Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Director(s) David Lean
Producer(s) David Lean (uncredited), Sam Spiegel
Top Genres Action, Adventure, Biographical, Drama, Epic, Historical
Top Topics Exotic Lands
More Films Directed by David Lean More Films Produced by Sam Spiegel More Films from 1962 More Films from the 1960s Top Classic Movies of the 1960s Top Exotic Lands Films

Lawrence of Arabia Overview:

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was a Adventure - Biographical Film directed by David Lean and produced by David Lean and Sam Spiegel.

SYNOPSIS

Here is one of the great Hollywood epics of all time and O'Toole's first major screen appearance, which established him as an international star overnight. He gives a superb performance as T. E. Lawrence, a British military observer who, in rejecting British tradition and adapting Arab attire, became a figure of enduring mystique while helping to unite the warring Arab functions into a guerrilla front against the Turks. The restored video includes 35 minutes of previously missing footage. The 30th anniversary special edition features the original theatrical trailer and a 32-page companion booklet, plus a film short on the making of the film including interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. The laserdisc edition features a collection of production photos, Wind, Sand and Star, a featurette documenting production, footage from the 1962 New York premiere, and silent newsreel production footage.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Lawrence of Arabia was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1991.

Academy Awards 1962 --- Ceremony Number 35 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorPeter O'TooleNominated
Best Supporting ActorOmar SharifNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: John Box, John Stoll; Set Decoration: Dario SimoniWon
Best CinematographyFred A. YoungWon
Best DirectorDavid LeanWon
Best Film EditingAnne CoatesWon
Best Music - ScoringMaurice JarreWon
Best PictureSam Spiegel, ProducerWon
Best WritingRobert Bolt, Michael WilsonNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Lawrence of Arabia BlogHub Articles:

Field Trip: "Lawrence of Arabia" on the Big Screen at AMC River East 21 September 1

By Stephen Reginald on Aug 19, 2019 From Classic Movie Man

Field Trip: "Lawrence of Arabia" on the Big Screen at AMC River East 21 September 1 Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen Date: September 1 Where: AMC River East 21, 322 East Illinois, Chicago, IL Time: 1:00 p.m. Winner of 7 Academy Awards® including Best Picture of 1962, Lawrence of Ara... Read full article

Win Tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Lawrence of Arabia” (Giveaway runs now through Aug 17)

By Annmarie Gatti on Jul 28, 2019 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Win tickets to see “Lawrence of Arabia” on the Big Screen!In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Sept 1 and Wed Sept 4 CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 10th of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of Fathom Events! This is an extra ex... Read full article

Blue Eyes in the Desert: Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)

By Virginie Pronovost on Jul 20, 2018 From The Wonderful World of Cinema

Ah, Lawrence of Arabia… An illustrious man and the subject of one of movie history’s best films. It is British movie director David Lean who created this masterpiece. With movies like Lawrence of Arabia (of course), Great Expectations,  The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago and ... Read full article

Lawrence of Arabia: Part Two – The Destruction of Myth

By minooallen on Jan 30, 2015 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Lawrence of Arabia: Part two – The Destruction of Myth Hello dear readers and thank you for coming back to my Lawrence of Arabia blog posts. Last November, as part of the British Empire Blogathon, I wrote Part One of this two-part series. If you did not get a chance to read it and feel the need to... Read full article

British Empire in Film Blogathon: Lawrence of Arabia

By minooallen on Nov 17, 2014 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

British Empire in Film Blogathon Lawrence of Arabia: Part One –The Creation of Myth A portrait of the real Lawrence of Arabia. We open on a lone motorcycle – the very symbol of freedom, the open road – and escape from the trappings of the civilized world. Enter frame right, an elegant,... Read full article

See More Lawrence of Arabia Articles

Lawrence of Arabia Quotes:

T.E. Lawrence: Sherif Ali!. So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people. Greedy, barbarous and cruel, as you are.
Sherif Ali: Come. I will take you to Feisal.
T.E. Lawrence: I do not want your company, sherif.
Sherif Ali: Wadi Safra is another day from here. You will not find it, and not finding it you will die.
T.E. Lawrence: I will find it with this.
[showing the compass]
Sherif Ali: [Ali suddenly takes the compass with his stick] Good army compass. How if I take it?
T.E. Lawrence: Then you would be a thief.
Sherif Ali: Have you no fear, English?
T.E. Lawrence: My fear is my concern.
Sherif Ali: Truly.
[Ali gives back the compass to Lawrence]
Sherif Ali: God be with you English.
[And he rides away]
Sherif Ali: There is the railway. And that is the desert. From here until we reach the other side, no water but what we carry with us. For the camels, no water at all. If the camels die, we die. And in twenty days they will start to die.
T.E. Lawrence: There's no time to waste, then, is there?
T.E. Lawrence: My lord, I think... I think your book is right. 'The desert is an ocean in which no oar is dipped' and on this ocean the Bedu go where they please and strike where they please. This is the way the Bedu have always fought. You're famed throughout the world for fighting in this way and this is the way you should fight now!
General Allenby: [leafing through Lawrence's dossier] Undisciplined... unpunctual... untidy. Knowledge of music... knowledge of literature... knowledge of... knowledge of... you're an interesting man there's no doubt about it.
Auda abu Tayi: [as Lawrence sets out across the desert with Daoud and Faraj] You will cross Sinai?
T.E. Lawrence: Moses did!
Auda abu Tayi: And you will take the children?
T.E. Lawrence: Moses did!
See More Quotes from Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia Facts
Robert Bolt's original writing contract with Sam Spiegel was for three months as he was needed to work on another play. But due his immersion on material, he ended up working for 14 months on the script and totally forgot his work on the play.
Montgomery Clift coveted the role of Lawrence and actively lobbied for the part with David Lean. 'Sam Spiegel', however, had a low opinion of Clift after the latter's drinking problems surfaced on Suddenly, Last Summer and refused to consider his casting.
Costume designer Phyllis Dalton deliberately made Peter O'Toole's army outfit too small and ill-fitting to signify T.E. Lawrence's discomfort with the military uniform.
Gen. Murray (Donald Wolfit)'s line about the Arab revolt being "a sideshow of a sideshow" was actually spoken in real life by T.E. Lawrence himself, several years after the war.
José Ferrer was initially very unsatisfied about the small part he was offered. He only accepted on condition that he be paid $25,000 - more than Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif combined - plus a factory made Porsche. Ironically Ferrer once said about his tiny role that he considered it to be the finest acting of his career.
See More Facts about Lawrence of Arabia >>