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Lawrence of Arabia

Director: David Lean (Dir) Release Date: Dec 1962 Premiere Information: London opening: 9 Dec 1962; New York opening: 16 Dec 1962; Los Angeles opening: 22 Dec 1962 Production Date: at Shepperton Studios, London Duration (in mins): 180 or 220-222			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Introducing	Peter O'Toole	([T. E.] Lawrence)
		Alec Guinness	(Prince Feisal)
		Anthony Quinn	(Auda Abu Tayi)
		Jack Hawkins	(General Allenby)
		Omar Sharif	(Sherif Ali [ibn el Kharish])
		José Ferrer	(Turkish bey)
		Anthony Quayle	(Colonel [Harry] 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)
		Howard Marion Crawford	(Medical officer)
		Jack Gwillim	(Club secretary)
		Hugh Miller	(R.A.M.C. colonel)
		Kenneth Fortescue	(Allenby's aide)
		Stuart Saunders	(Regimental sergeant-major)
		Fernando Sancho	(Turkish sergeant)
		Henry Oscar	(Reciter)
		Norman Rossington	(Corp. Jenkins)
		John Ruddock	(Elder Harith)
		M. Cher Kaoui
		Mohammed Habachi

Summary:

In 1916 British Intelligence supports the Arab rebellion against the Turkish-German alliance. Dryden, a civilian member of the Arab Bureau, selects Lt. T. E. Lawrence, an enigmatic twenty-nine-year-old scholar, to evaluate the Arab revolt. Enthusiastically undertaking this assignment, the officer contacts Prince Feisal, a rebel leader, and persuades Feisal to lend him a force of fifty men. With this skeleton band, accompanied by Sherif Ali ibn el Karish, Lawrence crosses the Nefud Desert. At the journey's end, however, Lawrence learns that one of his men is missing. Undeterred by Arab assertions that the missing man's death had been divinely decreed, Lawrence returns to the desert and rescues him, earning thereby Ali's friendship and the respect of his subordinates. At a well Lawrence is confronted by the sheikh Auda Abu Tayi, whom he persuades to join the assault on Aqaba, a Turkish port at the desert's edge. The Turks, surprised by the overland attack, are routed, and the victory revitalizes the Arab rebellion. Arab unity, however, is undermined by internecine warfare. When one of his troop slays one of Auda Abu Tayi's henchmen, Lawrence in expiation executes the murderer, who proves to be the Arab he had saved in the desert. Unnerved, Lawrence returns to Cairo. Delighted by Lawrence's military success, however, General Allenby provides him with arms and money for future victories. Lawrence launches a series of successful guerrilla raids, which, as reported by American journalist Jackson Bentley, establish his international reputation. While on a scouting mission with Ali, Lawrence is captured and tortured by the Turks. He returns to Cairo, where General Allenby persuades him to spearhead an attack on Damascus. After the battle, Lawrence leads his men in the massacre of the retreating Turks. Upon entering Damascus the British Army is met by victorious Arab forces. Lawrence relinquishes control of the city to an Arab Council, but soon factionalism threatens to destroy it. On May 19, 1935, Lawrence dies in a motorcycle crash in Dorset, England, and is commemorated in services at St. Paul's.

Production Company:	Horizon Pictures (G.B.), Ltd.
Production Text:	The Sam Spiegel-David Lean Production
Distribution Company:	Columbia Pictures Corp.
Director:	David Lean	(Dir)
	Andre Smagghe	(2d unit dir)
	Noel Howard	(2d unit dir)
	Roy Stevens	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Sam Spiegel	(Prod)
	David Lean	(Prod)
Writer:	Robert Bolt	(Scr)
	Michael Wilson	(Scr)
Photography:	F. A. Young	(Dir of photog)
	Skeets Kelly	(2d unit photog)
	Nicolas Roeg	(2d unit photog)
	Peter Newbrook	(2d unit photog)
	Ernest Day	(Cam op)
	Archie Dansie	(Chief elec)
Art Direction:	John Box	(Prod des)
	John Stoll	(Art dir)
	Roy Rossotti	(Asst art dir)
	George Richardson	(Asst art dir)
	Terence Marsh	(Asst art dir)
	Tony Rimmington	(Asst art dir)
Film Editor:	Anne V. Coates	(Ed)
Set Decoration:	Dario Simoni	(Set dresser)
	Eddie Fowlie	(Prop master)
	Peter Dukelow	(Const mgr)
	Fred Bennett	(Const asst)
Costumes:	Phyllis Dalton	(Cost des)
	John Wilson-Apperson	(Ward)
Music:	Maurice Jarre	(Mus comp)
	Gerard Schurmann	(Orch)
	The London Philharmonic Orchestra	(Played by)
	Sir Adrian Boult	(Cond)
	Morris Stoloff	(Mus coord)
Sound:	Winston Ryder	(Sd ed)
	Paddy Cunningham	(Sd rec)
	John Cox	(Sd dubbing)
Special Effects:	Cliff Richardson	(Spec eff)
Make Up:	Charles Parker	(Makeup)
	A. G. Scott	(Hairdresser)
Production Misc:	John Palmer	(Prod mgr)
	Douglas Twiddy	(Loc mgr)
	Maude Spector	(Casting dir)
	Barbara Cole	(Cont)
	Marie Budberg	(Research)
Country:	Great Britain and United States
Language:	English

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
Horizon Pictures (G.B.) Ltd.	19/12/1962 dd/mm/yyyy	LP25769

Physical Properties:	Sd:	RCA Sound Recording
	col:	Technicolor
	gauge:	35mm & 70mm
	Widescreen/ratio:	Super-Panavision 70


Genre:	Adventure
	Biography
Sub-Genre:	Historical
	Historical

Subjects (Major):	Arab countries--History--Arab revolt, 1916--1918
	Arabs
	Bedouins
	English in foreign countries
	Great Britain. Army
	T. E. Lawrence
	World War I

Subjects (Minor):	Americans in foreign countries
	Edmund Allenby
	Cairo (Egypt)
	Damascus (Syria)
	Deserts
	Guerrilla warfare
	Massacres
	Military life
	Motorcycle accidents
	Reporters
	Revolutions
	Soldiers
	Torture
	Turks
	War heroes

Note:	In the onscreen credits, the assistant art directors are listed as "R. Rossotti, G. Richardson, T. Marsh, A. Rimmington." A statement in the closing credits reads: "Photographed on overseas locations." The closing credits also acknowledge the Royal Hashemite Government of Jordan and the Royal Government of Morocco. Works of T. E. Lawrence that were used as background for Lawrence of Arabia included Seven Pillars of Wisdom (London, 1926) and its abridgement, Revolt in the Desert (London, 1927), The Diary of T. E. Lawrence, MCMXI (London, 1937) and The Letters of T. E. Lawrence (London, 1938). Portions of the film were shot on location in Saudi Arabia. At the time of the film's release, Michael Wilson, who was blacklisted in the 1950s, did not receive screen credit for co-writing the screenplay with Robert Bolt. However, his credit was restored by the WGA in 1978, and in 1995, he was granted an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Lawrence of Arabia , an honor that initially had been bestowed solely on Bolt. In video versions of the film, Wilson and Bolt are both credited with the screenplay. Lawrence of Arabia was ranked 7th on AFI's 2007 100 Years...100 Movies--10th Anniversary Edition list of the greatest American films, moving down from the 5th position it occupied on AFI's 1997 list.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Film Daily	17 Dec 1962	p.
Filmfacts	25 Jan 1963	pp. 343-46.
Films and Filming	Feb 1963	pp. 32-33.
Hollywood Reporter	17 Dec 1962	p. 3.
Life	14 Dec 1962	oo, 118-19.
Los Angeles Times	17 Dec 1962	Section IV, p. 1.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest	9 Jan 1963	p. 732.
New Republic	12 Jan 1963	pp. 26-28.
New York Times	17 Dec 1962	p. 5.
Newsweek	24 Dec 1962	p. 64.
Saturday Review	29 Dec 1962	pp. 29-30.
Time	4 Jan 1963	p. 58.
Variety	19 Dec 1962	p. 6.
Village Voice	20 Dec 1962	p. 16.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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