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Lawrence of Arabia

Horizon Pictures

United Kingdom

العربية

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English

Peter O'Toole

Alec Guinness

Omar Sharif

Anthony Quinn

Jack Hawkins

José Ferrer

Anthony Quayle

Claude Rains

Arthur Kennedy

Donald Wolfit

I.S. Johar

Gamil Ratib

Michel Ray

John Dimech

Zia Mohyeddin

Howard Marion-Crawford

Jack Gwillim

Hugh Miller

John Barry

Bruce Beeby

Fred Bennett

John Bennett

Steve Birtles

Robert Bolt

Peter Burton

J.R.M. Chapman

Barbara Cole 

Basil Dignam

Peter Dukelow

Mohamed El Habachi

Kenneth Fortescue

Harry Fowler

James Hayter

Jack Hedley

Rafael Hernández

Noel Howlett

Patrick Kavanagh

David Lean

Ian MacNaughton

Clive Morton

Daniel Moynihan

Henry Oscar

George Plimpton

Bryan Pringle

Ernie Rice

Robert Rietti

John Robinson

Norman Rossington

John Ruddock

Fernando Sancho

Stuart Saunders

Cyril Shaps

Jack Sharp

George Spence

Roy Stevens

Graham Tonbridge

Barry Warren

Michael Wilson

Maurice Jarre

Maude Spector

Wally Veevers

Sam Spiegel

John Stoll

John Box

Dario Simoni

Phyllis Dalton

Freddie Young

Cliff Richardson

Anne V. Coates

George Richardson

Ernest Day

Winston Ryder

Tony Rimmington

Paddy Cunningham

Eddie Fowlie

Roy Rossotti

Terence Marsh

Nicolas Roeg

Anthony Masters

A. G. Scott

Norman Savage

Gerard Schurmann

Ken Buckle

Lawrence Ashmore

R.L.M. Davidson

Charles E. Parker

Douglas Twiddy

Ray Lovejoy

John Wilson-Apperson

Tadeo Villalba

Morris Stoloff

Bryan Coates

John Palmer

John Dowdell

Lee Turner

John Cox

Michael Stevenson

Pat Moon

Mike Fox

Kenneth J. Withers

Maureen Whitty

Noreen Hipwell

Peter McGinn

This is obviously an epic film, lasting nearly four hours with the wide, sweeping desert vistas and huge cast. It describes a fairly brief period of time out of a remarkable man’s life. I wonder how modern viewers handle the length of the movie, accustomed as they are to  movies this lengthy featuring superheroes with humor and almost constant action.

I don’t even remember how long ago I originally watched Lawrence of Arabia —quite possibly forty or more years ago. It has aged pretty well overall. The only negative thing that struck me when I recently re-watched it may well be due to my age. But it can be a talkative film at times, which is fine, but they sometimes talk fairly softly, and if such a scene transitions to music, I found the music to be so loud in comparison that it lifted me half of my chair. I had to have remote in hand to be ready to adjust the volume. A minor thing.

227 minutes of greatness!

I've always wanted to watch <em>'Lawrence of Arabia'</em> given its standing as being one of the greats, though that rather long run time always put it on my subconscious back-burner. At last, I rooted out some time for it and man it was a well spent near four hours! I'm not going to say its length is ignorable, though it truly doesn't feel like a 3hr 47min movie - so every credit to all involved.

Peter O'Toole's performance is undoubtedly outstanding, I can't really add anything more to what I'm sure many, many others have noted down the decades - he is, put simply, brilliant. Other strong performers are Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif and, albeit more minorly, Claude Rains. No-one on the cast puts a foot wrong, as expected.

The cinematography throughout is also absolutely exquisite, the entire look and feel of the film is just stunning. There is much more to say about this but I'll leave that to those that have already said such things. I'm just here to watch great movies and this 1962 picture is unequivocally one of those. Quite evidently a classic, no doubt about it.

CinemaSerf

This has got to be in my top ten movies - it is an almost flawless exercise in marrying fantastic photography, casting, writing, costumes and a score into three hours of wonderful entertainment. Rumour has it that Albert Finney was offered the lead role and suggested Peter O'Toole instead. If that is true (or not) then clearly serendipity was already on hand to guide this rendition of the story of TE Lawrence, who inspired and led an Arab uprising against the Ottoman empire. The iconic scene that introduces us to Omar Sharif as Lawrence heads to meet Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness) starts us on a journey mixing adventure, politics, superstition, ambition and cruelty. Anthony Quinn is superb as are, in lesser capacities, Claude Rains, José Ferrer and Jack Hawkins as his somewhat cynical, but opportunistic GOC. Arthur Kennedy helps take Lawrence's story to the world and through his eyes we see how his character is changed by all the violence around/instigated by him. Peter O'Toole conveys the emotional rollercoaster of a journey from naive, optimistic officer to war-weary veteran in a dazzling fashion. This is a true treat of a film.

Totally lives up to its reputation as a classic. A gripping story of a man that loses his soul that makes almost 4 hours seem like two, and with photography that hasn't aged whatsoever.

Fathom Events Trailer

Original Trailer

Denis Villeneuve on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA | TIFF 2021

Extended Preview

TCM Fathom Events Spot

Anne V.  Coates on how she got the job editing LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

Anne V.  Coates recalls how she received a higher salary after editing LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

"Lawrence of Arabia" winning a Film Editing Oscar®

UK Re-Release Trailer

"To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Lawrence of Arabia" winning Art Direction Oscars®

Ginger Rogers presents Music Oscars® to "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Music Man"

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Lawrence of Arabia

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Peter O'Toole

Alec Guinness

Omar Sharif

Anthony Quinn

Jack Hawkins

José Ferrer

Anthony Quayle

Claude Rains

Arthur Kennedy

Donald Wolfit

Box office

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