Bring me my bow of burning gold: Bring me my arrows of desire: Bring me my spear: O clouds, unfold! Bring me my chariot of fire. – William Blake

On March 30, 1981, Chariots of Fire premiered at with a Royal Film Performance, a trademarked event that is owned by the Film & Television Charity, formerly the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund. The events showcased a major film premiere and were attended by members of the British Royal Family. The proceeds from the event enable the charity to offer financial support to people from the screen industries.

At 84% on the Rotten Tomatoes you could argue that Chariots of Fire is a substantially important classic – a British historical character study of high regard. What is un-arguable however is just how iconic the song and the scene are to modern audience who may not even know what the film is about in the first place.

Of course my introduction it was from Television…

Director Hugh Hudson had collaborated with Greek Composer Vangelis on documentaries and commercials, and was also particularly impressed with his 1979 albums Opera Sauvage and China.

David Puttnam also greatly admired Vangelis’s body of work, having originally selected his compositions for his previous film Midnight Express. Hudson made the choice for Vangelis and for a modern score: “I knew we needed a piece which was anachronistic to the period to give it a feel of modernity. It was a risky idea but we went with it rather than have a period symphonic score.” The soundtrack had a personal significance to Vangelis: After composing the iconic theme tune he told Puttnam, “My father is a runner, and this is an anthem to him.”

Hudson originally wanted Vangelis’s 1977 tune “L’Enfant”, from his Opera Sauvage album, to be the title theme of the film, and the beach running sequence was actually filmed with “L’Enfant” playing on loudspeakers for the runners to pace to.

Vangelis finally convinced Hudson he could create a new and better piece for the film’s main theme – and when he played the now-iconic “Chariots of Fire” theme for Hudson, it was agreed the new tune was unquestionably better. The “L’Enfant” melody still made it into the film: When the athletes reach Paris and enter the stadium, a brass band marches through the field, and first plays a modified, acoustic performance of the piece. Vangelis’s electronic “L’Enfant” track eventually was used prominently in the 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously.

The beach scenes associated with the theme tune were filmed at West Sands, St Andrews in Scotland. A plaque commemorating the filming can be found there today.

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