Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

A flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during his World War I service in Arabia.

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

T.E. Lawrence (writings), Robert Bolt (screenplay),

Stars:

Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn

Top 250 #69 | Won 7 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter O'Toole	...	T.E. Lawrence
Alec Guinness	...	Prince Feisal
Anthony Quinn	...	Auda Abu Tayi
Jack Hawkins	...	General Allenby
Omar Sharif	...	Sherif Ali
José Ferrer	...	Turkish Bey (as Jose Ferrer)
Anthony Quayle	...	Colonel Brighton
Claude Rains	...	Mr. Dryden
Arthur Kennedy	...	Jackson Bentley
Donald Wolfit	...	General Murray
I.S. Johar	...	Gasim
Gamil Ratib	...	Majid
Michel Ray	...	Farraj
John Dimech	...	Daud
Zia Mohyeddin	...	Tafas

Storyline

An inordinately complex man who has been labeled everything from hero, to charlatan, to sadist, Thomas Edward Lawrence blazed his way to glory in the Arabian desert, then sought anonymity as a common soldier under an assumed name. The story opens with the death of Lawrence in a motorcycle accident in Dorset at the age of 46, then flashbacks to recount his adventures: as a young intelligence officer in Cairo in 1916, he is given leave to investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks in World War I. In the desert, he organizes a guerrilla army and--for two years--leads the Arabs in harassing the Turks with desert raids, train-wrecking and camel attacks. Eventually, he leads his army northward and helps a British General destroy the power of the Ottoman Empire.

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Plot Keywords:

Desert | Turk | Arab | Army | Motorcycle Accident | 

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Taglines:

A mighty spectacle of action and adventure! (Australia)

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Arabic Turkish

Release Date:

30 January 1963 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Lawrence de Arabia

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$32,930 (USA) (4 October 2002)

Gross:

$342,481 (USA) (25 October 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Horizon Pictures (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

216 min 228 min (director's cut) 187 min (1970 re-release) 210 min (original) 222 min (premiere) 227 min (restored roadshow)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (RCA Sound Recording) (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm prints) (original version) 4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) (35 mm) (original version)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Elaborate screen tests with Albert Finney as Lawrence were shot at a cost of 100,000 pounds. Finney later balked at producer Sam Spiegel's demand that he sign a seven-year contract if he accepted the role, and dropped out, replaced by Peter O'Toole, already under contract to Speigel.

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Goofs

At several points in the movie, Turkish soldiers are shown using Browning Model 1919A6 .30 caliber air-cooled machine guns. The Browning 1919 first entered service in 1919, too late to have been used in WWI. The Turks would have been using German Maxim machine guns. At other times, they are shown using Short-Magazine Lee-Enfield rifles which were standard issue to the British Empire forces. The Turks would, in all likelihood, have been carrying German Mausers.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Colonel Brighton: He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew.
Vicar at St. Paul's: Did you know him well?
Colonel Brighton: I knew him.
Vicar at St. Paul's: Well nil nisi bonum. But did he really deserve a place here?

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits read: Introducing Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence. However, O'Toole had already played very noticeable roles in two feature-length films, the Disney 1960 version of Kidnapped, and The Day They Robbed the Bank of England.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #22.69 (2005)
correct response in "My Favorite Films" category

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Soundtracks

"The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo"
(1892) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Fred Gilbert
Sung a cappella by Peter O'Toole

User Reviews

744 people need to rethink their ratings

The fact that 744 people on the Internet Movie Database gave Lawrence of Arabia a "1" one the the 1-10 scale is outright obscene. Not only is Lawrence of Arabia one of the best cinematic achievements of all time, and historically intriguing to boot, it's a just plain great film with a little bit of something for everyone, including a rich historical plot, vibrant characters, great setting, and plenty of fabulously choreographed battle scenes. The film is also topical for today's society, for example: "Why is terrorism so popular in the middle east today? Well, it might just have something to do with the fact T.E. Lawrence encouraged the Arab tribes to deal with their Ottoman occupiers using bombs and machine guns." How anyone with eyes and ears could dislike this movie that much is beyond my comprehension.