..::.. DESERT EPIC ..::.. a fanlisting for David Lean's epic Lawrence of Arabia

movie information

Awards: "Lawrence of Arabia" won Oscars for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Music (Original Score), Best Cinematography (color), Best Art Direction (color), Best Sound, and Best Editing. The screenplay, Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif were also nominated but the actors lost out that year to Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Ed Begley in "Sweet Bird of Youth". The screenplay, however, along with Peter O'Toole and the film itself, were honored by the British Film Academy at the presentation of its awards.

The real T.E. Lawrence was actually riding from the Bovington Army Camp to his cottage in Cloud Hill when his tragic accident occurred. The scenes where Lawrence was tortured and assaulted by the Turks was actually from the book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," the supplementary material of "Revolt in The Desert." Due to the humiliation which he suffered, Lawrence refused to publish "The Seven Pillars," his life's work, but did publish it exclusively for 120 people only. The 120 people who read the book were delighted with it, and the book was published sometime after Lawrence died.

The character of Jackson Bentley is based on the real-life journalist and travel expert Lowell Thomas, whose writings first brought Lawrence to public attention.

Director David Lean originally wanted Albert Finney for the title role. Katharine Hepburn urged producer Sam Spiegel to cast Peter O'Toole instead.

The role of Sherif Ali was originally intended for Horst Buchholz but he was forced to turn it down owing to his commitment to Billy Wilder's movie "One, Two, Three". Second choice Alain Delon tested successfully but suffered problems with the brown contact lenses required for the role. Maurice Ronet was then cast but was replaced after difficulties with his French accent and his Arab dress (Lean complained "He looked like me walking around in drag").

Marlon Brando was signed for the role of Lawrence in 1960 but dropped out to take the role of Fletcher Christian in "Mutiny on the Bounty." After that, 'Anthony Perkins' was also briefly considered.

Alec Guinness had a life-long interest in T.E. Lawrence, and had played him in a production of Terence Rattigan's play "Ross" on stage. Guinness wanted very much to play Lawrence, but David Lean and Sam Spiegel both told him he was too old. Laurence Olivier was the original choice for Prince Feisal, and Guinness was shifted to that role when Olivier turned it down.

Cary Grant was Sam Spiegel's first choice for General Allenby, but David Lean convinced him to cast Jack Hawkins due to his work for them on "The Bridge on the River Kwai".

While filming, Peter O'Toole referred to co-star Omar Sharif as "Fred," stating that "no one in the world is called Omar Sharif. Your name must be Fred."

Almost all movement in the film goes from left to right. David Lean said he did this to emphasize that the film was a journey.

To film Omar Sharif's entrance through a mirage, Freddie Young used a special 482mm lens from Panavision. Panavision still has this lens, and it is known among cinematographers as the "David Lean lens".

David Lean never saw any dailies while filming. He only missed one day of work, though the production endured many illnesses.

During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in the 1970s, Peter O'Toole was describing just how long the movie took to make by referring to the scene when Lawrence and Gen. Allenby, after their meeting, continue talking while walking down a staircase. According to O'Toole, part of the scene had to be reshot much later, "so in the final print, when I get to the bottom of the stairs, I'm a year older than I was when I started walking down them."

The movie was shot partly on location in Jordan, where temperatures often soared beyond thermometer readings. The actual city of Aqaba had become so modern that using it was impossible, so a duplicate was built along the sea at Seville in Spain - where Damascus, Cairo, and Jerusalem were also constructed. The slaughter of the Turks was filmed in Morocco.

Peter O'Toole finally mastered his camel-riding technique by adding a layer of sponge rubber under the saddle to ease his bruised backside...a practical innovation quickly adopted by the actual Bedouin tribesmen acting as extras during the desert location filming.

King Hussein of Jordan lent an entire brigade of his Arab Legion as extras for the film, so most of the "soldiers" are played by real soldiers. Hussein frequently visited the sets and became enamored of a young British secretary, Antoinette Gardiner, who became his second wife in 1962. Their oldest son, Abdullah II, became King of Jordan in 1999.

Toni Gardiner was a switchboard operator for the production unit. During the movie's production, she was courted by, and then married, King Hussein of Jordan, and went on to become the mother of King Abdullah of Jordan. Thus, the production of "Lawrence of Arabia" in Jordan, where T.E. Lawrence actually "worked", affected the post-1962 history of Jordan.

Peter O'Toole is considerably taller and better looking than the real Lawrence (6'3" to Lawrence's real life height of 5'6"). Noel Coward is rumored to have said, on seeing the premiere, "If he'd been any prettier, they'd have had to call it Florence of Arabia."

Gen. Murray'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.

The 35mm master interpositive produced by Technicolor in 1966 had reel 2A flipped so that left and right became reversed on screen in all prints, including initial video releases. During the Harris restoration, David Lean himself pointed out this error and it was corrected.

For the 1989 reconstruction and restoration, many scenes of dialog were missing. As a result Peter O'Toole and a number of living principals returned and re-recorded dialog from more than 20 years previously. For principals who had died in the intervening years sound alike actors were employed (for instance for Jack Hawkins).