The Olympic Games Held At Chamonix In 1924

The Olympic Games Held at Chamonix in 1924 (yes, 1924)

Runtime: 37 minutes

Directed by: Jean de Rovera

Starring: This is a documentary

From: The International Olympic Committee... I suppose

Fearing a tremendous poster.

Back in 2018 Criterion released 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912-2012; it was the sort of esoteric collection that piqued my interest. Back in July of that year, I thought of splurging and purchasing the box set at a Barnes & Noble during their twice a year Criterion sale. Ultimately I did not and in hindsight that was correct as many of those probably won't be seen more than once and that cash went into other endeavors instead. Thank heavens for the Criterion Channel as this allows me to finally see those movies.

This was more chosen for length-a hair more than a half hour if you take out the credits-than any other factors. There won't be any order in which I see these in the future; I'll occasionally subscribe to the channel for that... and also the gigantic assortment of titles they have in general, including those they borrow from various studios for a set amount of time. This covers the 1924 Winter Olympics in the small southeastern French town of Chamonix; it wasn't until the next year that this was retroactively made into the first Winter Olympics, due to these games being a success.

I heard this described as “being like a newsreel” and that is fair. It's in highlight form and the participants usually aren't identified, although at least some of the medal winners are shown in personal shots and ID'ed. This was still footage I was glad got restored recently; it was fascinating for me to see how different it was compared to the modern Games. The opening ceremonies had the athletes parading down what may have been Main Street; all the sports were held outdoors, including hockey and figure skating. Not all the sports were shown but what was seen, they were for certain different. Figure skating, for example, was apparently judged by the grooves made on the ice.


Credit will be given to those that filmed this: aside from hockey not being easy to follow with a camera-which is even an issue today-they were able to get some nice shots even with the limitations of 1920 cameras and the frozen landscape they filmed at, which produced some gorgeous scenery. I will grant extra credit for them using slow motion several times. Of course this is primitive compared to the sports highlights you see today; I am appreciative this still exists, especially in our current climate where the return of new sporting events may be a long time away.