFS]
He's a great runner...
...but he needs to go further out.
He's no 100-meters man.
He could've fooled me.
He's fast, but he won't go any faster.
Not in the dash, anyway.
He's a gut runner.
He's all heart, digs deep.
A short sprint is run on nerves.
It's tailor-made for neurotics.
HAROLD:
Thanks very much.
No, I mean it.
You can push guts, bully them...
...but you can hone nerves.
Paddock, Scholz, and Eric Liddell.
SAM:
Come here a minute, Mr. Abrahams.
Now, do you know
why you lost the other day?
Because you're overstriding,
just a couple of inches.
These coins represent
the strides in your 100 meters.
Have you got another two coins,
Mr. Abrahams?
Well, maybe we can find them.
As I said, overstriding.
Death to the sprinter.
Slap in the face, each stride you take.
Knocks you back.
Like that. And that.
Ha-ha-ha. Now.
SAM: I want you to imagine
you're running on hot bricks.
If you leave your feet too long
on the ground, they'll get burnt.
Up, up, up. Light, light, light.
Light as a feather.
Set!
[COUGHS]
[GRUNTS]
No. Got your head back again.
Get it level.
That's it.
[DOGS BARKING]
Faster, come on.
Pass the car. Go on.
Go on. Go on. Go on. On, on!
Come on, now. Keep it up, come on.
Rhythm, Mr. Abrahams. Rhythm!
[CHOIR SINGING HYMN]
JENNIE: Training, training, training.
All I ever hear is training.
Do you believe
in what we're doing here or not?
Look, Jennie, I'm sorry.
I was late. I apologize.
JENNIE:
That's all very well, Eric.
Look, I said I was sorry.
To me. It's not me you've insulted.
Away with your bother.
The Lord will not feel slighted
in the missing of a bus.
Yes, Eric, you missed a bus. But why?
Your mind's not with us anymore, son.
It's full of running, starting
and medals and pace.
Your head's so full of running
you've no room for standing still.
Jennie, Jennie, Jennie.
Don't fret yourself.
But I do fret myself, Eric.
I'm frightened for you.
I'm frightened for what
it all might do to you.
Ahem. Please, Mr. Liddell.
- Would you sign your name, please?
- Sure.
Pick yourself a pen.
- There you are.
- Thanks.
Come on, Jennie, let's go for a walk.
I've got something to say.
[WIND WHISTLING]
It's a sight and a half, isn't it, Jennie?
Auld Reekie. I'll be sad to leave it.
I've decided. I'm going back to China.
- The missionary service have accepted me.
- Oh, Eric!
Oh, I'm so pleased.
But I've got a lot of running to do first.
Jennie.
Jennie, you've got to understand.
I believe that God made me for a purpose.
For China.
But he also made me fast.
And when I run I feel his pleasure.
To give it up would be
to hold him in contempt.
You were right. It's not just fun.
To win is to honor him.
Jennie.
Jennie.
I've got my degree to get.
All that work.
Then there's Paris.
The Olympic Games.
There's just not enough of me.
I'm asking you to manage
the mission on your own until then.
Will you do that for me, Jennie?
SYBIL:
Andy, I've lost him. I can't reach him.
ANDY:
You will, old girl, you will.
SYBIL:
He says he needs to clear his mind of me.
He can't love me and say that.
[ANDY CLEARS THROAT]
Syb...
...the world's against him,
or so he believes.
Now he's got a chance to prove himself.
He can't see or hear anything
beyond that, not even you.
It's hard, I know,
but you've got to try and understand.
- Why should I?
- Because he's what you want, isn't he?
What about you, and Stallard,
and Aubrey? You're still the same.
- The chance is there for you, too. - To be
a fastest, yes, but not the fastest.
The fastest man ever before.
Heh.
Father's never going to learn
how to do that.
That's immortality.
Just think what that means
to a man like Harold.
To me the whole thing's fun.
I don't need that.
"Cast care aside" and all that. Heh.
But for Harold, it's a matter of life...
...and death.
- So all I can do is wait.
- Afraid so.
And pray like hell that he wins, right?
And if he doesn't?
You mustn't worry, old thing.
Now, I've never, ever seen
a man so smitten as our Harold.
It's just that I'm a little envious,
that's all.
Oh, Andy.
- Your parasol, Miss Gordon.
- Oh, thank you, Mildred.
Good luck tonight.
He's a damned fool.
I always thought the Irish
had all the luck.
- John, Savoy Theatre.
- Yes, sir.
Splendid.
[ENGINE REVS]
Mildred, would you get my spikes.
Ready, my lord.
Now, if I shed a drop I want to know.
Touch but not spill, what.
MASTER OF TRINITY:
Life slips by, Abrahams, life slips by.
But this fine old university...
...she offers some rare consolations,
wouldn't you say?
Beyond measure, sir.
I can take it, then,
that you would be acutely grieved...
...to discover that any behavior or action
on your part were causing her grief?
Naturally, sir, I would, deeply.
Good. I was sure of it.
Here in Cambridge, we've always
been proud of our athletic prowess.
We believe, we've always believed,
that our games...
...are indispensable in helping to complete
the education of an Englishman.
They create character...
...they foster courage,
honesty and leadership.
But most of all...
...an unassailable spirit of loyalty,
comradeship, and mutual responsibility.
Would you agree?
HAROLD:
Yes, sir. I would.
[BELL TOLLING]
Abrahams, there is a growing suspicion
in the bosom of this university...
...and I tell you this without
in any way decrying your achievements...
...in which we all rejoice...
...that in your enthusiasm for success...
...you have perhaps lost sight
of some of these ideals.
May I ask what form this disloyalty,
this betrayal, takes?
- Oh, hardly betrayal.
- The word "grief" was mentioned.
MASTER OF CAIUS:
It's said that you use a personal coach.
Mr. Mussabini, yes.
Is he an Italian?
HAROLD: Of Italian extraction, yes.
- I see.
HAROLD:
But not all Italian.
- I'm relieved to hear it.
- He's half Arab.
Do we take it that you employ this
Mr. Masambini on a professional basis?
Sam Mussabini is the finest,
most advanced...
...clearest-thinking athletics coach
in the country.
I'm honored he considers me
worthy of his complete attention.
- Nevertheless, he is a professional.
- What else would he be? He's the best.
Oh, but there, Mr. Abrahams,
I'm afraid our paths diverge.
You see, this university believes
that the way of the amateur...
...is the only one to provide
satisfactory results.
I am an amateur.
You've been trained by a professional.
You've adopted a professional attitude.
For the past year,
you've concentrated wholly...
...on developing your own technique...
...in the headlong pursuit, may I suggest,
of individual glory.
Not a policy very conducive
to the fostering of esprit de corps.
I am a Cambridge man first and last.
I am an Englishman first and last.
What I have achieved, what I intend
to achieve, is for my family...
...my university, and my country.
And I bitterly resent
your suggesting otherwise.
Your aim is to win at all costs, is it not?
HAROLD: At all costs, no.
But I do aim to win within the rules.
Perhaps you would rather
I play the gentleman and lost?
To playing the tradesman, yes.
MASTER OF TRINITY:
My dear boy, your approach has been...
...if I may say so, a little too plebeian.
You are the elite...
...and are therefore expected
to behave as such.
Thank you, sir...
...for your hospitality.
The evening has been most illuminating.
Good night to you, sir.
You know, gentlemen...
...you yearn for victory just as I do.
But achieved
with the apparent effortlessness of gods.
Yours are the archaic values
of the prep-school playground.
You deceive no one but yourselves.
I believe in the pursuit of excellence...
...and I'll carry the future with me.
[DOOR OPENS]
[DOOR CLOSES]
Well, there goes your Semite, Hugh.
A different god, a different mountaintop.
MAN 1: Harold! Harold!
MAN 2: Hey, Harold!
All of us, you, Henry,
Andy and me, we're all in.
You, 100 and 200, Andy, 400 and hurdles.
- Marvelous news.
- Henry the mile, and me the steeplechase.
Paris, here we come.
Um... Heard Liddell's picked, too.
Rivals under the same flag.
You've got a chance to get even.
I can't wait.
MAN 1:
Welcome to Dover, Lord Birkenhead.
MAN 2: Are the Yanks so well trained
they'll wipe the floor with our boys?
It's certainly true that
the Americans have prepared seriously...
...some would say too seriously,
to gain success.
But we feel we may, in our
unsophisticated way, have their match.
Sir, do you think the British
stand a chance...
...against such great American athletes
as Charlie Paddock and Jackson Scholz?
Oh. You Americans have a number of men
who are rated as world-beaters...
...but this contest is in Europe, not in
the rarefied climes of the United States.
Parisian conditions
are bound to be more robust...
...more combative,
and certainly more cavalier.
MAN 3: More cavalier?
MAN 2: Lord Birkenhead, are the Yanks...
...so professionally well trained that
they will wipe the floor with our boys?
Gentlemen, in Abrahams,
Liddell, and Lindsay...
...we have men who could give them
a run for their money.
[CROWD CHEERING]
SANDY:
Eric.
ERIC:
Sandy.
You haven't come from Scotland
just to see me off?
No, I'm seeing myself off.
Come on up the gangway.
MAN: Good luck, Mr. Liddell.
- Thank you.
Mr. Liddell, what do you think
of your chances against Abrahams?
I'll do my best. I can do no less. Right?
REPORTER: Mr. Liddell, sir, what about
the qualifying heats on Sunday?
- What did you say?
REPORTER: On Sunday.
Do you think you can beat
the Americans?
MAN 1:
There's Mr. Abrahams.
MAN 2: Mr. Abrahams...
- I'm sorry, I've no time.
- Harold. Gilbert and Sullivan will win.
- Thanks very much for coming.
SYBIL: Harold.
- Sybil.
- I came to wish you luck.
- I'm glad.
I understand. I wanted you to know that.
I'll be here when you come back.
[HORN BLOWING]
MAN:
Hurry, Mr. Abrahams, she's about to sail.
HAROLD:
I must go. I'll see you in three weeks.
Bye-bye.
Mind your step, sir.
We want you to get there in one piece.
Come on.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
[HORN BLOWING]
When did you get to know?
Did you not read the paper?
It had the whole program.
The heats for the 100 are on Sunday
after the opening ceremony.
The semis and final, a couple days after.
It's only a heat.
Does it make all that difference?
Yeah.
Yeah, it does.
[PEOPLE LAUGHING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
And strong...
Strong though the temptation may be...
...to disport your newly acquired finery
around the streets of Paris...
...if they aren't temptation enough...
...may I ask you on behalf
of the Olympic Committee...
...to save your sartorial splendor...
...until at least
after the opening ceremony.
May I remind you...
...you are the favored few.
You constitute what is without doubt...
...the most powerful athletic force
ever to leave these shores.
You are to face the world's best.
Brown and yellow, white and black,
young and ardent as yourselves...
...fleet of foot and strong of limb...
...from every civilized nation
on the face of the Earth.
I have no doubt...
...that you will acquit yourselves
honorably and with distinction.
Good luck to you all.
JENNIE:
Your mind's not with us anymore.
It's full of sprinting, starting
and medals and pace.
Your head's so full of running
you've no room for standing still.
ERIC:
Jennie, Jennie. Don't fret yourself.
JENNIE:
I do fret myself, Eric.
I'm frightened for you.
I'm frightened what it all might do to you.
ERIC: Do you know what day it is?
BOY: Yeah. Sunday.
ERIC: Sabbath's not a day
for playing football, is it?
BIRKENHEAD:
It's an awful step you're taking, Liddell.
The whole of Britain will be watching you.
I don't know that they'll understand.
I'm not sure that I understand.
I'm not sure that I do either, sir.
For the last three years,
I've devoted myself to my running...
...just to be on this ship.
I gave up my rugby,
my work has suffered...
...and I've deeply hurt someone
I hold very dear.
Because I told myself, if I win...
...I win for God.
And now I find myself
sitting here destroying it all.
But I have to. To run
would be against God's law.
I was mistaken.
My boy, as things stand,
you must not run.
But I want you to
hold your fire for a while, Liddell.
Leave everything to me.
Say nothing. Wait until we get to Paris.
I'll have a word with the French.
I'm not without a certain pull.
And we fought in the war together.
They do owe us something.
I don't understand.
They're not a very principled lot,
the Frogs.
But when faced with a stand like yours,
one never knows.
I might get through.
I just might possibly persuade them.
The French, sir?
What could they do?
Shift that bloody heat of yours,
of course.
Good evening.
ERIC:
Goodbye, sir.
[PIANO PLAYING]
[SINGING]
With cat-like tread
Upon our prey we steal
In silence dread
Our cautious way we feel
No sound at all
We never speak a word
A fly's footfall
Would be distinctly heard
ALL [SINGING]:
Come friends, who plough the sea
Truce to navigation
Take another station
Let's vary piracy
With a little burglary
AUBREY:
I wish you could see, Ma...
...the wonderful spirit aboard
now that we've left England.
Harold on the piano
with his beloved Gilbert and Sullivan.
We're laughing and relaxing,
and chatting about anything.
Anything but running.
We're here for Britain, and we know it.
I'm here for you, Ma.
You and Pa. I hope I do you proud.
There's not a chap amongst us
who isn't ready to burst his heart...
...for all we've left behind.
[PHOTOGRAPHER SPEAKS
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
[BAND PLAYING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[BAND PLAYING
"STAR SPANGLED BANNER"]
["STAR SPANGLED BANNER"
PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS]
[WHISPERING]
"American champions arrive in France."
["YANKEE DOODLE"
PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS]
HAROLD [WHISPERING]:
There's Paddock. Charles Paddock.
- There's Fitch.
AUBREY: My God.
And there's Scholz.
HAROLD:
Yes, that's Scholz all right.
A bit more my size.
Mean with it, though. 10.4.
Got your plate full there, Harold.
Battle on your hands, what.
Charles H. Paddock...
...and Jackson Scholz.
The fastest men in the world.
[GRUNTING]
[MEN YELLING INDISTINCTLY]
Push it, Taylor, push it!
Come on, push it, push it.
One, two. One, two. One, two.
[YELLING CONTINUES]
Come on, now. Okay, get up.
Come on!
Go on like a champ, will you?
Hey, Scholzy!
[YELLING INDISTINCTLY]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[MARCHING BAND PLAYING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
[BAND PLAYING "LA MARSEILLAISE"]
[PEOPLE SINGING IN FRENCH]
- Well.
- Good luck, Andy.
Good luck, Harry.
Monty.
[CHUCKLES]
[MAN SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
[SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[SCREAMING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
Your Royal Highness, may I introduce
Mr. Tom Watson, representing New Zealand.
PRINCE: How do you do?
You've come a long way.
I'm from Oxford, sir.
They wrote to me, said
as I was here, I might
as well take part.
PRINCE:
How economical. But can you run?
WATSON: I'll give it a try, sir. PRINCE:
That's the spirit. Best of luck to you.
[CROWD APPLAUDING
AND CHATTERING]
- The royal benediction no less.
- Chap's invaluable.
- We couldn't do without him.
- Hear, hear. Henry V and all that.
- Let's go.
- Protocol, Monty. Protocol.
He's here to show us what may be done
and more essentially, what may not be.
- Jackson Scholz.
ERIC: How do you do?
I'm Eric Liddell.
Well, we've heard a lot about you.
Good to meet you at last.
- Ah.
JACKSON: Liddell. Excuse me.
I was afraid you weren't here.
I'm afraid I am, sir.
[CHUCKLES]
Fine. Do you good.
Take you out of yourself a bit.
The Prince of Wales
would like to meet you.
No. No.
No, sir. Wouldn't be right.
Liddell, he is your future king.
Are you refusing to shake his hand?
Does your arrogance extend that far?
My arrogance, sir, extends
just as far as my conscience demands.
Fine.
Then let's hope that's wise enough
to give you room for maneuver.
- All right, sir.
- Splendid.
I'll take you to him now.
Your Royal Highness,
may I present Mr. Eric Liddell.
Delighted, Liddell. Delighted.
I saw you play for Scotland.
It depressed me no end.
Ran in a couple of tries
from your own half, I remember.
I believe I did so, yes.
Nice to have you on the same side at last.
- Excellent effort of Lindsay's, you think?
- He did well, sir. Did indeed.
An example to us all.
Eric, may I introduce
His Grace the Duke of Sutherland...
- ...president of our Olympic Association.
- How do you do?
And our chairman, Lord Cadogan.
Have a seat.
Make yourself comfortable.
Cigar?
Oh, no, of course you don't. Nor drink.
Such is the resolution of the young man
you have before you, gentlemen.
Lord Birkenhead has advised us as to
your attitude towards your participation...
...in the 100-meters heats, Liddell.
Or would your non-participation
be more accurate?
It would, sir, yes.
DUKE: We were consulted as to the correct
manner in which to approach the French.
Something we just
can't allow to happen...
...going cap-in-hand
to the Frogs of all people.
Simply out of the question.
Simple matter of national dignity, Liddell.
Being a patriot, I'm sure you understand.
Well, I must say, sir,
I felt it was an impractical suggestion.
BIRKENHEAD:
Why didn't you damn well say so, man?
As an athlete you value economy of effort.
I wanted to run.
I was desperate enough to try anything.
DUKE:
Well, all that being understood...
...we decided to invite you in
for a little chat...
...to see if there's any way
we can resolve the situation.
CADOGAN: There's only one way
to resolve the situation.
That's for this man
to change his mind and run.
PRINCE:
Don't state the obvious, Cadogan.
We've to explore ways in which we can
help this young man to reach that decision.
ERIC:
I'm afraid there are no ways, sir.
I won't run on a Sabbath, and that's final.
I intended to confirm this
with Lord Birkenhead tonight...
...even before you called me up
in front of this inquisition.
Don't be impertinent.
The impertinence lies with those who seek
to influence a man to deny his beliefs.
BIRKENHEAD:
On the contrary, Liddell...
...we're appealing to your beliefs...
...in your country and your king.
Your loyalty to them.
Hear, hear. In my day, it was king first...
...God after.
Yes, and the war to end wars
bitterly proved your point.
God made countries. God makes kings...
...and the rules by which they govern.
And those rules say
that the Sabbath is his.
And I for one intend to keep it that way.
Mr. Liddell, you're a child of your race,
as I am.
We share a common heritage,
a common bond, a common loyalty.
There are times when we're asked
to make sacrifices...
...in the name of that loyalty.
Without them,
our allegiance is worthless.
As I see it, for you...
...this is such a time.
[SIGHS]
Sir...
...God knows I love my country.
But I can't make that sacrifice.
[DOOR RATTLING]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
BIRKENHEAD:
Come in.
Ahem.
Your Royal Highness, Lord Lindsay.
Your Highness,
Lord Cadogan, gentlemen.
I do apologize for barging in like this.
Fact is, I am fully aware
of Eric's dilemma...
...and I wondered if I could be so bold
as to suggest a possible solution.
CADOGAN:
Do.
Yes.
Another day, another race.
CADOGAN:
What the devil's that supposed to mean?
It's quite simple, sir. The 400 meters.
It's on Thursday.
I've already got my medal.
So why don't you let Eric
take my place in the quarter?
DUKE:
I think that's a splendid idea.
Can we allow him to change events
at such short notice?
That's a matter for the committee.
We are the committee.
I think it's a very good idea. David?
All those in favor, say aye.
MEN:
Aye.
PRINCE:
Liddell.
A pleasure, old chap...
...just to see you run.
Aye. Heh.
PRINCE:
Well, that's settled.
[SIGHS]
- A sticky moment, George.
- Hmm.
Thank God for Lindsay.
I thought the lad had us beaten.
He did have us beaten, F.E.,
and thank God he did.
- I don't quite follow you.
- Well, the lad, as you call him...
...is a true man of principle,
and a true athlete.
His speed is a mere extension
of his life, its force.
We sought to sever
his running from himself.
For his country's sake, yes.
No sake is worth that, F.E.,
least of all a guilty national pride.
"Lindsay makes way for Liddell.
Four hundred meters for defecting Scot.
'Smacks of fanaticism, ' says official.
'Man of principle, ' says primate.
'We should be proud."'
[CHEERING OUTSIDE]
So that's the Olympic stadium?
That's it, Sam.
It's as good as being in there, isn't it?
Better. Seeing as I'm persona non grata.
Yeah.
It's tiptop, Mr. Abrahams.
You've done a grand job.
If we don't win now we never will.
Have I got everything, Sam,
everything you need?
Ah...
Yes.
All we need now is Sunday.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
[DOG BARKING]
ERIC: My text this afternoon
is taken from Isaiah, Chapter 40.
"Behold...
...the nations are as a drop in a bucket...
...and are counted as the small dust
in the balance.
All nations before him are as nothing.
They are counted to him
less than nothing...
...and vanity.
He bringeth the princes to nothing.
He maketh
the judges of the earth as a vanity.
Hast thou not known?
Hast thou not heard...
...that the everlasting God, the Lord...
...the creator of the ends of the earth...
...fainteth not, neither is weary?"
Juvenile.
[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
I know, Sam.
"He giveth power to the faint.
And to them that have no strength...
...he increaseth might.
But they that wait upon the Lord...
...shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up...
...with wings as eagles.
They shall run...
...and not be weary.
They shall walk...
...and not faint."
[PANTING]
HAROLD: Do you remember when we first
bumped into each other, old man?
We shared a taxi, remember?
You made me feel...
...an age old, burdened, sour...
...even superior.
[SCOFFS]
That was the miscalculation of my life.
You, Aubrey...
...are my most complete man.
You're brave...
...compassionate, kind.
A content man.
That's your secret.
Contentment.
I'm 24 and I've never known it.
I'm forever in pursuit,
yet I don't know what it is I'm chasing.
Aubrey, old chap, I'm scared.
Sam and I, we've labored,
rowed and bullied for this...
...day in, day out.
You've seen us,
chuckled over us I'll be bound...
...out in all weathers.
Madmen.
And for what?
I was beaten out of sight in the 200...
...then let Paddock trick me in the semi.
And now in one hour's time
I'll be out there again.
I'll raise my eyes
and look down that corridor...
...4 feet wide...
...with 10 lonely seconds
to justify my whole existence.
But will I?
[SIGHING]
Aubrey, I've known the fear of losing...
...but now I'm almost
too frightened to win.
SAM: Dear Mr. Abrahams,
you must please pardon...
...my not coming to see you run...
...much as I would like to do so.
However, I believe and hope
you will win the 100 meters.
Go out determined to do your best.
And don't forget...
...drop down at the first stride.
Get well warmed up...
...and then let the gun release you.
I should use
the springy old six-spike shoes.
All the best of luck, from yours truly,
Sam Mussabini.
P.S. Please accept the charm.
My old father swore by it.
[TRUMPET PLAYING]
[BAND PLAYING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
No regrets, Eric,
you're not down there with them?
Yeah.
No doubts, though.
Your Royal Highness, may I present
Mr. Bowman of the United States.
Mr. Bowman.
- Mr. Murchison.
- Mr. Murchison.
And Mr. Watson of New Zealand
I believe you know.
- Yes, Mr. Watson. How are you?
- Very well, sir. Thank you.
- Good.
- Mr. Paddock.
Mr. Paddock. Dinner for your whole team
at my club when we get back to London.
If you win, I pay.
Abrahams wins, you pay. All right?
Sir, you have yourself a deal.
Done.
- Best of luck to you.
- And to you too, sir.
- Mr. Scholz.
- Scholz.
And this of course
is our Harold Abrahams.
- Good luck, Abrahams.
- Thank you.
Do your best, that's all we can expect.
- Good luck, Abrahams.
- Thank you, sir.
Come on, Charlie.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
[ALL CHANTING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
Head down.
Watch the first stride.
Go for release.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[PISTOL FIRES]
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[BAND PLAYING]
Harold.
[POPS]
[LAUGHING]
My son.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
AUBREY: Harold!
- Shh, shh, shh.
Leave him be,
can't you see he's whacked?
- But he won.
- Exactly.
Now, one of these days,
Monty, you're going to win yourself.
And it's pretty difficult to swallow.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Come in.
Mrs. Abrahams just rang, miss.
The Daily Express.
They've been on from Paris.
Mr. Harold. He won.
She told me to tell you he won.
Thank you very much, Bill.
BILL:
Oh, it's 15 minutes to curtain up, miss.
[BELL TOLLING]
He did it, sir.
Thank you, Matthews.
"Abrahams triumphant.
Caius College athlete wins
Blue Riband at games."
Just as I expected.
SAM: Yes, you always thought of yourself
as a ruthless man, haven't you? Hard.
Bit of a loner, like me.
But actually you're as soft
as a limp pocket.
And you care.
You care about things that really matter.
If you didn't, I wouldn't have
come within a mile of you.
Do you know who you won for
out there today, hmm?
Us.
You and old Sam Mussabini.
I've waited 30 bloody years for this.
[MAN SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
SAM:
Oh.
Harold!
[VOICE BREAKING]
It means the world to me, this, you know.
And if all the world can do...
...is they want to go home to bed,
then they can go to hell.
Because we've had today, you and me...
...and we've got it for keeps.
Now it's out of your system.
Go home to that girl of yours,
and start some bloody living. Yes?
HAROLD: To Sam Mussabini.
- Oh.
The greatest trainer in the world.
Hmm?
SAM:
These glasses.
HAROLD:
Come on, Sam, we're going home.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
Good luck. Don't expect I'll see you
until after the race.
What's the deal with Liddell?
Is he a problem?
No problem, he's a flier.
He's had two races today already.
He'll die.
Just swing along, you guys, and wait.
After 300 meters...
...rigor mortis sets in.
You'll pull him in on a rope.
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Good luck, Taylor.
- Watch out for Liddell.
- Coach says no problem.
He's got something to prove.
Something personal.
Something guys like coach
will never understand.
CROWD [CHANTING]:
USA, USA, USA.
MAN:
Jennie!
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
JACKSON: "It says in the old book,
'He that honors me...
...I will honor.'
Good luck. Jackson Scholz."
[OFFICIAL SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
ERIC: So where does the power come from
to see the race to its end?
From within.
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
Come on, Liddell!
ERIC: Jennie, I believe God
made me for a purpose.
But he also made me fast.
And when I run, I feel his pleasure.
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[CAR HORN HONKING]
[TRAIN HORN BLARES]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
CHOIR [SINGING]:
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
ALL:
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold
AUBREY: Well, Andy, he did it.
ANDY: Hmm?
AUBREY: What's that, old boy?
ANDY: He ran them off their feet.
Bring me my Spear
O clouds unfold
Bring me my Chariot of fire
I will not cease from Mental Fight
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant Land
"Let us praise famous men...
...and our fathers that begat us."
All these men were honored
in their generations...
...and were a glory in their days.
We are here today to give thanks...
...for the life of Harold Abrahams...
...to honor the legend.
Now there are just two of us.
Young Aubrey Montague...
...and myself...
...who can close our eyes...
...and remember those few young men...
...with hope in our hearts...
...and wings on our heels.
[DOG BARKING]
[HORN HONKS]
AUBREY [IN VOICEOVER]:
Carlton Hotel, Broadstairs, Kent.
June 28, 1924.
Dear Mom, I'm most awfully sorry about
your cold and the general dreariness.
We're also having quite bad
weather here, too.
Thanks for your letters.
I'm sorry you and Pa are disappointed...
...that I should be letting the Olympic
Games interfere with my shorthand.
But if you were my age, with a chance
to win the championship in Paris...
...you'd be just as big a fool as I am.
By the way, it's awfully kind of Pa
to finance me here, in spite of my idiocy.
His marvelous esprit de corps.
Most of the chaps have managed to get down.
- Cricket, Montague, in the ballroom.
Splendid. - Now. Come on.
MAN:
No ball!
HAROLD:
Come on, Aubrey, the old leg break.
- How's that?
MAN: Not out.
What do you mean?
You could hear it in Bournemouth.
- Come on, Liddell, my innings.
- I didn't touch it.
Must've been the crack of my wrist.
HAROLD: I saw the bloody thing bend. Andy!
- No tickle for me, I'm afraid, old chap.
He's out, I tell you. You're all deaf.
Deaf and bloody blind.
Aubrey, I ask you, for God's sake.
It's not fair.
[ALL LAUGHING]
All right.
AUBREY:
Harold's here, as intense as ever.
Just as he was
on our very first day at Cambridge.
I remember we shared a taxi together.
I'll take these.
- See you inside, Aubrey.
- Right.
- Name, please.
- We're new.
Yes, I can see that, laddie.
What's your name?
Abrahams, H.M.
Top of the list. Repton. That the one?
That's it. Left a year ago.
Oh, been doing your bit,
have you? France?
- No. Joined too late.
ROGERS: Bad luck, lad.
Many a dead man would've
liked a share, bad luck or not.
RADCLIFFE:
You're right there, sir.
Welcome to Caius.
Sign here.
Thank you.
It's across the courtyard,
top right-hand corner...
- ...up the stairs.
- Thanks.
By the way, what are your names?
Rogers, Head Porter,
and this is Mr. Radcliffe, my assistant.
Well, Mr. Rogers, Radcliffe...
...I ceased to be called laddie
when I took up the king's commission.
- Is that clear?
- Yes, Mr. Abrahams. Quite clear.
Thank you.
I'd be obliged if you'd remember it.
- See you later.
- Fine.
ROGERS:
What's your friend studying, then, son?
Barrack-room law?
AUBREY: I've no idea.
- Mm.
One thing's certain.
Name like Abrahams, he won't
be in the Chapel Choir, now, will he?
- Name?
- Montague.
- What?
- Montague.
[CHOIR SINGING IN LATIN]
I take the War List and I run down it.
Name after name which I cannot read...
...and which we who are older than you...
...cannot hear without emotion.
Names which will be only names to you,
the new college...
...but which to us summon up
face after face...
...full of honesty and goodness...
...zeal and vigor...
...and intellectual promise.
The flower of a generation,
the glory of England.
And they died for England
and all that England stands for.
And now, by tragic necessity,
their dreams have become yours.
Let me exhort you: Examine yourselves.
Let each of you discover
where your true chance of greatness lies.
For their sakes...
...for the sake of your college
and your country, seize this chance.
Rejoice in it.
And let no power or persuasion
deter you in your task.
AUBREY:
Thursday, October the 10th, 1919.
My first day at Cambridge was rounded off
by the Freshmen's Dinner...
...a sumptuous affair.
The master gave us a moving speech,
and I am now eagerly awaiting...
...the start of term proper.
Rugby Club, Golfing Society,
Tennis, Squash Club...
...Flora and Fauna, Philately. Is that all?
- You're idle, man. Idle.
- Can't join everything.
- I've got to work sometime.
- Birdwatching? You can take a book.
How can I watch if I'm reading?
Follow in the footsteps of W.G.
Any Yorkshire men here?
- You are, Stallard.
- I can't bat for toffee.
[MEN SINGING
"THE SOLDIERS OF OUR QUEEN"]
Upon the battle scene
They fight the foe together
There ev'ry mother's son
Prepared to fight and fall is
The enemy of one
The enemy of all is
The enemy of one
The enemy of all is
HAROLD: Abraham, H.M.
- Can't manage tenor, can you?
- Desperately short of tenors.
HAROLD: Afraid not, except under torture.
How about you, Aubrey? Sing, do you?
AUBREY: School choir, that's all.
HAROLD: You, Stallard?
STALLARD: Not on your life. They kicked
me out of Ring a Ring of Roses.
Sorry about that. We can't all be gifted.
[SINGING]
If everybody's somebody
Then no one's anybody
- Put my friend here down as well.
AUBREY: Steady on.
MAN 1: Excellent.
MAN 2: Splendid.
- Rehearsals start on Monday, Iolanthe.
- But I was a boy alto.
- Perfect. You can be Queen of the Fairies.
MAN 3: Brought us to the brink!
Where were you
when your country needed you?
We have a duty, a solemn duty to those
countless millions of lives needlessly...
MEN [SINGING]:
Afar away they dream of home
Glad to have you. Good middle-distance
men don't grow on trees.
STALLARD:
I can't vouch for those times.
Taken with the school alarm clock,
most of them.
Give or take a second,
they're good enough for me.
Have you come across a fellow
called Abrahams? H.M. Abrahams?
He's challenged for the College Dash.
What's so special about that?
It's special because in all of 700 years...
...nobody's ever done it.
What do you do?
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Right, chaps. Thank you. Thank you.
Let it be known that
H.M. Abrahams of Gonville and Caius...
...has formally made challenge
for the College Dash.
[CROWD BOOING AND CHATTERING]
AUBREY:
You show them, Harold.
For those of you not familiar
with the rules, they are as follows.
The challenger will run
the perimeter of the court...
...to and from a fixed point
beneath the clock...
...within the time taken
by the sound clock to strike midday.
A distance traditionally recognized
as one of 188 paces.
MAN 1: I say, Abrahams, what've you got
on your feet? Rockets?
Challenge will commence
on the stroke of 1.
MAN 2: Abrahams, you haven't got a chance.
MAN 3: Do it for Israel.
The challenge will commence
on the stroke of 1.
The challenger must reach his mark
before the stroke of 12.
MAN 4:
Come on, Abrahams, you swank.
[MEN LAUGHING]
Will the challenger
please make himself ready.
[SCATTERED BOOS AND APPLAUSE]
This Abrahams.
What do you know about him?
Repton chap.
Jewish.
His father's a financier in the city.
Financier.
What's that supposed to mean, I wonder?
I imagine he lends money.
Exactly.
What do they say about the son?
Academically sound. Arrogant.
Defensive to the point of pugnacity.
Hmm. As they invariably are.
Yet possessing
a keen sense of duty and loyalty.
Do they say he can run?
Like the wind.
[MEN CHATTERING]
Gentlemen, would you draw back, please.
Away from the course.
Thank you.
Mr. Abrahams, your position, please.
Owing to the absence of any other
challenger, Mr. Abrahams will run alone.
MAN:
Not so, Mr. Starter!
[MEN MURMURING]
Your name and college, sir?
Lindsay. I race beside my friend here.
We challenge in the name
of Repton, Eton, and Caius.
[CROWD CHEERING]
HAROLD: I didn't know you ran.
- Nor I you.
Some chap tell me about
this over breakfast.
Thought I'd push
you along a bit.
- Delighted.
- Splendid.
Good luck.
Gentlemen, to your marks, if you please.
Now, remember. On the first strike of 12.
[BELL CHIMING]
[CHIMING ENDS]
[CLOCK STRIKING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
MAN 1:
Come on!
MAN 2:
Come on, stay with it.
MAN 3:
Run harder, come on.
MAN 4:
Come on!
STALLARD:
Get those legs working!
AUBREY:
More leg when you stride, keep going.
[CROWD CHEERING]
Go on. Go on, Harold!
[CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE]
[CROWD CHEERING]
MASTER OF CAIUS: Did they both do it?
- I think not.
- Young Lindsay failed by a whisker.
- Pity.
MASTER OF TRINITY: Well, it's been done,
and by a Caius man.
You must be very proud.
The first man in seven centuries.
Perhaps they really are
God's chosen people after all.
[MASTER OF CAIUS LAUGHS]
MASTER OF CAIUS: I doubt
if there's a swifter man in the kingdom.
ERIC:
Get to your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
MAN 1:
Go on, Angus, run.
MAN 2:
Sprint, Johnny, sprint.
MAN 3:
Oh, run, Steve!
MAN 4:
Come on, faster.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Oh...
[CHILDREN CLAMORING]
JENNIE: He may be your best friend,
Sandy, but he's my best brother.
I'm thinking of him
and not your blessed athletics team.
His heart's set on following
Father in the mission.
Do you not think he's got enough
on his plate without racing?
He's fast, Jennie, really fast.
You've seen him with a ball in his hands.
And I've seen him
with a Bible in his hands.
I know which is the most important.
You can't deny him the chance.
Get him on a track
with a piece of technique, I tell you...
Please don't tell me, Sandy,
I don't want to hear.
Eric's special to me, precious.
I don't want his work spoiled
with all this running talk, do you hear?
ERIC:
Is there a John MacMillan anywhere?
Go on, get your consolation prize.
There you are.
Well done.
You know, ladies and gentlemen...
...one of the real compensations
of achieving a certain notoriety...
...if only as a rugby player,
is that occasionally you're asked...
...to come along and give things away.
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
It's often said that
giving beats receiving.
And let me tell you...
...the look of delight
on those little boys'
faces is worth 10 of
any of the tin pots...
...I've got gathering dust
in my Edinburgh sideboard.
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
When we were in China, my father here...
...was always waxing lyrical
about his wee home in the glen.
But being Oriental-born myself,
like my brothers and my sister here...
...I suffered from a natural incredulity.
But looking about me now...
...the heather and the hills...
...I can see he was right.
It's very special.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Thank you for welcoming us home,
and thank you...
...for reminding me that I am,
and will be whilst I breath...
[COW MOOS]
[CHILDREN LAUGH]
...a Scot.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Mr. Provost, sir...
Before you allow Eric here to go...
...is it not true
that the main event of the meeting...
- ...is still to be run?
PROVOST: It is.
The 200-yards Open Championship.
It's the last event of this gathering
by tradition.
Do you not think,
if we can find him some kit...
...we might persuade
Scotland's finest wing...
...to show us his paces?
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
MAN 1:
What do you say, Eric?
MAN 2:
To your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
Didn't I tell you, Eric? Didn't I tell you?
A touch of liberality would do no harm.
Sandy, the Kingdom of God
is not a democracy.
The Lord never seeks reelection.
There's no discussion, no deliberation...
...no referenda as to which road to take.
There's one right, one wrong,
one absolute ruler.
- A dictator, you mean.
- Aye.
But a benign, loving dictator.
So much for your freedom of choice.
ERIC:
You've still got a choice, Sandy.
Nobody's forcing you to follow him.
Oh! Hey, hey.
- Do you know what day it is?
- Yeah.
- Tell me, then.
- Sunday.
Sabbath's not a day
for playing football...
- ...is it?
- No.
- You up early in the morning?
- Ma gets me up at 7.
We'll have a game then. Okay?
Mr. Liddell, is it okay if my dad comes?
Sure. Bring your whole family.
I'll give you a five-goal start.
- You've got a train to catch at 9:00.
- There's plenty of time.
You want the kid to grow up
thinking God's a spoilsport?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[GLASS CLINKING]
MAN:
Come on.
SANDY: If I may, I'd like to propose
a toast to the Liddell family...
...whom I'm fortunate enough
to call my friends.
The reverend J.D.,
Mrs. L., young Ernest...
...bon voyage,
and safe journey back to China.
May the years ahead
be happy and content.
For those who remain...
...may God protect them, inspire them,
and lead them to glory.
Thank you, Sandy. That was very nice.
I'm relying on you now
to keep them all out of mischief.
That I will, Mrs. L. If they do transgress,
I'll pop the details on a postcard.
And you can read all about it
before you can say "Marco Polo."
It'll cost you a fortune
in postage stamps.
SANDY: Don't worry,
I intend to protect my investment.
I'm going to rule you with a rod of iron.
[MEN LAUGHING]
ERIC: Oh, well, we have to
watch ourselves then.
[MEN LAUGH]
You're a very lucky young man, Eric.
You're the proud possessor
of many gifts.
And it's your sacred duty
to put them to good use.
That's right. Run like we know you can,
strong and true...
...and the mission cannot but gain
by your success.
What we need now
is a muscular Christian...
...to make folks sit up and notice.
How good are you, Eric?
Sandy reckons he'll run for Scotland
before the month's out.
- And after that, the sky's the limit.
- Meaning what?
The Olympic Games, maybe.
J.D.: Eric, you can praise the Lord
by peeling a spud...
...if you peel it to perfection.
Don't compromise.
Compromise is a language of the Devil.
Run in God's name...
...and let the world stand back in wonder.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND CHATTERING]
CHORUS [SINGING]:
Lean and his mercy will provide
Trust and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life and Christ its love
[CROWD CHEERING]
Run the straight race
Through God's good grace
Lift up thine eyes and seek his face
Life with its way before us lies
Christ is the path and Christ the prize
You came to see a race today.
To see someone win.
It happened to be me.
But I want you to do more
than just watch a race.
I want you to take part in it.
I want to compare faith
to running in a race.
It's hard.
It requires concentration of will,
energy of soul.
You experience elation
when the winner breaks the tape.
Especially if you've got a bet on it.
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
ERIC:
But how long does that last?
You go home,
maybe your dinner's burnt.
Maybe... Maybe you haven't got a job.
So who am I to say, "Believe...
...have faith,"
in the face of life's realities?
I would like to give you
something more permanent...
...but I can only point the way.
I have no formula for winning the race.
Everyone runs in her own way,
or his own way.
And where does the power come from
to see the race to its end?
From within.
Jesus said:
"Behold, the Kingdom of God
is within you.
If with all your hearts
you truly seek me...
...you shall ever surely find me."
If you commit yourself...
...to the love of Christ...
...then that is how you run
the straight race.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
Cheers. Thanks for coming.
Thanks for coming.
[CHURCH BELL TOLLING]
It's an ache...
...a helplessness...
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
...an anger.
One feels humiliated.
Sometimes I say to myself, "Hey, steady on,
you're imagining all this."
And then I catch that look again.
Catch it on the edge of a remark...
...feel a cold reluctance in a handshake.
That's my father.
A Lithuanian Jew.
He is alien.
He's as foreign as a frankfurter.
AUBREY:
And a kosher one at that.
[SNICKERS]
I love and admire him.
He worships this country.
From nothing he built
what he believed was enough...
...to make true Englishmen of his sons.
My brother's a doctor.
[HAROLD CLEARS THROAT]
A leader in his field.
Which one...?
That's me with the curls on his back.
AUBREY [WHISPERS]:
God.
[LAUGHS]
He wanted for nothing.
Hmm.
And here am I...
...setting up shop
in the finest university in the land.
[CHOIR SINGING]
But the old man forgot one thing.
This England of his
is Christian and Anglo-Saxon...
...and so are her corridors of power.
And those who stalk them
guard them with jealousy and venom.
You're right to study law.
You're quite an advocate.
Heh. A rare ethnic advantage.
It's called the gift of the gab.
AUBREY:
So, what now? Grin and bear it?
No, Aubrey. I'm gonna take them on.
All of them. One by one.
And run them off their feet.
He is an Englishman
He is an Englishman
For he himself has said it
And it's greatly to his credit
That he is an Englishman
That he is an Englishman
HAROLD: England beckons for Sprint Blue.
From our special correspondent.
A French or Turk or Prussian
HAROLD:
A clean sweep for Cambridge star.
Abrahams' hat trick...
...from a special correspondent.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[BELL RINGING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
He remains an Englishman
He remains an Englishman
[CHATTERING]
But in spite of all temptations
To belong to other nations
CHORUS [SINGING]:
He remains an Englishman
He remains an Englishman
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
Bravo, Harold.
[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
[BAND PLAYING "LA MARSEILLAISE"]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[CHORUS SINGING IN FRENCH]
[CROWD YELLING AND CHATTERING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]
[CROWD CHATTERING]
Mr. Mussabini, I believe?
My name is Keddie.
Colonel John Keddie. I'm...
President of the Scottish Three A's.
I know, and I'm glad to know you, sir.
[SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
- How's the leg? Nasty fall you took.
- Okay.
- Nice to see you.
- Good luck.
You're very welcome here, of course...
...but we do have a strict amateur code.
Colonel, don't worry your head.
- I'm here spectating, that's all.
- Yes. I felt sure you would understand.
[SAM COUGHS]
Well, to battle.
I hope you enjoy the games.
Games? You must be joking,
I've seen better organized riots.
MAN:
Come on, Scotland!
[YELLS IN FRENCH]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
OFFICIAL:
Gentlemen, get to your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD GROANS]
Get up, lad. Get up.
MAN 1: Come on!
MAN 2: Come on!
[CROWD CHEERING]
He'll never do it.
Don't you believe it.
His head's not bad yet.
Come on, Eric!
[CROWD CHEERING]
[MOUTHS]
Go on.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[ERIC PANTING]
Well done, Eric. Well done.
He'll be all right in a jiffy.
I'll get his clothes.
You take good care of this lad of yours,
Mr. McGrath.
Because if you drop him,
you'll never find another one like this.
It was not the prettiest quarter
I've ever seen, Mr. Liddell...
...but certainly the bravest. Get him up.
- Come on.
- Gently.
[APPLAUSE BUILDING]
Keep your arm around.
Mr. Mussabini.
Mr. Abrahams, isn't it?
So you've traveled 300 miles
just to see me?
HAROLD: You and Liddell.
I'd heard you were both the best.
- And what do you think now?
- Eric Liddell?
I've never seen such drive,
such commitment in a runner.
He runs like a wild animal.
He unnerves me.
So he should.
Frightens the living daylights out of me.
Yes, well, I want you to help me
take him on.
Oh, em...
- Now, Mr. Abrahams, are you married?
- No, why?
Well, when the right girl comes along...
...how will you feel if she pops the
questions, hmm?
[MUTTERS THEN CHUCKLES]
You see, Mr. Abrahams,
like the bridegroom...
...it's the coach that should
do the asking.
Mr. Mussabini...
...I can run fast. With your help...
...I think I can run even faster,
perhaps faster than any man ever ran.
I want that Olympic medal.
I can see it there. It's waiting for me.
But I can't get it on my own.
Well, we've an old saying
in my game, son.
"You can't put in what God's left out."
Now, you leave it to me.
I'll watch you, I'll observe,
and if I think I can help...
...if I can see
the big prize hanging there...
...believe me, I won't waste any time.
When we meet again...
...I'll be the one that does the begging.
So you will watch me?
Son, if you're good enough...
...I'll take you apart,
piece by bloody piece.
Thank you.
Everything is a source of fun
Nobody's safe, for we care for none
Life is a joke that's just begun
CHORUS [SINGING]:
Three little maids from school
Three little maids who all unwary
Come from a ladies' seminary
Freed from its genius tutelary
Three little maids from school
Three little maids from school
One little maid is a bride
Yum-Yum
Two little maids in attendance come
SINGER 1:
Three little maids is the total sum
CHORUS:
Three little maids from school
SINGER 2:
Three little maids take one away
Two little maids remain, and they
Won't have to wait very long, they say
CHORUS:
Three little maids from school
Three little maids from school
Three little maids who all unwary
Come from a ladies' seminary
Freed from its genius tutelary
Three little maids from school
Didn't I tell you? Isn't she a peach?
She's magnificent.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
Bravo, bravo.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
MAN 1:
It's going rather well.
MAN 2: I didn't know anything,
but I must say, I enjoy it.
MAN 1:
What about you?
MAN 3: I've done better productions
myself. Remember them offhand?
MAN 2:
I don't remember seeing any.
So the stone heart's frail after all.
Abrahams' smitten, is he?
Smitten? He's decapitated.
He won't listen to reason.
Reason? The lad's in love.
He just set eyes on her.
I've worshiped her for years.
By the way, where is he now?
He's gone to ask her out to dinner.
- Has he, by Jove?
- In the interval?
- Good for him.
- Thank you.
- Mine, I take it? Mm.
- Harold.
Lovely.
- Uh... Well?
- Well, what?
- Did you speak to her?
- Yes.
- Is she coming?
- Yes.
AUBREY: To dinner?
HAROLD: Yes.
She has a kid brother, athletics-mad.
Never stops talking about me.
I think you better have my glass.
I have a terrible feeling
you're going to need it.
[BELL RINGS]
Sorry, Monty.
Yes, thank you very much, sir.
Yes, of course.
Good evening, Miss Gordon.
A triumph, I hear.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Who was that chap over there?
Music critic of the Star.
Boring old buffer, really.
- Well, he obviously enjoyed it.
- I shouldn't think so.
They always say that.
They save the poison for the print.
- Bit off tonight, I thought.
- What?
- You were magnificent.
- Thank you.
One of our little maids has gone
and got herself preggers with a gondolier.
[CHUCKLES]
We had to shove her second on tonight.
TOFFY:
Here you go, Miss Sybil.
Thank you, Toffy.
And you, sir.
Thank you.
This is Mr. Abrahams.
He's a very famous runner.
He's trying your special
for the first time tonight.
- I hope you enjoy it, sir.
- I'm sure I shall.
- Well, go on then.
- Ah.
It's a secret concoction of Toffy's.
A sort of cocktail de maison.
So you'd jolly well better enjoy it.
- Excellent.
- There, Toffy.
You've won yourself a friend for life.
My favorite, please.
[HAROLD MUMBLES]
- For two.
TOFFY: My pleasure, sir.
What have I ordered?
[SOFTLY]
Surprise.
- Cheerio.
- Cheerio.
The great Harold Abrahams.
My brother will be insanely jealous.
So will mine.
- You don't look very ruthless.
- Should I?
According to my brother.
Tim says that's why you always win.
- Why running?
- Why singing?
My job.
No, that's silly.
I do it because I love it.
Do you love running?
I'm more of an addict.
It's a compulsion, a weapon.
Against what?
Being Jewish, I suppose.
[LAUGHS]
You're not serious?
You're not Jewish, or you wouldn't ask.
Fiddlesticks. People don't care.
Anyway, being Jewish
hasn't done you any harm.
I'm what I call semi-deprived.
That sounds clever. What does it mean?
It means they lead me to water
but they won't let me drink.
You're a funny old stick,
Mr. Harold Abrahams.
Funny...
...but fascinating.
I'll settle for the fascinating.
Life isn't that gloomy, is it?
[SOFTLY]
Not tonight.
You're so beautiful.
Like you.
[TOFFY SPEAKING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
Pig's trotters.
Oh, my God.
[BOTH LAUGH]
MAN [OVER PA]:
Train arriving at platform two.
The overnight Flying Scotsman
from Aberdeen.
Seven-thirty, Mr. Liddell.
Seven-thirty on the dot.
There you are, sir. Hot tea and toast.
- All right.
- You sleep all right?
Like a log.
Must have a clear conscience.
Far from it. Are we here?
Aye, sir. Just pulled in. King's Cross.
Oh, and...
...here's the paper,
with your picture in it.
Expecting great things,
from all accounts.
Well, indeed.
- Here you are.
MAN: Seven-eighteen.
Oh, much obliged, sir.
Now, no hurry.
You've got an hour before we kick you out.
And good luck for this afternoon.
- Thank you.
- Come on, sir. Wake up King's Cross.
ERIC:
Aye, Mr. Abrahams. So's the Scot.
Mr. Abrahams.
Mr. Liddell.
I'd like to wish you the best of success.
Thank you. And may the best man win.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
OFFICIAL:
Get to your marks.
Get set.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
Extraordinary.
[CHAIRS CLACKING]
SYBIL:
Harold.
Harold.
Harold.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
It's a race you've lost, not a relative.
Nobody's dead.
For goodness sake, snap out of it, Harold.
You're behaving like a child.
I lost.
I know. I was there, remember?
Watching.
It was marvelous. You were marvelous.
He was more marvelous, that's all.
On the day, the best man won.
I had to look for him. It's absolutely
fundamental. You never look.
He was ahead. There was nothing you
could have done. He won fair and square.
Well, that's that, Abrahams.
If you can't take a beating,
it's for the best.
I don't run to take beatings.
I run to win.
If I can't win, I won't run.
If you don't run, you can't win.
Give me a ring
when you've sorted that one out.
Sybil.
Don't go.
I just don't know what to do.
Try growing up.
[SIGHS]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
Harold...
...you're a great man.
You ran like a God.
I was proud of you.
Don't make me ashamed.
It's not the losing, Syb.
Eric Liddell's a fine man,
and a fine runner. It's me.
After all that work.
And now, God knows,
what do I aim for?
Beating him the next time.
Sybil, I can't run any faster.
SAM:
Oh, Mr. Abrahams.
Mr. Abrahams.
I can find you another two yards.
Sam.
SAM:
Charlie Paddock, Californian Cannonball.
World's fastest human.
Winner, 100 Meters,
Olympic Games, 1920, Antwerp.
- Time?
- Ten point three.
Jackson Scholz,
the New York Thunderbolt.
Runner-up, Olympic Games, 1920.
Lost by looking right.
Look, there's the finish.
See Paddock leaping past him at the tape?
That glance cost Scholz the race.
Scholz's fastest?
Ten point three... Four.
Eric Liddell.
Well, you know all about him.
Look at them.
Think them, breathe them.
I want their faces leering at you
every time you shut your eyes.
The Flying Scotsman first.
That bloody well hurt.
What, Eric Liddell? He's no real problem.
[SNIFFS]
He's a great runner...
...but he needs to go further out.
He's no 100-meters man.
He could've fooled me.
He's fast, but he won't go any faster.
Not in the dash, anyway.
He's a gut runner.
He's all heart, digs deep.
A short sprint is run on nerves.
It's tailor-made for neurotics.
HAROLD:
Thanks very much.
No, I mean it.
You can push guts, bully them...
...but you can hone nerves.
Paddock, Scholz, and Eric Liddell.
SAM:
Come here a minute, Mr. Abrahams.
Now, do you know
why you lost the other day?
Because you're overstriding,
just a couple of inches.
These coins represent
the strides in your 100 meters.
Have you got another two coins,
Mr. Abrahams?
Well, maybe we can find them.
As I said, overstriding.
Death to the sprinter.
Slap in the face, each stride you take.
Knocks you back.
Like that. And that.
Ha-ha-ha. Now.
SAM: I want you to imagine
you're running on hot bricks.
If you leave your feet too long
on the ground, they'll get burnt.
Up, up, up. Light, light, light.
Light as a feather.
Set!
[COUGHS]
[GRUNTS]
No. Got your head back again.
Get it level.
That's it.
[DOGS BARKING]
Faster, come on.
Pass the car. Go on.
Go on. Go on. Go on. On, on!
Come on, now. Keep it up, come on.
Rhythm, Mr. Abrahams. Rhythm!
[CHOIR SINGING HYMN]
JENNIE: Training, training, training.
All I ever hear is training.
Do you believe
in what we're doing here or not?
Look, Jennie, I'm sorry.
I was late. I apologize.
JENNIE:
That's all very well, Eric.
Look, I said I was sorry.
To me. It's not me you've insulted.
Away with your bother.
The Lord will not feel slighted
in the missing of a bus.
Yes, Eric, you missed a bus. But why?
Your mind's not with us anymore, son.
It's full of running, starting
and medals and pace.
Your head's so full of running
you've no room for standing still.
Jennie, Jennie, Jennie.
Don't fret yourself.
But I do fret myself, Eric.
I'm frightened for you.
I'm frightened for what
it all might do to you.
Ahem. Please, Mr. Liddell.
- Would you sign your name, please?
- Sure.
Pick yourself a pen.
- There you are.
- Thanks.
Come on, Jennie, let's go for a walk.
I've got something to say.
[WIND WHISTLING]
It's a sight and a half, isn't it, Jennie?
Auld Reekie. I'll be sad to leave it.
I've decided. I'm going back to China.
- The missionary service have accepted me.
- Oh, Eric!
Oh, I'm so pleased.
But I've got a lot of running to do first.
Jennie.
Jennie, you've got to understand.
I believe that God made me for a purpose.
For China.
But he also made me fast.
And when I run I feel his pleasure.
To give it up would be
to hold him in contempt.
You were right. It's not just fun.
To win is to honor him.
Jennie.
Jennie.
I've got my degree to get.
All that work.
Then there's Paris.
The Olympic Games.
There's just not enough of me.
I'm asking you to manage
the mission on your own until then.
Will you do that for me, Jennie?
SYBIL:
Andy, I've lost him. I can't reach him.
ANDY:
You will, old girl, you will.
SYBIL:
He says he needs to clear his mind of me.
He can't love me and say that.
[ANDY CLEARS THROAT]
Syb...
...the world's against him,
or so he believes.
Now he's got a chance to prove himself.
He can't see or hear anything
beyond that, not even you.
It's hard, I know,
but you've got to try and understand.
- Why should I?
- Because he's what you want, isn't he?
What about you, and Stallard,
and Aubrey? You're still the same.
- The chance is there for you, too. - To be
a fastest, yes, but not the fastest.
The fastest man ever before.
Heh.
Father's never going to learn
how to do that.
That's immortality.
Just think what that means
to a man like Harold.
To me the whole thing's fun.
I don't need that.
"Cast care aside" and all that. Heh.
But for Harold, it's a matter of life...
...and death.
- So all I can do is wait.
- Afraid so.
And pray like hell that he wins, right?
And if he doesn't?
You mustn't worry, old thing.
Now, I've never, ever seen
a man so smitten as our Harold.
It's just that I'm a little envious,
that's all.
Oh, Andy.
- Your parasol, Miss Gordon.
- Oh, thank you, Mildred.
Good luck tonight.
He's a damned fool.
I always thought the Irish
had all the luck.
- John, Savoy Theatre.
- Yes, sir.
Splendid.
[ENGINE REVS]
Mildred, would you get my spikes.
Ready, my lord.
Now, if I shed a drop I want to know.
Touch but not spill, what.
MASTER OF TRINITY:
Life slips by, Abrahams, life slips by.
But this fine old university...
...she offers some rare consolations,
wouldn't you say?
Beyond measure, sir.
I can take it, then,
that you would be acutely grieved...
...to discover that any behavior or action
on your part were causing her grief?
Naturally, sir, I would, deeply.
Good. I was sure of it.
Here in Cambridge, we've always
been proud of our athletic prowess.
We believe, we've always believed,
that our games...
...are indispensable in helping to complete
the education of an Englishman.
They create character...
...they foster courage,
honesty and leadership.
But most of all...
...an unassailable spirit of loyalty,
comradeship, and mutual responsibility.
Would you agree?
HAROLD:
Yes, sir. I would.
[BELL TOLLING]
Abrahams, there is a growing suspicion
in the bosom of this university...
...and I tell you this without
in any way decrying your achievements...
...in which we all rejoice...
...that in your enthusiasm for success...
...you have perhaps lost sight
of some of these ideals.
May I ask what form this disloyalty,
this betrayal, takes?
- Oh, hardly betrayal.
- The word "grief" was mentioned.
MASTER OF CAIUS:
It's said that you use a personal coach.
Mr. Mussabini, yes.
Is he an Italian?
HAROLD: Of Italian extraction, yes.
- I see.
HAROLD:
But not all Italian.
- I'm relieved to hear it.
- He's half Arab.
Do we take it that you employ this
Mr. Masambini on a professional basis?
Sam Mussabini is the finest,
most advanced...
...clearest-thinking athletics coach
in the country.
I'm honored he considers me
worthy of his complete attention.
- Nevertheless, he is a professional.
- What else would he be? He's the best.
Oh, but there, Mr. Abrahams,
I'm afraid our paths diverge.
You see, this university believes
that the way of the amateur...
...is the only one to provide
satisfactory results.
I am an amateur.
You've been trained by a professional.
You've adopted a professional attitude.
For the past year,
you've concentrated wholly...
...on developing your own technique...
...in the headlong pursuit, may I suggest,
of individual glory.
Not a policy very conducive
to the fostering of esprit de corps.
I am a Cambridge man first and last.
I am an Englishman first and last.
What I have achieved, what I intend
to achieve, is for my family...
...my university, and my country.
And I bitterly resent
your suggesting otherwise.
Your aim is to win at all costs, is it not?
HAROLD: At all costs, no.
But I do aim to win within the rules.
Perhaps you would rather
I play the gentleman and lost?
To playing the tradesman, yes.
MASTER OF TRINITY:
My dear boy, your approach has been...
...if I may say so, a little too plebeian.
You are the elite...
...and are therefore expected
to behave as such.
Thank you, sir...
...for your hospitality.
The evening has been most illuminating.
Good night to you, sir.
You know, gentlemen...
...you yearn for victory just as I do.
But achieved
with the apparent effortlessness of gods.
Yours are the archaic values
of the prep-school playground.
You deceive no one but yourselves.
I believe in the pursuit of excellence...
...and I'll carry the future with me.
[DOOR OPENS]
[DOOR CLOSES]
Well, there goes your Semite, Hugh.
A different god, a different mountaintop.
MAN 1: Harold! Harold!
MAN 2: Hey, Harold!
All of us, you, Henry,
Andy and me, we're all in.
You, 100 and 200, Andy, 400 and hurdles.
- Marvelous news.
- Henry the mile, and me the steeplechase.
Paris, here we come.
Um... Heard Liddell's picked, too.
Rivals under the same flag.
You've got a chance to get even.
I can't wait.
MAN 1:
Welcome to Dover, Lord Birkenhead.
MAN 2: Are the Yanks so well trained
they'll wipe the floor with our boys?
It's certainly true that
the Americans have prepared seriously...
...some would say too seriously,
to gain success.
But we feel we may, in our
unsophisticated way, have their match.
Sir, do you think the British
stand a chance...
...against such great American athletes
as Charlie Paddock and Jackson Scholz?
Oh. You Americans have a number of men
who are rated as world-beaters...
...but this contest is in Europe, not in
the rarefied climes of the United States.
Parisian conditions
are bound to be more robust...
...more combative,
and certainly more cavalier.
MAN 3: More cavalier?
MAN 2: Lord Birkenhead, are the Yanks...
...so professionally well trained that
they will wipe the floor with our boys?
Gentlemen, in Abrahams,
Liddell, and Lindsay...
...we have men who could give them
a run for their money.
[CROWD CHEERING]
SANDY:
Eric.
ERIC:
Sandy.
You haven't come from Scotland
just to see me off?
No, I'm seeing myself off.
Come on up the gangway.
MAN: Good luck, Mr. Liddell.
- Thank you.
Mr. Liddell, what do you think
of your chances against Abrahams?
I'll do my best. I can do no less. Right?
REPORTER: Mr. Liddell, sir, what about
the qualifying heats on Sunday?
- What did you say?
REPORTER: On Sunday.
Do you think you can beat
the Americans?
MAN 1:
There's Mr. Abrahams.
MAN 2: Mr. Abrahams...
- I'm sorry, I've no time.
- Harold. Gilbert and Sullivan will win.
- Thanks very much for coming.
SYBIL: Harold.
- Sybil.
- I came to wish you luck.
- I'm glad.
I understand. I wanted you to know that.
I'll be here when you come back.
[HORN BLOWING]
MAN:
Hurry, Mr. Abrahams, she's about to sail.
HAROLD:
I must go. I'll see you in three weeks.
Bye-bye.
Mind your step, sir.
We want you to get there in one piece.
Come on.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
[HORN BLOWING]
When did you get to know?
Did you not read the paper?
It had the whole program.
The heats for the 100 are on Sunday
after the opening ceremony.
The semis and final, a couple days after.
It's only a heat.
Does it make all that difference?
Yeah.
Yeah, it does.
[PEOPLE LAUGHING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
And strong...
Strong though the temptation may be...
...to disport your newly acquired finery
around the streets of Paris...
...if they aren't temptation enough...
...may I ask you on behalf
of the Olympic Committee...
...to save your sartorial splendor...
...until at least
after the opening ceremony.
May I remind you...
...you are the favored few.
You constitute what is without doubt...
...the most powerful athletic force
ever to leave these shores.
You are to face the world's best.
Brown and yellow, white and black,
young and ardent as yourselves...
...fleet of foot and strong of limb...
...from every civilized nation
on the face of the Earth.
I have no doubt...
...that you will acquit yourselves
honorably and with distinction.
Good luck to you all.
JENNIE:
Your mind's not with us anymore.
It's full of sprinting, starting
and medals and pace.
Your head's so full of running
you've no room for standing still.
ERIC:
Jennie, Jennie. Don't fret yourself.
JENNIE:
I do fret myself, Eric.
I'm frightened for you.
I'm frightened what it all might do to you.
ERIC: Do you know what day it is?
BOY: Yeah. Sunday.
ERIC: Sabbath's not a day
for playing football, is it?
BIRKENHEAD:
It's an awful step you're taking, Liddell.
The whole of Britain will be watching you.
I don't know that they'll understand.
I'm not sure that I understand.
I'm not sure that I do either, sir.
For the last three years,
I've devoted myself to my running...
...just to be on this ship.
I gave up my rugby,
my work has suffered...
...and I've deeply hurt someone
I hold very dear.
Because I told myself, if I win...
...I win for God.
And now I find myself
sitting here destroying it all.
But I have to. To run
would be against God's law.
I was mistaken.
My boy, as things stand,
you must not run.
But I want you to
hold your fire for a while, Liddell.
Leave everything to me.
Say nothing. Wait until we get to Paris.
I'll have a word with the French.
I'm not without a certain pull.
And we fought in the war together.
They do owe us something.
I don't understand.
They're not a very principled lot,
the Frogs.
But when faced with a stand like yours,
one never knows.
I might get through.
I just might possibly persuade them.
The French, sir?
What could they do?
Shift that bloody heat of yours,
of course.
Good evening.
ERIC:
Goodbye, sir.
[PIANO PLAYING]
[SINGING]
With cat-like tread
Upon our prey we steal
In silence dread
Our cautious way we feel
No sound at all
We never speak a word
A fly's footfall
Would be distinctly heard
ALL [SINGING]:
Come friends, who plough the sea
Truce to navigation
Take another station
Let's vary piracy
With a little burglary
AUBREY:
I wish you could see, Ma...
...the wonderful spirit aboard
now that we've left England.
Harold on the piano
with his beloved Gilbert and Sullivan.
We're laughing and relaxing,
and chatting about anything.
Anything but running.
We're here for Britain, and we know it.
I'm here for you, Ma.
You and Pa. I hope I do you proud.
There's not a chap amongst us
who isn't ready to burst his heart...
...for all we've left behind.
[PHOTOGRAPHER SPEAKS
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
[BAND PLAYING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[BAND PLAYING
"STAR SPANGLED BANNER"]
["STAR SPANGLED BANNER"
PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS]
[WHISPERING]
"American champions arrive in France."
["YANKEE DOODLE"
PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS]
HAROLD [WHISPERING]:
There's Paddock. Charles Paddock.
- There's Fitch.
AUBREY: My God.
And there's Scholz.
HAROLD:
Yes, that's Scholz all right.
A bit more my size.
Mean with it, though. 10.4.
Got your plate full there, Harold.
Battle on your hands, what.
Charles H. Paddock...
...and Jackson Scholz.
The fastest men in the world.
[GRUNTING]
[MEN YELLING INDISTINCTLY]
Push it, Taylor, push it!
Come on, push it, push it.
One, two. One, two. One, two.
[YELLING CONTINUES]
Come on, now. Okay, get up.
Come on!
Go on like a champ, will you?
Hey, Scholzy!
[YELLING INDISTINCTLY]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[MARCHING BAND PLAYING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
[BAND PLAYING "LA MARSEILLAISE"]
[PEOPLE SINGING IN FRENCH]
- Well.
- Good luck, Andy.
Good luck, Harry.
Monty.
[CHUCKLES]
[MAN SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
[SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[SCREAMING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
Your Royal Highness, may I introduce
Mr. Tom Watson, representing New Zealand.
PRINCE: How do you do?
You've come a long way.
I'm from Oxford, sir.
They wrote to me, said
as I was here, I might
as well take part.
PRINCE:
How economical. But can you run?
WATSON: I'll give it a try, sir. PRINCE:
That's the spirit. Best of luck to you.
[CROWD APPLAUDING
AND CHATTERING]
- The royal benediction no less.
- Chap's invaluable.
- We couldn't do without him.
- Hear, hear. Henry V and all that.
- Let's go.
- Protocol, Monty. Protocol.
He's here to show us what may be done
and more essentially, what may not be.
- Jackson Scholz.
ERIC: How do you do?
I'm Eric Liddell.
Well, we've heard a lot about you.
Good to meet you at last.
- Ah.
JACKSON: Liddell. Excuse me.
I was afraid you weren't here.
I'm afraid I am, sir.
[CHUCKLES]
Fine. Do you good.
Take you out of yourself a bit.
The Prince of Wales
would like to meet you.
No. No.
No, sir. Wouldn't be right.
Liddell, he is your future king.
Are you refusing to shake his hand?
Does your arrogance extend that far?
My arrogance, sir, extends
just as far as my conscience demands.
Fine.
Then let's hope that's wise enough
to give you room for maneuver.
- All right, sir.
- Splendid.
I'll take you to him now.
Your Royal Highness,
may I present Mr. Eric Liddell.
Delighted, Liddell. Delighted.
I saw you play for Scotland.
It depressed me no end.
Ran in a couple of tries
from your own half, I remember.
I believe I did so, yes.
Nice to have you on the same side at last.
- Excellent effort of Lindsay's, you think?
- He did well, sir. Did indeed.
An example to us all.
Eric, may I introduce
His Grace the Duke of Sutherland...
- ...president of our Olympic Association.
- How do you do?
And our chairman, Lord Cadogan.
Have a seat.
Make yourself comfortable.
Cigar?
Oh, no, of course you don't. Nor drink.
Such is the resolution of the young man
you have before you, gentlemen.
Lord Birkenhead has advised us as to
your attitude towards your participation...
...in the 100-meters heats, Liddell.
Or would your non-participation
be more accurate?
It would, sir, yes.
DUKE: We were consulted as to the correct
manner in which to approach the French.
Something we just
can't allow to happen...
...going cap-in-hand
to the Frogs of all people.
Simply out of the question.
Simple matter of national dignity, Liddell.
Being a patriot, I'm sure you understand.
Well, I must say, sir,
I felt it was an impractical suggestion.
BIRKENHEAD:
Why didn't you damn well say so, man?
As an athlete you value economy of effort.
I wanted to run.
I was desperate enough to try anything.
DUKE:
Well, all that being understood...
...we decided to invite you in
for a little chat...
...to see if there's any way
we can resolve the situation.
CADOGAN: There's only one way
to resolve the situation.
That's for this man
to change his mind and run.
PRINCE:
Don't state the obvious, Cadogan.
We've to explore ways in which we can
help this young man to reach that decision.
ERIC:
I'm afraid there are no ways, sir.
I won't run on a Sabbath, and that's final.
I intended to confirm this
with Lord Birkenhead tonight...
...even before you called me up
in front of this inquisition.
Don't be impertinent.
The impertinence lies with those who seek
to influence a man to deny his beliefs.
BIRKENHEAD:
On the contrary, Liddell...
...we're appealing to your beliefs...
...in your country and your king.
Your loyalty to them.
Hear, hear. In my day, it was king first...
...God after.
Yes, and the war to end wars
bitterly proved your point.
God made countries. God makes kings...
...and the rules by which they govern.
And those rules say
that the Sabbath is his.
And I for one intend to keep it that way.
Mr. Liddell, you're a child of your race,
as I am.
We share a common heritage,
a common bond, a common loyalty.
There are times when we're asked
to make sacrifices...
...in the name of that loyalty.
Without them,
our allegiance is worthless.
As I see it, for you...
...this is such a time.
[SIGHS]
Sir...
...God knows I love my country.
But I can't make that sacrifice.
[DOOR RATTLING]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
BIRKENHEAD:
Come in.
Ahem.
Your Royal Highness, Lord Lindsay.
Your Highness,
Lord Cadogan, gentlemen.
I do apologize for barging in like this.
Fact is, I am fully aware
of Eric's dilemma...
...and I wondered if I could be so bold
as to suggest a possible solution.
CADOGAN:
Do.
Yes.
Another day, another race.
CADOGAN:
What the devil's that supposed to mean?
It's quite simple, sir. The 400 meters.
It's on Thursday.
I've already got my medal.
So why don't you let Eric
take my place in the quarter?
DUKE:
I think that's a splendid idea.
Can we allow him to change events
at such short notice?
That's a matter for the committee.
We are the committee.
I think it's a very good idea. David?
All those in favor, say aye.
MEN:
Aye.
PRINCE:
Liddell.
A pleasure, old chap...
...just to see you run.
Aye. Heh.
PRINCE:
Well, that's settled.
[SIGHS]
- A sticky moment, George.
- Hmm.
Thank God for Lindsay.
I thought the lad had us beaten.
He did have us beaten, F.E.,
and thank God he did.
- I don't quite follow you.
- Well, the lad, as you call him...
...is a true man of principle,
and a true athlete.
His speed is a mere extension
of his life, its force.
We sought to sever
his running from himself.
For his country's sake, yes.
No sake is worth that, F.E.,
least of all a guilty national pride.
"Lindsay makes way for Liddell.
Four hundred meters for defecting Scot.
'Smacks of fanaticism, ' says official.
'Man of principle, ' says primate.
'We should be proud."'
[CHEERING OUTSIDE]
So that's the Olympic stadium?
That's it, Sam.
It's as good as being in there, isn't it?
Better. Seeing as I'm persona non grata.
Yeah.
It's tiptop, Mr. Abrahams.
You've done a grand job.
If we don't win now we never will.
Have I got everything, Sam,
everything you need?
Ah...
Yes.
All we need now is Sunday.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
[DOG BARKING]
ERIC: My text this afternoon
is taken from Isaiah, Chapter 40.
"Behold...
...the nations are as a drop in a bucket...
...and are counted as the small dust
in the balance.
All nations before him are as nothing.
They are counted to him
less than nothing...
...and vanity.
He bringeth the princes to nothing.
He maketh
the judges of the earth as a vanity.
Hast thou not known?
Hast thou not heard...
...that the everlasting God, the Lord...
...the creator of the ends of the earth...
...fainteth not, neither is weary?"
Juvenile.
[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
I know, Sam.
"He giveth power to the faint.
And to them that have no strength...
...he increaseth might.
But they that wait upon the Lord...
...shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up...
...with wings as eagles.
They shall run...
...and not be weary.
They shall walk...
...and not faint."
[PANTING]
HAROLD: Do you remember when we first
bumped into each other, old man?
We shared a taxi, remember?
You made me feel...
...an age old, burdened, sour...
...even superior.
[SCOFFS]
That was the miscalculation of my life.
You, Aubrey...
...are my most complete man.
You're brave...
...compassionate, kind.
A content man.
That's your secret.
Contentment.
I'm 24 and I've never known it.
I'm forever in pursuit,
yet I don't know what it is I'm chasing.
Aubrey, old chap, I'm scared.
Sam and I, we've labored,
rowed and bullied for this...
...day in, day out.
You've seen us,
chuckled over us I'll be bound...
...out in all weathers.
Madmen.
And for what?
I was beaten out of sight in the 200...
...then let Paddock trick me in the semi.
And now in one hour's time
I'll be out there again.
I'll raise my eyes
and look down that corridor...
...4 feet wide...
...with 10 lonely seconds
to justify my whole existence.
But will I?
[SIGHING]
Aubrey, I've known the fear of losing...
...but now I'm almost
too frightened to win.
SAM: Dear Mr. Abrahams,
you must please pardon...
...my not coming to see you run...
...much as I would like to do so.
However, I believe and hope
you will win the 100 meters.
Go out determined to do your best.
And don't forget...
...drop down at the first stride.
Get well warmed up...
...and then let the gun release you.
I should use
the springy old six-spike shoes.
All the best of luck, from yours truly,
Sam Mussabini.
P.S. Please accept the charm.
My old father swore by it.
[TRUMPET PLAYING]
[BAND PLAYING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
No regrets, Eric,
you're not down there with them?
Yeah.
No doubts, though.
Your Royal Highness, may I present
Mr. Bowman of the United States.
Mr. Bowman.
- Mr. Murchison.
- Mr. Murchison.
And Mr. Watson of New Zealand
I believe you know.
- Yes, Mr. Watson. How are you?
- Very well, sir. Thank you.
- Good.
- Mr. Paddock.
Mr. Paddock. Dinner for your whole team
at my club when we get back to London.
If you win, I pay.
Abrahams wins, you pay. All right?
Sir, you have yourself a deal.
Done.
- Best of luck to you.
- And to you too, sir.
- Mr. Scholz.
- Scholz.
And this of course
is our Harold Abrahams.
- Good luck, Abrahams.
- Thank you.
Do your best, that's all we can expect.
- Good luck, Abrahams.
- Thank you, sir.
Come on, Charlie.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
[ALL CHANTING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
Head down.
Watch the first stride.
Go for release.
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[PISTOL FIRES]
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[BAND PLAYING]
Harold.
[POPS]
[LAUGHING]
My son.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
AUBREY: Harold!
- Shh, shh, shh.
Leave him be,
can't you see he's whacked?
- But he won.
- Exactly.
Now, one of these days,
Monty, you're going to win yourself.
And it's pretty difficult to swallow.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Come in.
Mrs. Abrahams just rang, miss.
The Daily Express.
They've been on from Paris.
Mr. Harold. He won.
She told me to tell you he won.
Thank you very much, Bill.
BILL:
Oh, it's 15 minutes to curtain up, miss.
[BELL TOLLING]
He did it, sir.
Thank you, Matthews.
"Abrahams triumphant.
Caius College athlete wins
Blue Riband at games."
Just as I expected.
SAM: Yes, you always thought of yourself
as a ruthless man, haven't you? Hard.
Bit of a loner, like me.
But actually you're as soft
as a limp pocket.
And you care.
You care about things that really matter.
If you didn't, I wouldn't have
come within a mile of you.
Do you know who you won for
out there today, hmm?
Us.
You and old Sam Mussabini.
I've waited 30 bloody years for this.
[MAN SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
SAM:
Oh.
Harold!
[VOICE BREAKING]
It means the world to me, this, you know.
And if all the world can do...
...is they want to go home to bed,
then they can go to hell.
Because we've had today, you and me...
...and we've got it for keeps.
Now it's out of your system.
Go home to that girl of yours,
and start some bloody living. Yes?
HAROLD: To Sam Mussabini.
- Oh.
The greatest trainer in the world.
Hmm?
SAM:
These glasses.
HAROLD:
Come on, Sam, we're going home.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
Good luck. Don't expect I'll see you
until after the race.
What's the deal with Liddell?
Is he a problem?
No problem, he's a flier.
He's had two races today already.
He'll die.
Just swing along, you guys, and wait.
After 300 meters...
...rigor mortis sets in.
You'll pull him in on a rope.
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Good luck, Taylor.
- Watch out for Liddell.
- Coach says no problem.
He's got something to prove.
Something personal.
Something guys like coach
will never understand.
CROWD [CHANTING]:
USA, USA, USA.
MAN:
Jennie!
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
JACKSON: "It says in the old book,
'He that honors me...
...I will honor.'
Good luck. Jackson Scholz."
[OFFICIAL SPEAKS IN FRENCH]
[PISTOL FIRES]
[CROWD CHEERING]
ERIC: So where does the power come from
to see the race to its end?
From within.
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
Come on, Liddell!
ERIC: Jennie, I believe God
made me for a purpose.
But he also made me fast.
And when I run, I feel his pleasure.
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[CAR HORN HONKING]
[TRAIN HORN BLARES]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
[MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
CHOIR [SINGING]:
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
ALL:
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold
AUBREY: Well, Andy, he did it.
ANDY: Hmm?
AUBREY: What's that, old boy?
ANDY: He ran them off their feet.
Bring me my Spear
O clouds unfold
Bring me my Chariot of fire
I will not cease from Mental Fight
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant Land