First Olympics Athens 1896 (1984)

The behind the scenes story of the creation of the first Olympic games held in the modern era. The emphasis is on the American team with the focus on two specific characters, a Boston Irish working class track and field runner (David Caruso) and an upper class Princeton man (Hunt Block). Also prominent an Australian (Benedict Taylor in the film's best performance) at Oxford and a Greek peasant (Nicos Ziagos) both also competing. Despite its lengthy four hour running time, the film manages to not only retain one's interest but stir your emotions and create suspense. Toward the very end, it bogs down a bit with a little schmaltz but not enough to spoil it. The emphasis on the American team has the misfortune of suggesting that they dominated the first Olympics and while they won 11 gold medals, more than any other country, other countries like Greece, France and Germany had multiple wins also but no time is spent on them. Directed by Alvin Rakoff with an Emmy winning score by Bruce Broughton. The large cast includes Angela Lansbury, Louis Jourdan, Honor Blackman, Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Gayle Hunnicutt, Titos Vandis and in an Emmy nominated role, David Ogden Stiers.