Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

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

Stars:

Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn

Top Rated Movies #83 | Won 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 14 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

Due to his knowledge of the native Bedouin tribes, British Lieutenant T.E. Lawrence is sent to Arabia to find Prince Faisal and serve as a liaison between the Arabs and the British in their fight against the Turks. With the aid of native Sherif Ali, Lawrence rebels against the orders of his superior officer and strikes out on a daring camel journey across the harsh desert to attack a well-guarded Turkish port.

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Plot Keywords:

british military | arab | desert | camel | arabia | 

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Taglines:

An Epic Masterpiece As You've Never Seen It Before! (1992 Restored Video Release)

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Arabic Turkish

Release Date:

11 December 1962 (UK)

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:

$6,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Anthony Nutting had to negotiate to hire the Bedouin tribesmen, who also wanted a million pounds. When he asked how they could ask so much, he learned that their representative, Sherif Nasser, had learned of a secret one million pound loan Sam Spiegel had taken out from the Arab Bank there. The bank director, as it turned out, was Sherif Nasser's uncle. Spiegel got the price down by pulling a ploy his associates were used to. He had a heart attack, which so threatened the production's future that the Bedouin lowered their price.

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Goofs

In the opening scenes set in 1935, not only are three phase electricity cables visible in many shots, but a color UHF television transmitter is also visible over Lawrence's right shoulder.

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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 (1960), and The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960).

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years at the Movies (1994)

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Soundtracks

That Is The Desert
Music by Maurice Jarre
Performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Maurice Jarre

User Reviews

possibly one of the greatest films ever made

This film requires no introduction. It's one of the greatest movies ever made if not the best. Truly inspiring. It leaves me with the feeling that I would have liked to have met Lawrence but being born 37 years after his death regrettably this will never happen! I went to see the movie in the National Film Theatre, London in order to see the panorama on the big screen. Well worth the trip even if you have seen the movie on DVD. He was arguably one of the greatest englishmen to walk the earth. Why doesn't anyone make films like this anymore?! Thank God for David Lean's work. Looking forward to viewing this film again and again on DVD.