An inordinately complex man who has been labeled everything from hero, to charlatan, to sadist, Thomas Edward Lawrence blazed his way to glory in the Arabian desert, then sought anonymity as a common soldier under an assumed name.

The story opens with the death of Lawrence in a motorcycle accident in London at the age of 47, then flashbacks to recount his adventures: as a young intelligence officer in Cairo in 1916, he is given leave to investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks in World War I.

In the desert, he organizes a guerrilla army and--for two years--leads the Arabs in harassing the Turks with desert raids, train-wrecking and camel attacks.

Eventually, he leads his army northward and helps a British General destroy the power of the Ottoman Empire.

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Won 7 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 12 nominations. Often called "The Best Film Ever Made".

The cinematography is acknowledged as being some of the the best in any film ever. When Mr Lean wanted to capture a sun rise, he stood in the dark (in a REAL desert) and waited for the sun to REALLY rise (No computerized nonsense in this film).

This is a movie that can evoke such passion in its admirers and stands by itself, beyond reviews or criticism. If you haven't seen it yet I envy you, because you get to experience it for the first time.

In my opinion its one of the best films ever made and certainly the best film I've seen based on real events.

* Director David Lean originally wanted Albert Finney for the title role. Katharine Hepburn urged producer Sam Spiegel to cast 'Peter O'Toole (I)' instead.

* The role of Sherif Ali was originally intended for Horst Buchholz but he was forced to turn it down owing to his commitment to Billy Wilder's movie One, Two, Three (1961). Second choice Alain Delon tested successfully but suffered problems with the brown contact lenses required for the role. Maurice Ronet was then cast but was replaced after difficulties with his French accent and his Arab dress (Lean complained "He looked like me walking around in drag").

* After deciding to cast an unknown actor in the role of Lawrence, David Lean arranged a screen test for Albert Finney shortly before the release of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), which made Finney a star. The extensive screen test involved costumes, sets and included actors Ferdy Mayne and Laurence Payne, and was shot over four days at a cost of £100,000. In addition to Lean, the test was attended by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, assistant director Gerry O'Hara, editor Anne V. Coates, producer Sam Spiegel and Anthony Nutting, an expert on Arabian history. It was unanimously agreed that the screen test was excellent, and Finney was offered the part of Lawrence but turned it down, as he did not want to be committed to the long-term contract he would have been required to sign.

* Although 227 minutes long, this film has no women in speaking roles.

* Marlon Brando was signed for the role of Lawrence in 1960 but dropped out to take the role of Fletcher Christian in "Mutiny on the Bounty." After that, Anthony Perkins was also briefly considered.

* The train wreck sequences were filmed in Spain.

* Almost all movement in the film goes from left to right. David Lean said he did this to emphasize that the film was a journey.

* The real T.E. Lawrence was actually riding from the Bovington Army Camp to his cottage in Cloud Hill when his tragic accident occurred. The scenes where Lawrence was tortured and assaulted by the Turks was actually from the book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," the supplementary material of "Revolt in The Desert." Due to the humiliation which he suffered, Lawrence refused to publish "The Seven Pillars," his life's work, but did publish it exclusively for 120 people only. The 120 people who read the book were delighted with it, and the book was published sometime after Lawrence died.

* While filming, Peter O'Toole referred to co-star Omar Sharif as "Fred," stating that "no one in the world is called Omar Sharif. Your name must be Fred."

* T.E. Lawrence declined invitations to film his writings as early as 1926, when Rex Ingram suggested the idea. Later, Alexander Korda tried to launch a version starring Leslie Howard, written by John Monk Saunders and directed by Lewis Milestone. Over the years, such stars as Robert Donat, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant, Burgess Meredith, and Alan Ladd were all promoted as leads. Screenwriter Michael Wilson finally convinced Lawrence's brother to sell the film rights to Sam Spiegel by submitting his screenplay for approval in 1960.

* David Lean never saw any dailies while filming. He only missed one day of work, though the production endured many illnesses.

* Many parts of the movie were true to fact and some of the actors actually looked like the real people they portrayed.

* Production was halted to move to Spain, but filming did not resume for three months because writer Robert Bolt had been jailed for participating in a nuclear disarmament demonstration. He was released only after Sam Spiegel persuaded him to sign an agreement of good behavior.

* The film credits list Sir Adrian Boult as the conductor. According to the liner notes on the Varese Sarabande (VSD 5263) release of the original soundtrack, composer Maurice Jarre actually conducted every note of this recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir Adrian's name was listed for contractual reasons, apparently because he was the chief conductor of the orchestra at that time.

* To film Omar Sharif's entrance through a mirage, Freddie Young used a special 482mm lens from Panavision. Panavision still has this lens, and it is known among cinematographers as the "David Lean lens".

* The 35mm master interpositive produced by Technicolor in 1966 had reel 2A flipped so that left and right became reversed on screen in all prints, including initial video releases. During the Harris restoration, David Lean himself pointed out this error and it was corrected.

* Charles Gray re-voiced some of the vocal performance of Jack Hawkins for the 1989 restored edition

* Gamil Ratib was dubbed by 'Robert Rietty' .

* Was voted the 18th Greatest Film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

* The character of Jackson Bentley is based on the real-life journalist and travel expert Lowell Thomas, whose writings first brought Lawrence to public attention.

* During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962) in the 1970s, Peter O'Toole was describing just how long the movie took to make by referring to the scene when Lawrence and Gen. Allenby, after their meeting, continue talking while walking down a staircase. According to O'Toole, part of the scene had to be reshot much later, "so in the final print, when I get to the bottom of the stairs, I'm a year older than I was when I started walking down them."

* Arthur Kennedy was an 11th-hour casting choice, replacing Edmond O'Brien who had become ill and had dropped out after rehearsals.

* Dilip Kumar was offered the role of Sherif Ali but declined.

* Peter O'Toole finally mastered his camel-riding technique by adding a layer of sponge rubber under the saddle to ease his bruised backside...a practical innovation quickly adopted by the actual Bedouin tribesmen acting as extras during the desert location filming.

* Peter O'Toole claims he never viewed the completed film until nearly two decades after its original release, by which time he was highly impressed.

* Peter O'Toole is considerably taller and better looking than the real Lawrence (6'3" to Lawrence's real life height of 5'6"). Noel Coward is rumored to have said, on seeing the premiere, "If he'd been any prettier, they'd have had to call it Florence of Arabia."

* Gen. Murray (Donald Wolfit)'s line about the Arab revolt being "a sideshow of a sideshow" was actually spoken in real life by T.E. Lawrence himself, several years after the war.

* Anthony Quayle thought the character of Colonel Brighton was an idiot but David Lean told him Brighton was the only honorable character in the film.

* Peter O'Toole's performance as T.E. Lawrence is the #1 ranked performance of all time in Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

* Alec Guinness had a life-long interest in T.E. Lawrence, and had played him in a production of Terence Rattigan's play "Ross" on stage. Guinness wanted very much to play Lawrence, but David Lean and Sam Spiegel both told him he was too old. Laurence Olivier was the original choice for Prince Feisal, and Guinness was shifted to that role when Olivier turned it down.

* Cary Grant was Sam Spiegel's first choice for General Allenby, but David Lean convinced him to cast Jack Hawkins due to his work for them on ' The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)'

* King Hussein of Jordan lent an entire brigade of his Arab Legion as extras for the film, so most of the "soldiers" are played by real soldiers. Hussein frequently visited the sets and became enamored of a young British secretary, Antoinette Gardiner, who became his second wife in 1962. Their oldest son, Abdullah II, became King of Jordan in 1999.

* Toni Gardiner was a switchboard operator for the production unit. During the movie's production, she was courted by, and then married, King Hussein of Jordan, and went on to become the mother of King Abdullah of Jordan. Thus, the production of "Lawrence of Arabia" in Jordan, where T.E. Lawrence actually "worked", affected the post-1962 history of Jordan.

* In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #7 Greatest Movie of All Time.

* For the 1989 reconstruction and restoration, many scenes of dialog were missing. As a result Peter O'Toole and a number of living principals returned and re-recorded dialog from more than 20 years previously. For principals who had died in the intervening years sound alike actors were employed (for instance for Jack Hawkins).

* 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 on Lawrence and the Arab Revolt that he had collected, but was rejected by Spiegel.

* The motorcycle T.E. Lawrence was riding when he was killed is a Brough Superior. He owned seven of them.

Peter O'Toole ... T.E. Lawrence
Alec Guinness ... Prince Feisal
Anthony Quinn ... Auda abu Tayi
Jack Hawkins ... General Lord Edmund Allenby
Omar Sharif ... Sherif Ali
José Ferrer ... Turkish Bey (as Jose Ferrer)
Anthony Quayle ... Colonel Brighton
Claude Rains ... Mr. Dryden
Arthur Kennedy ... Jackson Bentley
Donald Wolfit ... General Sir Archibald Murray

XVid / MP3

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172/