Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) remains one of the most epic, literate, and beautiful films ever made. It brought instant stardom for actors Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif; O'Toole in particular drew praise for his skillful depiction of Lawrence, a complex, unheroic hero, beset by inner demons and motivated by a heady mixture of noble purpose, self-aggrandizement, compassion, brutality, and a large dollop of abnormal psychology.
The film is based on the exploits of British scholar and military officer Thomas Edward Lawrence. Born in North Wales in 1888 and educated at Oxford, Lawrence took a walking tour of Syria and Palestine to gather material for a thesis. His living among the Arabs and learning their language, dialects, and customs would proveinvaluable to the British Intelligence Service with the outbreak of World War I.
Peter O'Toole in a scene from the film Lawrence of Arabia.The Turks, who were allied with Germany, ruled most of the Middle East with such brutality that the Arabs revolted, and the British sided with the Arabs. Lawrence knew that Britain and France had plans to divide Arabia between them when the war was over, but he felt if he could help the Arabs unite and defeat the Turks, the British would be unable to overlook the Arabs' moral claim to freedom. Lawrence joined forces with Auda abu Tayi, leader of the Howeitat tribe, and together they captured Aqaba without firing a shot, raided Turkish positions, and blew up sections of the Hejaz Railway, vital to the Turks. The Arabs pronounced his name "El Aurens," as if he were already a prince, and he finally succeeded in leading the Arab army, under Prince Feisal, into Damascus.
American journalist Lowell Thomas and his cameraman caught many images of Lawrence in the desert, then toured the world with his illustrated lecture series, making Lawrence an international legend. After the war, Lawrence remained an adviser on Arab affairs until, in 1922, he enlisted in the Royal Air Force as a private under an assumed name. In 1926 he published The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a complex and highly regarded blend of history, autobiography, philospohy, and mythmaking. He was killed in 1935 when the motorcycle he was riding struck a tree.
After the success of The Bridge on the River Kwai, producer Sam Spiegel approached director David Lean with the idea of making a film about Lawrence. After months of researching Lawrence's life, Lean agreed the story could make a fascinating film, provided a good script could be written. The first screenwriter proved unsatisfactory, and when Spiegel happened to attend the new hit play A Man for All Seasons, a historical play about Sir Thomas More and Henry VIII written by Robert Bolt, he hired Bolt for the job. Albert Finney and Marlon Brando were considered for the lead role, but the relatively unknown Peter O'Toole landed the part, and the film was shot in 1961 and 1962 in Jordan, Almeria, Morocco, and England. T. E. Lawrence's brother Arnold Walter Lawrence, who became T. E.'s literary executor upon his death and had permitted Spiegel to make the movie based on Seven Pillars of Wisdom, attended a rough-cut in September 1962. When the film ended, A. W. stood up and shouted at Spiegel, "I should never have trusted you!" He then stormed out of the theater.
In O'Toole's first scene in the film, Lawrence does a trick putting a match out between his fingers. When another soldier tries the same trick, he winces, "Ow! It damn well hurts!" "Certainly it hurts," Lawrence replies. "Well, what's the trick then?" the soldier asks. "The trick," Lawrence answers, "is not minding that it hurts." When Lawrence says he thinks the burning desert is going to be fun, an officer suggests that he has "a funny sense of fun," and there aresuggestions that Lawrence enjoys the extreme tests of endurance that the desert provides. Later, to keep peace among the Arab tribes before entering Aqaba, Lawrence is forced to shoot one of them, then later confesses, "I enjoyed it." And before Damascus, Lawrence exhibits maniacal glee as he joins in the slaughter of a column of Turks, shouting, "No prisoners!" and shooting point-blank one Turk with his hands up in surrender. It is easy to see why Lawrence's brother was so incensed but, as later revealed, A. W. may have been angered by the fact that the film was uncomfortably close to the truth.
In a 1986 interview, A. W. finally revealed the terrible family secret buried for so long—T. E. hated the thought of sex and, after immersing himself in medieval literature about characters who quelled sexual longings by enduring beatings, T. E. opted to do the same. A former Tank Corps private admitted to ritually flogging Lawrence, at his request, from 1925 to 1934. A number of historians have hinted at Lawrence's possible homosexuality, and a number of film historians have called the film's homosexual overtones blatant.
Although all of this makes Lawrence of Arabia a far cry from Rambo, it makes for a more thought-provoking epic—heroic exploits may not always stem from the most heroic of motives—filled with great dialogue, great performances, gorgeous cinematography, and a sense of history. The title character's humanness and faults makes the film easier to identify with. Lawrence of Arabia won seven Academy Awards, including best film, actor, director, cinematography (Freddie Young), and musical score (Maurice Jarre).
Further Reading:
Brownlow, Kevin. David Lean. London, Richard Cohen Books, 1996.
Castelli, Louis P., and Caryn Lynn Cleeland. David Lean: A Guide to References and Resources. Boston, G. K. Hall & Co., 1980.
Silverman, Stephen M. David Lean. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1989.
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