Information
- BFI identifier11612
- Date1948 (Release)
- Production countryUnited Kingdom
- Production company
- SynopsisHistory of the 1948 Olympic Games. Produced in three weeks is almost complete record of the games. (Synopsis) SPORT. The official film of the 1948 Olympic Games, showing a staged inauguration ceremony in Greece, the Winter Games at St Moritz, and the Summer Games held in Britain: athletics at Wembley Stadium, swimming at the Empire Pool Wembley, rowing at Henley, cycling at Herne Hill and Windsor, and yachting at Torbay. Filmed in Technicolor: monopack for Greece, Technichrome bipack for Winter Games and Summer Games events, three-strip for the opening and closing ceremonies at Wembley. Summary of events: Reel 1: Inauguration ceremony in Greece Winter Games: opening ceremony at St Moritz Men's cross-country (Nordic) skiing Women's slalom Men's slalom Men's speed skating Skeleton tobogganing (Cresta Run) Reel 2: Bobsleighing (four-man bob) Bobsleighing (two-man bob) Ice hockey Figure skating Ski jumping Men's downhill skiing Reel 3: Summer Games: opening ceremony at Wembley stadium Women's discus Men's 100 metres Women's javelin Reel 4: Men's long jump Men's 400 metre hurdles Hammer Pole vault 5000 metres Women's 100 metres Triple jump Reel 5: Men's shot put Women's shot put Women's 80 metre hurdles Men's 110 metre hurdles Men's 400 metres Women's 200 metre hurdles Women's 4x100 metres relay Men's 4x100 metres relay Reel 6: Yachting Cycling - 2000 metre tandem Cycling - 120 mile road race Rowing - eights Rowing - coxed fours Rowing - coxless pairs Equestrian - Prix de Nations Reel 7: Men's highboard diving Women's highboard diving Men's 100 metres backstroke Men's 200 metres breaststroke Women's 400 metres freestyle Water polo Decathlon (award ceremony only) Marathon Reel 8: Marathon Closing ceremony FULL DESCRIPTION Reel 1: Ceremony in Greece: Rank logo. Title and credit sequence over various shots of Greek ruins (237). Acted sequence in which a group of women in ancient Greek costume light an Olympic flame, while the commentary covers the origins of the Games. A runner lights a torch from the flame and sets off through the Greek countryside, passing on the flame to other runners until one comes to the sea (518). Winter Games: Man tossing the Olympic flag in the air; dissolve to Swiss mountainside and a V for victory made in the snow by two lines of skiers (596). Man tossing flag; the skiers move off, and the commentary changes to cover the Winter Games at St Moritz [commentators Bill Stern and Ted Husing] (633). Opening ceremony: Opening ceremony at the open-air ice hockey stadium, showing the various national teams entering the arena: Greece, Canada (skater Barbara Ann Scott is pointed out), Denmark, USA, France, Great Britain (led by skater Graham Sharp), Holland, Hungary and Switzerland, watched by three dignitaries [including Sigfrid Edström, president of the International Olympic Committee, on the left] on a podium (944). A Swiss ice hockey player [Richard Torriani] takes the Olympic oath, which the film gives in English (1022). Men's cross-country (Nordic) skiing: Several competitors shown, including the start and finish of Martin Lundström of Sweden, winner of the 15 Kilometre race (1193). Women's slalom: Several competitors shown proceeding slowly past the obstacles, including Lina Mittner (Switzerland), Rosemary Sparrow (Great Britain, CS smiling for camera), Suzanne Thiollière (France, with CS) and the winner Gretchen Fraser (USA, shown in CS) (1338). Men's slalom: Competitors shown in action include Hector Sutherland (Canada), Henri Oreiller (France) and James Couttet (France) seen being congratulated by Oreiller [the winner] (1431). Men's speed skating: Two unnamed competitors cheered on by crowd waving Norwegian flags (1483). Skeleton tobogganing: Numerous competitors shown going down the Cresta Run at various points, including Henri Goyin [?] (`the Bouncing Basque') who crashes, then walks past the camera smiling, Nino Bibbia (Italy) watching as others go past, Jack Crammond (Great Britain), Colonel Jimmy Coats (the British captain) seen in CS as he takes off his headgear, William Martin (USA), Goyin [?] again, grinning for the camera, and the winner Nino Bibbia being congratulated by the president of the Cresta, Lord Brabazon (1813). Reel 2: Bobsleighing (four-man bob): The RAF no. 1 crew of William Coles, William McLean, Raymond Collings and George Holliday (Great Britain) getting out their bob-sleigh and weighing it, then seen setting off and finishing; the French team in action, USA no. 2 (Francis Tyler, Pat Martin, Edward Rimkus, William d'Amico, the winners of the event) and the Swiss no. 1 team, shown in CS (152). Bobsleighing (two-man bob): Teams shown in action are France, USA no. 1 (T.A. Latour and L.J. Maroni), Great Britain (William Coles and Raymond Collings), USA no. 2 (Frederick Fortune and Schuyler Carron) and one of the Swiss teams (278). Ice hockey: Various shots from ground level and above of a match between USA [American Amateur Hockey Association team] and Switzerland in the open-air stadium [Switzerland won 5-4] (399). Figure skating: Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet of Belgium, winners of the Pairs event, practising on an open-air rink with no crowds watching (450). Suzanne Morrow and Wallace Diestelmeyer of Canada (who came third in the Pairs) practising; they skate up to the camera and smile (487). Barbara Ann Scott (Canada), practising her free skating routine; she skates up to the camera (525). Crowds watching the actual skating competition at the same rink. Men's figure skating: Edi Rada (Austria) in a free skating routine. A line of judges standing on the ice showing marks awarded. Dick Button (USA) with his winning free skating routine (723). Women's figure skating: Gretchen Merrill (USA) and Jill Hood-Linzee (Great Britain), who falls during her routine (825). Barbara Ann Scott's winning free skating routine, after which the crowd rises in applause. CS of Scott in rehearsal, ending with a spin and CU of her smiling broadly (1003). Ski jumping: Various competitors shown coming down the run and landing, including Heikki Hasu (Finland), Eilert Dahl (Norway) and two fallers (1194). Men's downhill skiing: Competitors shown mid-course including Fernand Grosjean (Switzerland), Karl Molitor (Switzerland), and an Italian who crashes; then at the finish various competitors including apparently a British competitor (either Jimmy Palmer- Tompkinson or Harry Taylor), and an unnamed skier who falls then gets up to finish (1440). Mid-course are then shown two skiers from Sweden and Norway both of whom crash, Harvey Clifford (Canada), and others; and at the finish Henri Oreiller (France), the winner. CS spectators. One skier crashes immediately beneath the camera position (1572). Crowds walking away from the Games at their finish; pan across mountain scenery (1660). Man tossing Olympic flag (1675). Reel 3: Summer Games: Pan shot across sea to youth with Olympic torch on Dover? beach passing on the flame to a runner, who sets off (23). Trees on a hillside in the shape of a V as the runner passes along the top. The Olympic flag (45). Opening ceremony: The scoreboard at Wembley Stadium displaying Pierre de Coubertin's words on the Olympic ideal: "The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well" (64). King George VI and Lord Portal, President of the Games, enter the stadium to loud cheers and are greeted by Sigfrid Edström (IOC President) and Lord Burghley (Chairman of the Organising Committee). The King shakes hands with officials, then leaves (123). HA general view of the stadium with Coubertin's message on the scoreboard as the procession of national teams begins. The procession, intercut with some shots of the King saluting, shows Greece, Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, India, Malta (with just two representatives), Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain, USA and Great Britain. All of the teams gather in the centre. The crowd watching (592). Royal proclamation heard over pan shots of the scene (646). 7,000 pigeons are released (694). The arrival of the athlete [John Mark] bearing the Olympic flame. HA view as athlete runs around the stadium and many of the competitors in the centre break rank to follow his progress. The flame is lit, and a choir sings the Olympic hymn. Various shots around the stadium, showing the choir, then pan shot across flags (877). Donald Findlay reads the Olympic oath (922). Final shot of the crowd ending the opening ceremony sequence (936). Women's discus: Throws from either close or long shot of Majken Arberg (Sweden), Margaret Birtwistle (Great Britain), J. Matej (Yugoslavia), Pong Sik Pak (Korea), Frances Kaszubski (USA), Micheline Ostermeyer (France), Edera Cordiale Gentile of Italy looking on, Dorothy Dodson (USA), L. Gabrice Calvesi (Italy), Lotte Haidigger (Austria) and Jacqueline Mazéas (France). Cordiale Gentile, the favourite, throws; then Ostermeyer makes the winning throw. She kisses Mazéas and Cordiale Gentile (1193). Men's 100 metres: 1st round heat between Barney Ewell (USA), L. Laing (Jamaica), Alastair McCorquodale (Great Britain), N. Jacono (Malta) and Lipski [?] of Poland [according to the official record, there was no Polish 100 metre runner and the fifth contestant in this heat was A. Garcia Delgado of Cuba], won by Ewell (1232). Heat six including MacDonald Bailey (Great Britain), H. Clausen (Iceland) and A. van Heerden (South Africa). Heat two of the quarter finals, false start made by Bailey, then the race between Bailey, Ewell, Maurice Curotta (Australia), G. Lewis (Trinidad), B. Goldovanyi (Hungary) and Clausen (Iceland), with Ewell winning. Heat three of the quarter finals, a false start, then race including Melvin Patton (USA), R. Valmy (France), J. Bartram (Australia) and McCorquodale, won by Patton. First semi-final including Harrison Dillard (USA), Ewell and McCorquodale (1418). The final of the Men's 100 metres; McCorquodale taking off his tracksuit; people in the crowd standing up for a better view; the line-up of the finalists: Patton, Ewell, Dillard, McCorquodale, Bailey and Lloyd LaBeach (Panama); a false start. The race is shown from a side view at the start, then in slow motion from a position looking directly down the track at the approaching runners. Ewell celebrates victory with delight, but the scoreboard shows that the winner was Dillard. Dillard, Ewell and LaBeach on the podium for the medal ceremony (1581). Women's javelin: [John Snagge commentating] Close shots of various competitors sitting waiting, then throws from G.M. Clarke (Great Britain), Dorothy Dodson (USA), Kaisa Parviainen (Finland), T. Manuel (USA), Parviainen again, M. Sinoracka (Poland), Johanna Tenunissen Waalboer (Netherlands), Dana Ingrova (Czechoslovakia), Johanna Koning (Netherlands), and Hermine Bauma (Austria) with the winning throw. Winners' names displayed on the scoreboard (1808). Reel 4: Men's long jump: Jumps seen in normal or slow motion from E. Kistermacher (Argentina), Theodore Bruce (Australia), Harry Whittle (Great Britain), Lorenzo Wright (USA), Herbert Douglas (USA), Georges Damitio (France), Prince Adedoyin (Great Britain), and Willie Steele (USA) with the winning jump. Scoreboard (217). Men's 400 metre hurdles: Final between Roy Cochran (USA), Duncan White (Ceylon), Rune Larsson (Sweden), Richard Ault (USA), Yves Cros (France) and Ottavio Missoni (Italy), shown with camera panning round the whole of the track. Race won by Cochran. Scoreboard (333). Hammer: [Raymond Glendenning commentating] Normal and slow motion throws from Imre Németh (Hungary), Robert Bennett (USA), Kang Whan In (Korea) who throws his hammer into the side netting, Hank Dreyer (USA), Sam Felton (USA), Bo Ericson (Sweden), Duncan Clark (Great Britain) and Németh again with the winning throw. Scoreboard (633). Pole vault: Preparations before the event. Normal and slow motion shots of competitors: C. Vincente (Puerto Rico), Ragnar Lundberg (Sweden), Erling Kaas (Norway), Erkki Kataja (Finland), Valto Olenius (Finland) and Victor Sillon (France) (777). Rain starts to fall, people in the crowd put on overcoats; various shots of people in the rain (832). Pole vault competition continues in the rain: Roberts Richards (USA), Kataja, and O. Guinn Smith (USA) with the winning vault. Scoreboard (973). 5000 metres: [Raymond Glendenning commentating] The final held in pouring rain featuring Emil Zátopek (Czechoslovakia), Gaston Reiff (Belgium), Willem Slijkhuis (Netherlands), Vaino Makela (Finland) and others. The crowd calls out Zátopek's name. With four laps to go Reiff takes the lead (shown in slow motion), Zátopek endeavouring to catch up over the last 300 yards, but Reiff just wins and is greeted by members of the Belgian team (1249). Women's 100 metres: [Stewart MacPherson commentating] First semi-final. CS Shirley Strickland (Australia) and G. Lovso Nielsen (Denmark) getting ready. Line-up also includes Fanny Blankers-Koen (Netherlands), Dorothy Batter (Great Britain), L. Tagliaferri (Italy) and P. Lightbourn (Bermuda); Blankers-Koen wins. Second semi-final features Dorothy Manley (Great Britain), Xenia Stad-de Jong (Netherlands), K. Russell (Jamaica), B. Bergendorff (Denmark), Patricia Jones (Canada) and Daphne Robb (South Africa); Manley wins, with much cheering from the crowd. The final, between Blankers-Koen, Strickland, Manley, Jones, Cynthia Thompson (Jamaica) and Viola Myers (Canada). Close shot of the apprehensive starter, who cries `get set' and fires. The race shown in slow motion from position at the end of the track. Blankers-Koen wins; CS of her (1415). Crowds standing for the Dutch anthem (1547). Triple jump: [Raymond Glendenning commentating] Various competitors shown in long shot and from a position close by the pit: an unnamed athlete (possibly Wun Kwun Kim of Korea), A. Pereira da Silva (Brazil), C. Vera Guardia (Chile), A. Hallgren (Sweden), Leslie McKnead (Australia), Preben Larsen (Denmark), L. Moberg (Sweden), Geraldo de Oliveira (Brazil), George Avery (Australia) and the winner Arne Ahman (Sweden). Scoreboard (1726). Reel 5: Men's shot put: [Harold Abrahams commentating] Close shots in slow motion of each of the competitors: James Fuchs (USA), Mieczyslaw Lomowski (Poland), Yrjö Lehtilä (Finland) and Wilbur Thompson (USA) with the winning throw (186). Women's shot put: [Harold Abrahams commentating] Shots from various angles of Bevis Reid (Great Britain), Paulette Veste (France), Ine Schäffer (Austria), Amelia Piccinini (Italy) and the winner Micheline Ostermeyer (France). CS Ostermeyer. Scoreboard (403). Women's 80 metre hurdles: [Raymond Glendenning commentating] Maureen Gardner (Great Britain) and Shirley Strickland (Australia) walk past the camera. Heat 2 of the first round: CS Gardner who wins (464). Yvette Monginou (France) and Gardner limbering up before the final. Anxious faces in the crowd. Line-up of Gardner, Monginou, Strickland, Fanny Blankers-Koen (Netherlands), Maria Oberbreyer (Austria) and Libuse Lomská (Czechoslovakia). Blankers-Koen win (filmed with side view panning shot). Gardner, coming in second, embraces a man. Scoreboard. Strickland, Blankers-Koen and Gardner pose together in close-up, then walk towards the camera (580). LS arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in the royal box. Pan shot of stadium and track with everyone standing to attention for the national anthem (643). Men's 110 metres hurdles: [Bill Stern commentating] Heat 5, in which Donald Findlay (Great Britain) falls at the last hurdle and fails to finish (687). Final between Clyde Scott, Bill Porter, Craig Dixon (all USA), Alberto Triulzi (Italy), Peter Gardner (Australia) and Hakan Lidman (Sweden). Porter wins. Scoreboard. CS Porter, Scott and Dixon. CU Porter (773). Men's 400 metres: Final line-up with Arthur Wint (Jamaica), Herb McKenley (Jamaica), Malvin Whitfield (USA), David Bolen (USA), Maurice Curotta (Australia) and George Guida (USA). Wint wins from McKenley, then shown breaking the tape in slow motion. CS Wint. Scoreboard with Wint in LS standing to attention for the national anthem (901). Women's 200 metres: Crowd sitting in the rain. Line-up for the final: Fanny Blankers-Koen (Netherlands), Audrey Williamson (Great Britain), Audrey Patterson (USA), Shirley Strickland (Australia), Margaret Walker (Great Britain) and Daphne Robb (South Africa). Blankers-Koen wins in the rain and is kissed by her husband Jan. Blankers-Koen on podium with Williamson and Patterson. Scoreboard (998). Women's 4x100 metres relay: Final contested between Netherlands (Fanny Blankers-Koen, Xenia Stad-de Jong, Jeanette Witziers-Timmer, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs), Denmark, Australia (including Shirley Strickland), Canada, Austria and Great Britain (Dorothy Manley, Muriel Pletts, Margaret Walker, Maureen Gardner). Netherlands win, with Blankers-Koen going last. CU Blankers-Koen. The Dutch, Australian and Canadian teams on the podium (1123). Men's 4x100 metres relay: The final between USA (Barney Ewell, Lorenzo Wright, Harrison Dillard, Melvin Patton), Great Britain (John Archer, John Gregory, Alastair McCorquodale, Kenneth Jones), Italy, Hungary, Canada and the Netherlands. Ewell passes the baton to Wright. An offical watching. Dillard passes the baton to Patton and the USA win. Officials talking around a table as the commentary explains that an alleged faulty change-over [between Ewell and Wright] had the USA originally disqualified, but that the decision was allowed to stand [film of the change-over was viewed as evidence three days later and the legality confirmed] (1248). The Olympic flame (1256). Reel 6: Yachting: Torbay harbour with a floral display showing the Olympic rings (20). Various shots from a mobile boat of the yachting competitions, beginning with the 6-metre class, including the yachts US83 [`Llanoria' of USA], L30 hoisting a spinnaker, F14, D59, B8 [`Lalage' of Belgium] and N70 [`Apache' of Norway] (198), followed by yachts in other classes: Star, including 2554 [`Espardarte' of Portugal], Swallow and Dragon (371). Cycling - 2000 metre tandem: Herne Hill: the first leg of the 2,000 metre tandem final between Reginald Harris and Alan Bannister of Great Britain and the eventual winners Ferdinando Teruzzi and Renato Perona of Italy, filmed turning through 360 degrees. Also shots of cheering crowd (443). Cycling - 120 mile road race: At Windsor Great Park competitors line up for the start of the cycle road race and the Duke of Edinburgh fires the gun to start the race (501). Shots of the race during the 17 laps from various locations including the start/finish, Blacknest Gate and Virginia Water, intercut with shots of the crowd. Sequences include: two riders fall as the main body of cyclists is shown taking the corner at Blacknest Gate for the first time (516-542); Nils Johansson (Sweden) in the lead ahead of Gerardus Voorting and H. Faanhof (Netherlands) (564-570); CS view of cyclist from the back of a moving vehicle (570-580); two fall at the Blacknest Gate turning after getting their bicycles entangled and argue passionately as the main body of riders goes by - an official car stops by, one of the riders walks off still remonstrating while the other sits despondently under a tree (596-669); K. Andersen (Denmark) cycling with one tyre off (685-691); Faanhof changing a tyre while other riders go by and pick up refreshments (691-756). Riders featured in the final stages of the race include Voorting, Johansson, Gordon Thomas (Great Britain), Robert Maitland (Great Britain), Léon Delathouwer (Belgium), Jack Hoobin (Australia) and José Beyaert (France), who pulls ahead (867). MLS Beyaert winning and being congratulated by a group as the other cyclists come in around them (00). CS Beyaert held aloft and blowing kisses to the camera (913). The Duke of Edinburgh congratulates him (933). Rowing - eights: Various shots of the Thames and crowds at Henley (966). VLS start of the eights final between Great Britain (Christopher Barton, Michael Lepage, Guy Richardson, Ernest Paul Bircher, Paul Massey, Charles Brian Lloyd, David Meyrick, Alfred Mellows, Jack Dearlove [cox]), Norway and USA. The teams approach and pass the camera - USA win (1088). Rowing - coxed fours: Final between USA, Switzerland and Denmark, USA winning (1126). The USA four (Warren Westlund, Robert Martin, Robert Will, Gordon Giovanelli) throw their cox (Allen Morgan) into the river. CS the USA team (1162). Rowing - coxless pairs: Final between Great Britain (John Wilson, William Laurie), Switzerland (Hans Kalt, Josef Kalt) and Italy (Felice Fanetti, Bruno Boni), won by Great Britain (1227). MCS as first Wilson and then Laurie pass through the crowd (1293). Union Jack hoisted. LS award ceremony by the riverside (1323). Equestrian - Prix de Nations: [Raymond Glendenning commentating] Olympic flame and crowd at Wembley (1332). The individual jumping competition of the Prix de Nations. Various shots, including a few in slow motion, with the following named competitors: Major E. Oncu (Turkey) on Yildiz; Captain G. de Maupeou d'Ableiges (France) on Nankin, who falls badly; Colonel A. Frierson (USA) whose mount Rascal runs away from him; Captain O. Acthon (Denmark) on Please, who is thrown and crashes into a fence; Major H. Martins (Portugal) on Optus; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Nicoll (Great Britain) on Kilgeddin; Captain J. Russell (USA) on Air Mail; Colonel Jaime Garcia Cruz (Spain) on Bizarro; Captain Rubén Uriza (Mexico) on Hatvey; and with the final ride of the competition, Humberto Mariles Cortés (Mexico) on Arete, the winner (1747). The winners of the Prix de Nations team event, Mexico (Mariles Cortés, Uriza and Alberto Valdes) ride out to applause followed by the second-placed Spanish team (Garcia Cruz, José Navarro Morenés and Marcelino Gavilán y Ponce de Léon) and third-placed Great Britain (Henry Llewellyn, Henry Nicoll and Arthur Carr). Scoreboard (1810). Reel 7: Men's highboard diving: Montage of divers entering the water at the Empire Pool, Wembley, and shown underwater (81). Competitors' dives: Sammy Lee (USA), G. Mandy (South Africa), Raymond Mullinghausen (France), R. Stigersand (Norway), Lennart Brunnhage (Sweden), Joaquin Capilla (Mexico), Peter Heatly (Great Britain), Bruce Harlan (USA) (161). Judges watching (166). Sammy Lee diving twice, including winning dive (200). CS as he leaves pool and salutes the camera (210). LS medal ceremony with Lee, Harlan and Capilla (225). Women's highboard diving: Judges watching. Competitors' dives: Pat Elsener (USA), L. Bisbrown (Great Britain), Nicole Pellissard (France), M.A. Hilder (Great Britain), Inge Beeken-Gregersen (Denmark), Vicki Draves (USA), Sammy Lee watching as Draves dives again, then applauds, Juno Stover (USA), Ali Staudinger (Austria), Denise Newman (Great Britain) with underwater shot, Draves again, watched by Lee (367). CS as she gets out of the pool (372). Draves, Elsener and Birte Christoffersen (Denmark) on medal podium. USA flag (397). CS Draves (407). Men's 100 metres backstroke: Final won by Allen Stack (USA), Robert Cowell (USA) second, Georges Vallerey (France) third; John Brockway and Albert Kinnear of Great Britain also in the race (495). Men's 200 metres breaststroke: Final, in which all but one of the eight competitors uses the butterfly stroke. Filmed from a variety of angles, with close shot of the turn, first three places going to the Americans Joseph Verdeur, Keith Carter and Robert Sohl (611). The three Americans plus another pose for camera (322). Women's 400 metres freestyle: Final filmed in a variety of shots with Ann Curtis (USA) shown at the turn; Curtis wins, Karen-Margrete Harup (Denmark) second, Cathy Gibson (Great Britain) third [in lane two] (721). MS medal podium as Gibson mounts. Scoreboard (745). Water polo: Underwater shot of men at pool's edge waiting for start of water polo match. Match shown betwen Italy and Netherlands, with overhead and underwater shots, Netherlands score a goal [Italy won 4-2] (856). The teams climb out of the pool. Italian, Hungarian and Dutch teams crowded onto the medal podium (877). MS Italian team by pool (885). Decathlon: Scoreboard at Wembley stadium showing decathlon results with Bob Mathias (USA) the winner [there is no film of the competition itself] (902). MCS Mathias on medal podium with American anthem playing, next to him Ignace Heinrich (France) and Floyd Simmons (USA)(925). Marathon: Crowd shot (932). Marathon runners lined up at Wembley stadium (958). Start of the race, with Choi Yun Chil (Korea) leading as they leave the stadium (1037). LS looking back at stadium as runners approach, camera tracking back (1064). Various mobile shots of competitors: V. Heino (Finland), Y. Suh (Korea), Johannes Coleman and Thomas Luyt (South Africa), Etienne Gailly (Belgium), Jack Holden (Great Britain), Delfo Cabrera (Argentina), Tom Richards (Great Britain) (1183). Gailly running in countryside setting, taking drinks, then Cabrera and others (1241). Holden pulls up and gets into a car (1258). Richards; Choi; mobile shots of various competitors, many taking up drinks being handed out along the route (1356). H.K. Larsen (Denmark)(1383). Choi reduced to walking (1393). Richards ahead of Gailly, then Gailly retakes the lead (1447). Gailly and Cabrera running along suburban street (1470). Richards (1488). Shots of various competitors including an agonised Korean and S. Kyriakidis (Greece) (1523). Richards (1535). LS Gailly ahead with Cabrera following in distance, cheered on by crowds (1555). Cabrera (1566). Reel 8: Marathon [continued]: Wembley staidium (14). Gailly enters, closely followed by Cabrera, who overtakes [filmed in slow motion] seen from reverse (86). Front view in normal motion as Cabrera moves ahead (93). Richards enters the stadium (101). Cross- cutting between Cabrera, Gailly and Richards, as Richards catches up and overtakes Gailly (212). Gailly slows down to walking pace then starts up again (230). Cabrera passes the finishing line [filmed in slow motion] and a man leaps to congratulate him but is pushed away; others run up to Cabrera (284). CS Cabrera being congratulated (290). Richards comes in second and flops down (320). Gailly staggers in third and lies down at the side of the track (349). Cabrera being congratulated by various people including Richards (381). Gailly carried off on a stretcher (401). A Korean is led away (410). Cabrera carried on shoulders, with CS (423). Scoreboard (440). Pan shot across crowd (457). Closing ceremony: Wembley stadium: a line of boy scouts carrying the flags of the competing nations while the Olympic hymn is sung (493). Sigfrid Edström and the Lord Mayor of London Sir Frederick Michael Wells with the Olympic flag on dais (514). LS Olympic flag being lowered as choir sings in far distance (536). Words by Lord Burghley on scoreboard: "The spirit of the Olympic Games which has tarried here awhile, sets forth once more. May it prosper throughout the world, safe in the keeping of all those who have felt its noble impulse in this great festival of sport" (564). Guardsmen carrying the Olympic flag stand to attention as the Olympic flame dies (616). CS Olympic flag flying, dissolve to trees in shape of V for victory, dissolve back to flag (648). Note: The Winter Games took place at St Moritz 30 January to 8 February 1948. The Summer Games took place 29 July to 14 August at Wembley Stadium, London and other locations. Details of the film's production and a full list of credits and featured competitors are given in a separate Cataloguing file held on the film. All named or identifiable individual competitors in the film have been indexed, except for most team sports. All identifiable British competitors have been indexed. Those not identified (mostly for the Winter Games) may in some cases be traced through a copy of the script for the film held in the Cataloguing file, which gives only literal spellings of names. Note on credits: The complete credits for the film have been gathered from several sources, notably the articles by John Huntley cited below. Some of the names of the cameramen are misspelt on the film. Rex Alston and Max Robertson are given as commentators by Huntley but do not appear to be on the soundtrack. Inserts: The NFTVA also holds twenty short `inserts': coverage of national teams or sports not included in the main feature, designed for use in one of the seventeen foreign versions that were produced. These are catalogued and indexed separately. Refs: John Huntley, `The XIV Olympiad', Film Industry, 12 August 1948 pp 8-9, 14-15; 26 August 1948 pp 8-9; 18 September 1948 p 5. Lord Killanin and John Rodda (ed.), The Olympic Games (1976). Castleton Knight, `Filming the XIVth Olympiad', The Cine-Technician, Jan/Feb 1949, pp 10-13, 19-20, 22. The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad (1951). David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Olympics (1996). David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics (1993). (Shotlist)
- Genre
- SubjectElizabeth, Queen Consort to George VI (1900-2002)
George VI (1895-1952)
Athletics
Discus throwing
Diving
Cresta Run
Men
Hurdling
National Hockey League
Ice skating
Greece
London
Henley-on-Thames
Herne Hill
High jump
Long jump
Great Britain
Running
Opening ceremonies
Swimming
Switzerland
National anthems
Shot putting
Skiing
Ski jumping
Netherlands
Pole vaulting
Speed
Speed skating
Rowing
Women
Yachts - CreditsProduction Company: Olympic Games (1948) Film Company
Producer: Castleton Knight
Production Manager: H.W. Bishop
view all - CastJohn Snagge ([Commentator]) [uncredited]
Harold Abrahams ([Commentator]) [uncredited]
Stewart MacPherson ([Commentator]) [uncredited]
view full cast
Title
XIVTH Olympiad The Glory of Sport (Original)
The Olympic Games of 1948 (Alternative)
Xiv Olympiad: The Glory of Sport (Alternative)
Fourteenth Olympiad the Glory of Sport (Help search)
EIDR identifier
10.5240/C888-5396-C7D2-33E2-F9C8-KCategory
Non FictionThis work is included in the BFI Filmography.
This work is available to view in the Mediatheque at BFI Southbank.
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- +XIVTH Olympiad The Glory of Sport
Work - 11612 - 1948 (Release)
United Kingdom - Film - Non Fiction
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