Eric Liddell was born in China, where his parents were missionaries. He returned as a missionary. During the Japanese occupation of China, he was taken into the Japanese Weihsien Internment Camp, where he died from a brain tumor just before the camp was liberated.
When Colin Welland completed his first draft, the only title he could come up with was "Runners". Then, one Sunday evening he turned on BBC's religious music series Songs of Praise (1961), featuring the hymn "Jerusalem," with lyrics from a poem by William Blake. The chorus included the words "Bring me my chariot of fire". The writer leaped to his feet and shouted to his wife, "I've got it, Pat! 'Chariots of Fire'!" (The "Jerusalem" hymn is featured at the beginning and end of the movie.)
In real life, Lord David Burghley (Lord Lindsay in this movie) was the first man to do the Great Court Run, not Harold Abrahams. It was changed because producer David Puttnam was a Socialist and did not want to show a Lord winning. It's one reason Lord Burghley did not allow his name to be used in the movie.
Although it received a standing ovation when shown in competition at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, this movie was mercilessly savaged by the French critics, because it called the French "the frogs" and "an unprincipled lot." In order to prevent the negative critical response from hurting its international distribution, Roger Ebert lobbied the other American critics in attendance to award it the "American Critics Prize", which they did in a 6-5 vote. This marks the only time in the sixty-year history of the festival that this award has been presented.
Lord Lindsay (Nigel Havers) was actually based upon Lord Burghley, who refused to cooperate with the filmmakers, and would not allow his name to be used in the production. Upon seeing the completed movie, however, Lord Burghley told the filmmakers that he regretted his earlier refusal to cooperate with the production.
Stephen Fry: Singing in the chorus of the Cambridge "H.M.S. Pinafore" production. He is the third face to the right of Harold Abrahams, singing "He Is An Englishman". He's on-screen for about thirty-five seconds.