STACK #235 May 2024

MOVIE FEATURE

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Revisiting Lawrence of Arabia

Following the huge box office success of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - which garnered seven Academy Awards - producer Sam Spiegel was determined to work with director David Lean again as soon as possible. Words Bob J

Lawrence After Arabia A sequel titled Lawrence After Arabia was released in 1990, featuring Ralph Fiennes in the lead role, supported by Jim Carter, Alexander Siddig, and Denis Quilley. The film depicted T. E. Lawrence’s post-war experiences during the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920), where the fate of the territories of the defeated Ottoman Empire was determined. Despite receiving a lukewarm response, Fiennes’ performance garnered attention, most notably from Steven Spielberg, who has cited the original film as a personal favourite and subsequently cast Fiennes in Schindler’s List .

I t would be five years before the duo released their second movie together, which astonishingly won another seven Oscars, and became David Lean’s directorial masterpiece. But the historical character that the pair chose to spotlight in this film is surely one of the most complex and perplexing to ever appear on screen. Very few heroes arose out of the dreadful, bloody carnage of WWI. However, the post-war memoirs of a quiet, enigmatic British army officer - supported by the showmanship of a young American war correspondent and filmmaker - created the heroic legend of Thomas Edward Lawrence, known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia. This Oxford-trained

fragile Arab alliances together to effectively complement the British attacks on the Turks. He became a national hero.

refused to sign a seven-year contract with Columbia Pictures - which was an integral part of the deal - and therefore declined the offer, which bitterly disappointed the director. Some weeks later, during a visit to the cinema, Lean noticed a young actor in the British B-movie The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960). Of Irish and English descent, Peter O’Toole was contacted and asked to test for the lead role in Lean’s film - and was subsequently signed up. The final part to be cast was the key role of Sherif Ali, which was offered to the then-unknown Egyptian actor Omar Sharif - a decision that would make Sharif an international star. Location filming took place in Jordan, Morocco, Spain, and England throughout the whole of 1961. Lawrence of Arabia is a magnificent film that

Original poster art

Then - before the war ended - this very obscure and controversial British army officer fled back to England, and back into obscurity, until his tragic death in a motorcycle accident in 1935.

incredibly complex characterisation of a man whose inner and outer identity are in constant conflict. Lawrence was an idealist, a fatalist, even a messiah - and yet he was also a shameless exhibitionist, more than guilty of perpetuating any number of

Director David Lean with Peter O'Toole

archaeologist joined the army as a first lieutenant

With a script written by Robert Bolt, based on Lawrence’s book The Seven Pillars of

at the outbreak of the war, and due to his ability to speak Arabic, was

myths about himself and the war in the desert. While he accomplished great things in the Middle East during the war, he remained a man of mystery, even to the many people who knew him. This fact is highlighted in the original poster for the film, which depicts the character’s face blacked out in shadow.

Wisdom , casting for the lead role initially caused a disagreement

seems to improve with every viewing, mainly due to its elegantly structured script. But it’s the stunning performance from piercingly blue-eyed O’Toole as T. E. Lawrence that lingers with the viewer, as he manages to masterfully deliver an

seconded to the Arab Bureau of the British Foreign Office, who then sent him to the Middle East. Exceeding

between the producer and director. Spiegel favoured Marlon Brando, but the actor

The real Lawrence

his orders and displaying sheer audacity, brilliance, and courage, he became an inspirational warlord to the Bedouin, welding the

turned the role down. Lean, on the other hand, wanted the then-West End stage actor Albert Finney to play Lawrence. But Finney

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