He was immediately taken by the striking-looking young actor. The spot was miles kilometers away from the nearest water, and it had not been inhabited since a band of monks abandoned their monastery there in the seventh century A. Temperatures were so high in the summer sun that most thermometers couldn't even register them.
In fact, the thermometers had to be cooled down. After signing for the movie, Peter O'Toole was flown to New York City to meet the Columbia Pictures executives backing the movie, an experience he didn't care for.
One said to him, "When I look at you, I see six million dollars. Anthony Quinn applied his own make-up and would often arrive in real Arab clothes. At one point, Sir David Lean mistook him for a native on the studio lot, and he sent his assistant to tell Quinn that he had been replaced by this new arrival.
During the desert location shoot, after each rehearsal and take, Bedouins wearing sandals muffled in wool were charged with smoothing out the desert sands with palm fronds so that no extraneous footprints would be visible in the sand. This movie was largely based on T. Lawrence 's autobiography "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", which a revisionist biography by Richard Adlington claimed was highly exaggerated.
When he re-dubbed his dialogue for the restored version, Peter O'Toole made fun of his inexperience 27 years earlier, quipping, "Now I know how to read the lines. Wadi Rum, the valley in Jordan where some of the filming took place, is so bleak and barren that it is frequently used as a background for science fiction movies, especially those set on Mars.
After the tremendous success of The Bridge on the River Kwai , producer Sam Spiegel and director Sir David Lean were keen to work together on a similarly worthy topic. Initially the pair considered making a movie of the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi , but they soon gave up on that. At around 40 minutes When T. Lawrence and Colonel Brighton first sit with King Faisal in Faisal's tent, Brighton stretches out his legs while Lawrence keeps his folded meekly behind.
In Arab culture the blatant exposing of the soles of one's shoes is considered a gross insult, and Lawrence already something of a scholar on Araby would have certainly avoided the misstep. Brighton, on the other hand--an archetype here of the typical British officer in that theater of war--either doesn't know or doesn't care. Notice the attention to detail when T. He writes from right to left, as one would write in Arabic, and not left to right, as English and most other languages are written.
The first Spanish location was in Seville, where the company got to stay in hotels. The production took advantage of the city's Moorish architecture to re-create early twentieth century Damascus, Cairo, and Jerusalem, which had become too modernized for use in this movie.
Two thousand local extras turned out to film General Allenby's entry into Damascus in front of Seville's Archeological Museum. In , the Writers Guild decided that Michael Wilson had written enough material for this movie to merit a screen credit. Jackson Bentley was based on famed American journalist Lowell Thomas.
Thomas helped make T. Lawrence famous with accounts of his bravery. Thomas--a young man at the time--spent only a few days or weeks at most with Lawrence in the field. Whereas Bentley--depicted as a cynical middle-aged Chicago newspaperman--was present during the whole of Lawrence's later campaigns.
Thomas--who did not start reporting on Lawrence until after the end of World War I--held Lawrence in high regard, unlike the Bentley character, who seems to view Lawrence only as a story he can write about. Bentley had been the narrator in Michael Wilson 's original script, but Robert Bolt reduced his role significantly for the final script. The sand dunes there are vast and the second highest in Europe.
Despite the fictional elements, many people who watched this movie acknowledged the fact that the movie did correctly portray the honest intentions of T.
Lawrence in giving freedom to Arabs. The bank director, as it turned out, was Sherif Nasser's uncle. Spiegel ultimately got the price down by pulling a ploy his associates were familiar with. He claimed he had had a heart attack, which so threatened the production's future that the Bedouin lowered their price.
This movie depicts the seizing of the port of Aqaba by the Arabs as a stirring sneak-attack that caught the Turks unaware. Actually, most of the fighting for Aqaba involved the capture and loss and recapture of a small fort at Abu-al-Lasan, about 50 miles 80 kilometers well inland.
From there, T. Lawrence and Sheikh Auda marched unopposed into Aqaba a few days later after British warships shelled the port into submission. Restorer Robert A. Harris and editor Anne V. Coates went through rusted old film cans for the restoration. Lawrence and his Arabs are shown capturing Damascus, but the city had been captured by Australians units two days earlier.
While assisting screenwriter Robert Bolt with research, Anthony Nutting was working on his own biography of T. He became convinced that the war hero Lawrence had left something out of the final edition of "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" regarding his description of his capture and mistreatment by the Turkish police.
Nutting finally uncovered a rare edition of the manuscript and a letter to George Bernard Shaw 's wife both of which strongly suggested that the Turkish Bey had actually raped Lawrence, a fact only hinted at in the movie. Two miles of railroad track were laid for the train scenes. Sir David Lean had less than two months to prepare the movie for its premiere after completing second unit work.
As a result, the version shown at the premiere was a few minutes longer than he might have liked. He had hoped to go back and cut a few frames from some shots he thought ran too long. But after the premiere, distributor Columbia Pictures asked him to cut 20 minutes from it so that exhibitors could squeeze in an extra showing each day.
So instead of his original intent of trimming a few shots, he had to cut whole scenes. For a re-issue, another 15 minutes were cut from the film. Many critics have complained that this later version renders the action incoherent, particularly in the second half, which sustained the largest cuts. Sir David Lean thought that one of T. Lawrence 's key conflicts throughout the movie would be his inability to come to terms with his own homosexuality. Keeping this in mind, many moments in the movie can be read this way.
Lean also compared the relationship between Lawrence and Ali to the doomed heterosexual love affair in his movie romance Brief Encounter It took impeccable planning to prepare the railroad attack.
The filmmakers could only film the sequence once. After careful testing, they determined that it would take ten pounds of guncotton to cut the rails and another ten to send the train cars careening off the track.
To control the trains motion through the desert sand, they had to plant steel plates under the sand. The engineer set the locomotive at full throttle, then jumped off before the tracks exploded. Producer Sam Spiegel was once known as "S. He produced one of Orson Welles 's few commercial successes, The Stranger Sir David Lean , the director of this masterpiece, had been a well-respected director of moderate-budgeted English movies.
Perhaps no other independent producer has been associated with so many brilliant movie directors on so many diverse and original stories. Although women have no lines in the movie, they occasionally can be seen in the background of some scenes. Regarding Arabian women, tradition forbade Bedouin women from being photographed, so costume designer Phyllis Dalton had Christian women extras dress up in the flowing robes. In his autobiography and in a letter to George Bernard Shaw 's wife, there are indications that T.
Lawrence was forced to perform homosexual acts for the Turkish Governor of Deraa, something over which this movie skimmed. However, friends and enemies of the Governor alike vehemently dismissed T.
Lawrence's claims as fantasies and insisted the Governor was not a homosexual. Production was halted to move production to Spain, but filming did not resume for three months because screenwriter Robert Bolt had been jailed for participating in a nuclear disarmament demonstration. He was released only after producer Sam Spiegel persuaded him to sign an agreement of good behavior.
As the departure for location shooting neared, director Sir David Lean still didn't have a final script. He had decided he didn't care for Michael Wilson 's treatment, and he insisted that someone else be found to re-write it. At first, the playwright was asked to rewrite the dialogue: Bolt refused. Then producer Sam Spiegel offered a large fee for a complete re-write, but only if Bolt could finish it in seven weeks. Bolt tried reading several books about T. Lawrence but, finding them too contradictory, finally focused on Lawrence's own "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" as his primary source.
Peter O'Toole had rhinoplasty before filming began. Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif would often go drinking and gambling together in Beirut on their days off. While setting up there, the lighting crew accidentally smashed a centuries old statue. Fortunately, the authorities were appeased, and filming was allowed to continue.
Colonel Brighton is in essence a composite of all of the British officers who served in the Middle East with T. Lawrence , most notably Lieutenant Colonel S. Newcombe played much the same role as Brighton does in the movie, being Lawrence's predecessor as liaison to the Arab Revolt. He, and many of his men, were captured by the Turks in , but he later escaped. Also, like Brighton, Newcombe was not well liked by the Arabs, though he remained friends with Lawrence.
In Michael Wilson 's original script, he was "Colonel Newcombe". The character's name was changed by Robert Bolt. Brighton was apparently created to represent how ordinary British soldiers would feel about a man like Lawrence: impressed by his accomplishments, but repulsed by his affected manner.
Ronet was bought out of the movie for an amount four times greater than the amount Sharif was paid for actually performing the role.
In a dried riverbed in Spain, designers recreated the entire town of Aqaba, Jordan, circa Contemporary Aqaba had become too modernized to serve as a location.
The set consisted of separate building fronts and a quarter-mile-long sea wall. On a hillside behind that set, they built a half-mile square Turkish Army camp and parade ground overlooking the town. Here they filmed the Arab charge of camels and horses through the Turkish camp. When he first heard that the movie was going to be produced, Lowell Thomas on whom the Jackson Bentley character was based offered to give producer Sam Spiegel a large amount of background material that he had collected on T.
Lawrence and the Arab Revolt. The offer was rejected by Spiegel. According to Sir Alec Guinness , Sir David Lean exploded at Jack Hawkins for lightening the mood on-set by celebrating the end of a day's filming with an impromptu dance. Clift's alcoholism had made Clift unreliable to work with. Peter O'Toole lost 28 pounds making this movie. Property manager Eddie Fowlie coordinated the move to Spain on a large tramp steamer. The strangest part of the cargo was stuffed camels.
He had bought the skins from a slaughterhouse in Jordan and had them stuffed in case they were needed for battle scenes, which they were. This movie's American premiere was presented during a newspaper strike in New York City. The few critics who saw it gave overwhelmingly negative reviews, notably Bosley Crowther , who dismissed it as a "camel opera".
Still involved in the editing of his directing debut One-Eyed Jacks , Brando turned down the offer, saying he didn't want to take two years out of his life riding a camel in the desert. Ironically, Brando signed for the role of Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty , which ran way over budget and way over schedule. Whereas "Arabia" was a great success, "Bounty" was considered a flop and damaged Brando's career. As reports of his temperamental and disruptive behavior during that costly "Bounty" location shoot filtered out, Spiegel and Lean were relieved not to be working with him.
Still keen to work with Brando, Lean later offered him the role of Komarovsky in Doctor Zhivago and subsequently the schoolteacher married to the eponymous protagonist of Ryan's Daughter Brando did not respond to either offer. Rod Steiger --who played Brando's brother in "Waterfront"--played Komarovsky, while Robert Mitchum appeared as the schoolteacher in "Daughter".
The only studio set built for this movie was the set for the crypt in St. Paul's Cathedral, London--the location of T. Lawrence 's bronze memorial. He wanted the largest frame possible. After three months of shooting in the Seville area, the company moved again miles kilometers southeast to the port city of Almeria. The area comes closer to desert terrain than any other part of Europe. A special train carried the company overnight from Seville.
Another train carried the trailers in which they had lived in Jordan. A truck convoy brought the props, costumes, and technical equipment to Almeria. Michael Wilson worked on the screenplay for over a year, but he was summarily dismissed by Sir David Lean for unsatisfactory work.
Unfortunately, the cast and crew, already in Jordan, had to wait for a few weeks before a new writer was hired and a script was available. Jack Hawkins and Sir Alec Guinness shaved their heads for their roles. After six months filming in the desert, Peter O'Toole was allowed to return to Britain for a week's rest following injuries. Producer Sam Spiegel reprimanded him, "You're not supposed to get up to that kind of caper on a film like this. Incidentally, this movie was Sir Roger Moore 's favorite.
Peter O'Toole 's screen test was more modest than Albert Finney 's, taking only a day to shoot. He dyed his hair blond and shaved the beard that he was wearing in a Stratford, England, production of "The Merchant of Venice.
Halfway through the screen test, he stopped the cameras and said, "No use shooting another foot of film. The boy is Lawrence. Lawrence 's brother, Cambridge archaeologist A. Lawrence, saw the movie and said he didn't recognize his brother in it. Both composers turned down the chance to work on this movie. The Turkish Bey who captured T. The incident was mentioned in "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". Others Michael Asher, Lawrence James argue that contemporary evidence suggests that Lawrence never went to Deraa at this time and that the story is invented.
De Toth subsequently left the project. They had heard he was living in Savannah, Georgia and phoned every Kennedy in the Savannah phone book. Peter O'Toole had only one son , and he christened him "Lorcan". After deciding to cast an unknown actor in the role of T. It was unanimously agreed that the screen test was excellent, and Finney was offered the part of Lawrence.
However, Finney turned it down, as he did not want to be committed to the long-term contract that he would have been required to sign. When sandstorms periodically hit the set, Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif found that the safest place was under the make-up trailer.
Peter O'Toole feared he was having a nervous breakdown due to the harsh terrain and the pressure enforced on him by Sir David Lean. This movie features Omar Sharif 's only Oscar nominated performance. June Ranked 1 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Epic".
Upon being cast, Peter O'Toole immediately set out to research T. Lawrence , almost memorizing "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and interviewing anyone he could find who had known Lawrence. He had to move fast, as he was set to leave for the location shoot only five weeks after winning the role. When Henry Oscar , who was not a native Arabic speaker, was reciting from the Koran, an Imam was on hand to ensure it was not misquoted. This movie credits list Sir Adrian Boult as the conductor.
According to the liner notes on the Varese Sarabande VSD release of the original soundtrack, composer Maurice Jarre conducted every note of this recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Boult's name was still listed for contractual reasons, apparently because he was the chief conductor of the Philharmonic at that time.
Omar Sharif was originally cast to play T. Lawrence 's guide Tafas. Montgomery Clift coveted the role of T. Lawrence and actively lobbied for the part with director Sir David Lean. Producer Sam Spiegel , however, had a low opinion of Clift after the latter's drinking problems surfaced on Suddenly, Last Summer , and he refused to consider casting Clift. The motorcycle T. Lawrence was riding when he died was a Brough Superior.
He owned seven of them. In the early days of the production, when the Bentley character had a more prominent role in the movie, Kirk Douglas was considered for the part. His role was to act as a liaison officer between the British Government and the Arab tribes.
The British were attempting to rally the Arabs against the ruling Ottoman Empire. They hoped that an internal revolt could help break the deadlock in the war in the Middle East. Lawrence was not the only British officer engaged in this work, but he is undoubtedly the most famous.
His role required diplomatic as well as military skills, and he was able to build an effective relationship with Emir Feisal, a son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca and an important commander. Lawrence was able to exert enough influence to convince the Arab leaders, Feisal and Abdullah I, to support Britain.
During the resulting Arab Revolt, guerrilla attacks against the Ottoman Empire were co-ordinated with wider British strategy. Lawrence developed a particularly close relationship with Feisal.
His Arab Northern Army became the main beneficiary of British aid. This included speaking their language, staying with them, and adopting their dress. Lawrence was well suited to his liaison role. His pre-war experience meant that he understood the region and the language. He was able to motivate the Arab tribesmen and identified Feisal as the most successful leader in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. He stayed with Feisal for two years and helped him to lead the Arabs north from Hejaz to Syria.
Lawrence believed that this would be the foundation of an independent Arab state after the First World War. Aqaba fell to the Arabs on 6 July And at Tafileh in January , Lawrence and the Arabs turned a defensive battle into a rout of the Turkish forces.
Lawrence also organised the Hejaz Arabs to conduct guerrilla attacks. They targeted Turkish lines of communication, including telephone wires and the railway that led to Palestine - a crucial supply route. The Turks were forced to dedicate thousands of troops to protecting rear areas and prevented from concentrating against the main British advance in Palestine.
He was keen to share lessons and observations with them on how to best work with the Arab tribesmen. In June he founded a journal called the The Arab Bulletin so that experts could discuss the Arab Revolt and share information and ideas. But it was domestically amongst civilians that he would achieve enduring fame. Despite his efforts, Lawrence was unsuccessful in his mission to promote Arab self-determination.
He represented the Arabs with Feisal at the Paris peace conferences in , and lobbied again on their behalf at the Cairo conference in March Unfortunately, the British and French governments had already secretly resolved how they would carve up the Middle East between themselves in under the Sykes-Picot agreement.
In Winston Churchill chose Lawrence as his adviser. He resigned in to withdraw from public life. Lawrence published his major work Seven Pillars of Wisdom in This gave an embellished autobiographical account of the Arab Revolt.
In the actual film these various shots add up to a single sequence that has what appears to be hundreds of camels charging the camera. The producers hired a steam train for several days to shoot key sabotage scenes on actual Hejaz track still in existence today.
Pyrotechnic experts were flown in from London to quite literally "blow up" the railway. Exploding locomotive scenes in the film that lasted no more than minutes, even seconds, were the culmination of many weeks of careful planning and several days of safety assessment and laying of charges. The detonations were always tense. Director James Hawes remembers, "we were only going to get one hit at it - once those explosives blow there's going to be a lot of mess and its going to take a lot of time to set it up again".
Over the course of the filming the role of T. Lawrence was actually played by eight different individuals, from childhood to adulthood and for the stunt work.
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