Lawrence of Arabia

On his first location scouting trip in Jordan, director Sir David Lean discovered the remains of the Turkish locomotives and railroad tracks T.E. Lawrence had destroyed during the Arab Revolution. After forty years in the sun, they hadn't even rusted.

When Lawrence issues the promissory note to Auda he writes right-to-left. Many have interpreted this as the film being processed backwards when in fact he is writing Arabic which is right-to-left. And when he signs his name at the bottom, he does so left-to-right.

The opening credits read: Introducing Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence. However, that "Introducing" credit is false as O'Toole had already played roles in Kidnapped (1959), The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960) and The Savage Innocents (1960).

There are technically four versions of the film: the original 222 minute print, then cut to 202 minutes after its 1962 premiere, the 187 minute 1970 theatrical re-cut and the 228 minute including the overture, entr'acte music and play-out music in the 1988 restoration. Full details as follows: Originally released at 222 minutes for the UK premiere in December 1962. Shortly after premiere which took place in London in December 1962, David Lean, reportedly under the orders of producer Sam Spiegel, cut 20 minutes from the film to 202 minutes. Cuts included the shot of goggles on the tree, Brighton's "remarkable man" line to the priest, early shots of the drafting room scene, the whole officer's mess sequence where he's called a clown and upsets water on someone, and some dialogue between the General and Dryden. The 1970 theatrical re-release cut the film further to 187 minutes. The film was restored in 1988 at 228 minutes. This version, supervised by David Lean, was advertised as a Director's Cut and has been the version made available to home video formats since.

Featured in Hollywood: The Great Stars (1963)