Brian's Song is a
1971 ABC Movie of the Week, recalling the details of the life of
Brian Piccolo (played by
James Caan), a
white football player stricken with terminal cancer, and his friendship with
black Chicago Bears running back teammate and
Pro Football Hall of Famer
Gale Sayers (
Billy Dee Williams), who helps him through the difficult struggle. The true story was such a success on
ABC television (November 30, 1971) that it was later shown in theaters.
[Bob Thomas. "TV 'Brian's Song' on movie screens," The Dallas Morning News, April 29, 1972, page 2.] Some critics have called the movie among the finest
telefilms ever made.
[Harry Bowman. "Broadcast Beat column: 'Brian's Song' superior film," The Dallas Morning News, November 27, 1971, page 7A.]
The movie is based on Sayers' account of his friendship with Piccolo and Piccolo's illness in Sayers' autobiography,
I Am Third. The film was written by veteran screenwriter William Blinn, whose script one Dallas television critic called "highly restrained, steering clear of any overt sentimentality
conveying the genuine affection the two men felt so deeply for each other."
Music
The musical theme to
Brian's Song, "The Hands of Time," was a popular tune during the early 1970s. The music for the film was by
Michel Legrand, with lyrics to the song by
Marilyn and
Alan Bergman. Nashville pianist
Floyd Cramer performed a popular version of "The Hands of Time".
