Using newsreel footage to chronicle the race toward running the mile in under four-minutes this 1956 film highlights 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 then continues through Roger Bannister's first run under 4 minutes in 1954. The ending comes quick, with a total run time of 9-minutes, in the spring of 1956, when Australia's Jim Bailey became the first to break 4 minutes on United States soil. Narrated by Harry Wismer it is hard to ask for a more focused and succinct production. It's really too bad they could not show entire race footage for us track fans; and to think that Hicham El Guerrouj has lowered this standard to 3:43:13 just 45 years after breaking the four minute barrier!
