Prince Feisal: "But you know, Lieutenant, in the Arab city of Cordoba were two miles of public lighting in the streets when London was a village?"
Lawrence: "Yes, you were great."
Prince Feisal: "Nine centuries ago."
Lawrence: "Time to be great again, my lord."
Epic adventure film, released in 1962. Directed by
David Lean and written by
Robert Bolt and
Michael Wilson, based on
writings by
T. E. Lawrence himself. Cinematography was by
Freddie Young and art direction was by
John Stoll, with costume design by
Phyllis Dalton and original music by
Maurice Jarre. Starred
Peter O'Toole as
T. E. Lawrence,
Alec Guinness as
Prince Feisal,
Anthony Quinn as
Auda abu Tayi,
Jack Hawkins as
General Allenby,
Omar Sharif as
Sherif Ali Ibn El Kharish,
Anthony Quayle as
Colonel Harry Brighton, and
Claude Rains as
Mr. Dryden.
O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor, and Sharif for Best Supporting Actor. The film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.
Obviously, this is a
biopic of Lawrence, a
British army
lieutenant who helped lead an
Arab revolution. When you hear
film buffs talking about "
Epic Motion Pictures",
this is usually the film they're talking about. It's long and boring in some places, but the
cinematography -- in particular, every damn scene shot in the
desert -- is
breathtakingly
beautiful, and the scale and scope of the movie are
sweeping and
exciting. If you can't see this film in a
theater, at least make sure you rent the
widescreen video. I don't care if you don't like the black bars. God meant this movie to be seen in
widescreen, and
you shouldn't piss God off.
A few bits of
trivia for you: (1) This movie singlehandedly made
Peter O'Toole into a major
movie star; (2) Despite the three-hour-plus length and huge cast of characters, the film has no
women in
speaking roles; (3) While shooting on
location for the
famous scenes depicting the
sabotage of the
train, director Lean and his crew found some of the
wreckage from the trains that Lawrence himself had originally blown up.
Auda abu Tayi: "I carry twenty-three great wounds, all got in battle. Seventy-five men have I killed with my own hands in battle. I scatter, I burn my enemies' tents. I take away their flocks and herds. The Turks pay me a golden treasure, yet I am poor! Because I am a river to my people!"
Research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)