Deliberate mistake: When we first see Eric Lidell, it is 1920 and he has just returned from China to his homeland of Scotland. Eric would've been 18 years old in 1920. Ian Charleson, who was 31 at the time the film was made, looks his own age.
Chariots of Fire (1981)
1 deliberate mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Hugh Hudson
Starring: Ian Holm, Ben Cross, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Ian Charleson
Continuity mistake: When Eric Liddell is approaching the end of the Olympic 400 metre race the camera cuts away for reaction shots of those watching and responding to his approaching victory. The close-up shot of Harold Abrahams is taken from earlier in the film when Harold was reacting to his own defeat by Eric. You can see at the bottom of the frame that Harold is wearing a tweed jacket and not the blue official blazer of the British team which he would have been wearing while viewing Eric's race.
Master of Trinity: ...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 to us summon up face after face full of honesty and goodness, zeal and vigor.
Trivia: The wonderful soundtrack to this movie topped the US Billboard charts and won the academy award too.
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