Lawrence of Arabia (1962) on Netflix
PG19623h 48mAdventureBiographyDrama
In 1916, British intelligence officer T.E. Lawrence is sent to see how the Arab revolt is faring against the Turks. He proposes that Prince Feisal march on Aqaba. Sherif Ali objects.
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- IMDb8.3/10346,288 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes93%
Trailer
Plot summary
T.E. Lawrence is a lieutenant in the British Army in Cairo, a misfit among the officers around him, known for his nerve and his learning. Mr. Dryden, who works for the Arab Bureau, sends him to the Hejaz, where Colonel Harry Brighton advises Prince Feisal. Britain will give the Arabs guns but keeps back artillery, the weapon that would make Feisal independent. Lawrence knows the Quran well and speaks plainly about what Britain wants in Arabia. He argues for a desert march on Aqaba, and Ali warns that the Nefud Desert shields the town, while the Howeitat leader Auda Abu Tayi enforces Turkish rule there. Feisal gives Lawrence fifty men, and Lawrence takes on two teenage orphans, Daud and Farraj, as attendants.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- During the filming of the Aqaba scene, O'Toole was nearly killed when he fell from his camel, but it stood over him and stopped the extras' horses trampling him; a very similar mishap befell the real Lawrence at the Battle of Abu El Lissal in 1917.
- José Ferrer was dissatisfied with the small size of his part as the Turkish Bey and accepted the role only on condition of being paid $25,000, more than O'Toole and Sharif combined, plus a Porsche.
- Quinn spent hours applying his own makeup, using a photograph of the real Auda to look as much like him as he could; Lean mistook him for a local on his first day in full costume and asked an assistant to tell Quinn he was being replaced.
- Guinness was made up to look as much like the real Faisal as possible, and recorded in his diaries that while shooting in Jordan he met several people who had known Faisal and who mistook him for the late prince.
- Jordan banned the film for what was felt to be a disrespectful portrayal of Arab culture, while Egypt was the only Arab nation to give it a wide release, where it succeeded through the endorsement of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
- Kirk Douglas was considered for Jackson Bentley but demanded a star salary and the highest billing after O'Toole, so Spiegel turned him down; Edmond O'Brien then took the part, suffered a heart attack on location and was replaced by Arthur Kennedy.
- Albert Finney, a virtual unknown at the time, was Lean's first choice to play Lawrence and came through a successful screen test, but turned the part down because he did not want to sign a long-term contract with producer Sam Spiegel.
- Grover Crisp, executive VP of restoration at Sony Pictures, said the 8K scan showed fine concentric lines "reminiscent of a fingerprint" near the top of the frame, caused by the film emulsion melting and cracking in the desert heat during production.
