The Games **½ (1970, Michael Crawford, Ryan O’Neal, Charles Aznavour, Stanley Baker) – Classic Movie Review 9300

A quartet of runners gets ready for the 1960 Rome Olympics marathon in Michael Winner’s acceptable, occasionally exciting 1970 sports drama The Games, which is attractively filmed on globetrotting locations.

Though the schematic yarn, loosely based on real events of the Rome Olympics, is duller than it should be, with a heavy load of clichés and characters from stock, the film certainly has a decent cast and a good if predictable finish in the race finale, and director Winner keeps both his cameras and the film moving.

In the great race, Bill Oliver (Stanley Baker) teaches British milkman Harry Hayes (Michael Crawford), Yale’s Scott Reynolds (Ryan O’Neal) defies a dickie heart, middle-aged Czech Pavel Vendek (Charles Aznavour) seeks honour and Australian Aboriginal Sunny Pintubi (Athol Compton) runs in the face of racial prejudice.

The screenplay by Erich Segal is based on Hugh Atkinson’s novel. Scriptwriter Segal was a marathon runner himself.

Erich Segal also wrote Love Story, which stars Ryan O’Neal.

Also in the cast are Jeremy Kemp, Elaine Taylor, Kent Smith, Mona Washbourne, Sam Elliott, Fritz Wepper, Reg Lye, Don Newsome, Emmy Werner, Harvey Hall, June Jago, Karel Stepanek, Gwendolyn Watts, John Alkin, Colin Jeavons, Stephanie Beacham, Basil Dignam, Hugh McDermott, Lionel Murton, George Roubicek, Marianne Stone, Norman Mitchell and Leigh Taylor-Young (as college co-ed, uncredited).

Stephanie Beacham, who plays Angela Simmonds, went on to star in Winner’s The Nightcomers.

The Games is directed by Michael Winner, runs 100 minutes, is made by Twentieth Century-Fox Productions, is released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Erich Segal, based on Hugh Atkinson’s novel, is shot by Robert Paynter, is produced by Lester Linsk and is scored by Francis Lai, with Art Direction by Fred Carter, Tony Curtis, Roy Stannard and Albert Witherick.

Athol Compton is an Australian Aboriginal postman who had not acted before.

The 34 feature films of Michael Winner.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9300

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