Lawrence of Arabia

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
• Dolby Digital 2.0 - English
• Dolby Digital 2.0 - Spanish
• Dolby Digital 2.0 - French
• Dolby Digital 2.0 - Portuguese

Additional Release Material:

• Interview - Steven Spielberg
• Documentary - 1. THE MAKING OF LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
• Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailers

Text/Photo Galleries:

• Talent Files
• Advertising Materials

DVD-Rom Features:

• Archives of Arabia: Historic Phots
• Journey with Lawrence: Interactive Map of the Middle East

Major Awards:

Academy Awards - Best Art Direction - Set Decoration (Color) (1962)

Academy Awards - Best Film Editing (1962)

Academy Awards - Best Picture (1962)

Academy Awards - Best Sound (1962)

Academy Awards - Best Original Score (1962)

Academy Awards - Best Director (1962)

Academy Awards - Best Cinematography (1962)

Product Description:

David Lean's masterpiece, perhaps the greatest of screen epics, stars Peter O'Toole in one of the most electrifying debuts in film history. The film is less an ordinary adventure than an experience that leaves an overwhelming sense memory of the struggle between two powerful forces: the Arabian deserts, immense, intractable, ever-shifting, punishing; and T.E. Lawrence, humble as a monk, flamboyant as a rock star, protean, polymathic, heroic, enigmatic, mad. While working on the staff of British Intelligence in Cairo in 1916, Lawrence's fluency in Arabic earns him a post on a mission sent to establish contact with Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness), leader of the Arab revolt and ally of the British against the German-sponsored Turks in WWI. Impressed by Lawrence's knowledge of their culture, the prince allows the young officer to join his staff, and Lawrence quickly earns the Arabs' respect after he executes acts of extraordinary heroism. As the Englishman's genius for guerrilla warfare becomes evident, he assumes the role of de facto leader of the Arab revolt, uniting the heretofore warring tribes into a devastatingly effective weapon. But the chaos of war also unleashes the repressed officer's powerful need for self-abasement and mortification of the flesh. A visionary work that unfolds one indelible image after another, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA fuses the conflict of man against man, man against nature, and man against himself into a sublime poem of force. The film features a literate script by Robert Bolt and an outstanding cast, which also includes Claude Rains, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quinn, Jose Ferrer, and Omar Sharif in his unforgettable desert-crossing debut.

Plot Synopsis:

This classic film was based on the real-life exploits of legendary British scholar and soldier T.E. Lawrence. Stationed in Cairo in 1916, Lawrence languished in the mapmaking department of British Intelligence until he was asked to find and gather information on Prince Feisal, leader of the Arab Allied forces in World War I. His desert journey inspired his first military success when he led a small contingent of Arabs against the Turkish stronghold of Aqaba. Lawrence's military career flourished as he attempted to forge a new, united Arab nation out of squabbling tribes.

Plot Keywords:

Adventure | Africa | Big Battles | Biography | Character Study | Classic | Desert | Epic | Essential Cinema | Period Piece | Recommended | Theatrical Release | True Story | World War I

Production Notes:

• Theatrical release: November 1962 (England), after a premiere for Queen Elizabeth.
• Theatrical release: December 16, 1962 (USA).
• Filmed at Shepperton Studios in Middlesex, England, and on location in Jebel Tubeiq and Wadi Rhumm, Jordan; in Sevilla, Spain; Aqaba, Turkey; and in Morocco. The three-year project completed shooting in October 1962.
• Estimated budget: $13-15 million.
• LAWRENCE OF ARABIA was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1991.
• John Ford was originally slated to direct the film, with Alexander Korda attached as producer.
• Director David Lean died in 1991 shortly after he was awarded the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in March 1990.
• Academy Award nominations: 10, including Best Actor--Peter O'Toole, Best (Adapted) Screenplay. Academy Awards: 7, including Best Picture, Best Director.
• The restored version contains 35 minutes of previously cut footage.
• Producer Sam Spiegel reportedly wanted Marlon Brando for the role of T.E. Lawrence, but he was already occupied with MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY. Albert Finney was also offered the role but declined because he didn't "want to be a star." (American Film, March 1990)
• Director David Lean once described T.E. Lawrence as "a fascinating character. This Oxford don on camelback--I mean, it was absolutely nutty. Sort of intellectual, with a gang of Arabs on camels, you know." (American Film, March 1990)
  
  LAWRENCE OF ARABIA was named Best Film of 1963 by Italy's David Awards, Best Foreign Film of 1963 by Japan's Kinema Jumpo, and Best English Language Film of 1962 by the National Film Board.
• Lean received Italy's Silver Ribbon Award and Japan's Kinema Jumpo Award for Best Director of 1963. He was also named Best Director of 1962 by the National Film Board.
• Peter O'Toole received Italy's David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actor of 1963.
• Sources for the film included
  SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM by Thomas Edward Lawrence
  REVOLT IN THE DESERT by Lawrence
  THE ESSENTIAL T.E. LAWRENCE by Lawrence (with a preface by David Garnett)
  SECRET DISPATCHES FROM ARABIA by Lawrence
  CRUSADER CASTLES by Lawrence
  THE DIARY OF T.E. LAWRENCE by Lawrence
  LA BIBLIOTHEQUE IDEALE: T.E. LAWRENCE by Lawrence
  THE HOME LETTERS OF T.E. LAWRENCE AND HIS BROTHERS by Lawrence
  SELECTED LETTERS OF T.E. LAWRENCE by Lawrence (edited by Garnett)
  THE SELECTED LETTERS OF T.E. LAWRENCE by Lawrence (edited by Irving Howe)
  THE MINT by Lawrence
  WITH LAWRENCE IN ARABIA by Lowell Thomas
  LAWRENCE AND THE ARABS by Robert Graves
  Chapter 28 of GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Graves
  LAWRENCE OF ARABIA by Richard Aldington
  T.E. LAWRENCE IN ARABIA AND AFTER by Basil Liddell Hart
  HEROES OF THE EMPTY VIEW by James Aldridge
  THE DESERT AND THE STARS by Flora Armitage
  T.E. LAWRENCE: BY HIS FRIENDS (edited by A. W. Lawrence)
  LETTERS TO T.E. LAWRENCE (edited by A. W. Lawrence)
  LAWRENCE OF ARABIA by Anthony Nutting
  LAWRENCE OF ARABIA by Alistair MacLean
  LAWRENCE OF ARABIA by Robert Payne
  PRIVATE SHAW AND PUBLIC SHAW by Stanley Weintraub

Cast and Crew: