Overview: Using newsreel footage, this Sportscope entry chronicles the race toward running's four-minute mile, highlighting several important contests. It starts in the 1920's, when Finland's Paavo Nurmi set the record for the distance at 4 minutes 10.4 seconds. It continues through Roger Bannister's first run under 4 minutes in 1954, and ends in spring 1956, when Australia's Joe Bailey became the first to break 4 minutes on US soil.
Overview: Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.