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Lawrence of Arabia (1962) More at IMDbPro »

• The original release included a sequence in which Lawrence, after his arrival at Faisal's camp and before the journey into the Nefud Dresert, voluntarily undergoes a risky test of courage. He and Ali (Omar Sharif) both jump into a quicksand pit, which begins to swallow them. The idea is that whoever calls for help last has the most courage. Lawrence wins the contest, thus proving himself more worthy in the eyes of the Bedouins, particularly Ali, with whom he has been on unfriendly terms up until now. This scene helps explain why the Bedouins would follow him into the desert. It was excised from the later versions and was not included in the 1988 restoration. Still photos exist of it, however.
  
  
• Originally released at 222 minutes. Shortly after premiere which took place in London in December 1962, 20 minutes were deleted from the film. The film was re-released in 1971 when a further 15 minutes were deleted. In 1989 the restored version was released at 216 minutes.
  
  
• There are (or were) three versions, the original release version, the cut version that replaced the original release several months into its initial run, and the current "restored" version. (The additional cuts in 1971 are not enumerated here.) Although the restored version is close to the original, there are several differences. The whole beginning was heavily cut in version 2. Cuts included the shot of goggles on the tree, Brighton's "remarkable man" line to the priest, early shots of the drafting room scene, the whole officer's mess sequence where he's called a clown and upsets water on someone, and some dialogue between the General and Dryden. All of these scenes are back in version 3, with one small exception. When Lawrence leaves his drafting table to see the general, the shot originally continued. One of his companions picks up the note that Lawrence left and says, "He has, too." "Has what?," says the other. "Gone to see the General." In version 3 you can still see the fellow reaching for the note at the end of the shot. Some dialogue between Lawrence and Feisal just before Lawrence starts across the desert was cut in version 2 and has been restored in version 3. In the original, when Abu Tai says, at the water hole, "Come and visit me," there was a direct cut to a long pan in his tent that starts with the face of a small girl. In version 2 there was, unaccountably, a new shot added, that tracks forward over the rocks of a cliff to reveal Tai's tent village below. This shot had music that was not in the original print, and was the only thing ADDED to the short version. The next shot was the same pan as the original, only shortened, starting after the face of the small girl. (The new shot adds nothing to the continuity and why it was added is a mystery.) In version 3, both the shot of the tent village from the cliff and the full tent pan with the girl's face are used. In addition, there several shots of Lawrence's men arriving at Tai's tent village that were not in version 1 or 2, which is the only apparent addition of new material in version 3. When Lawrence returns to Allenby just before the intermission, there were several bits of dialogue in version 1 that were cut for version 2; also a shot of Lawrence looking up at the soldiers on the balconies. All these have been restored in version 3. The last shot before the intermission was a long shot of Allenby, Dryden and Brighton walking along a circular terrace. This shot was greatly shortened for version 2, and the full shot was not been restored in version 3. Likewise, the the beginning of the first shot after the intermission was truncated in version 2 and has not been restored in version 3. Some brief dialogue in the scene with Bentley and Feisal was cut in version 2, and has been restored. In version 2, the whole sequence with Allenby and Brighton in a British-looking living room with a coal fire was removed completely. In the restored version this scene is back, but it still isn't complete. In version 1, there was some dialogue where Allenby says of Lawrence's reports, "These aren't lies, then, they're poetry," which isn't in version 3. In the scene where Allenby tries to get Lawrence to continue fighting, there was quite a bit of dialogue cut in version 2. In part, Allenby says, "I have a little rose garden. I'm a gardening sort of general... You write poetry?" Lawrence: "Yes, not very good." Allenby: "The last poetry general we had was Wellington." Lawrence: "Me and him." This is all missing in version 2. A little later on in the sequence, Allenby says, "That's a feeble thing to say. No wonder your poetry's bad." The last line about poetry was cut in version 2. None of the dialovue cuts in this sequence was restored in version 3. When Lawrence is held in the Turkish bey's quarters, Ali waits outside all night before Lawrence is finally tossed out on the ground. As Ali waits, dogs bark, dawn begins to show down the alley. These shots were cut in version 2. (The removal of hese shots was damaging because they had indicated that considerable time passed with Lawrence in the bey's quarters.) These shots have been restored in version 3, although possibly not in the identical length and order as version 1. There's a staff meeting in a tent, where two British senior officers tell of their maneuvers, with a map. This was either severely shortened or eliminated altogether in version 2. These scenes have all been restored. However, apparently the officers voices have been dubbed, so apparently the sound track was lost.
  
  
• The original 2-disc Limited Edition and later 1-disc editions featured incorrect color timing and numerous sound mix glitches. The "SuperBit" edition released in 2003 features different (and correct) color timing, much less digital artifacting, more image on the bottom portion, the fixed soundtrack, and a re-created opening title sequence due to the original optical being overly blurry. Ironically, Robert Harris, who helmed this SuperBit Edition remaster, is credited as "Robert Harns".
  
  
• The 1983 Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED), also commonly known RCA Selectavision Videodisc contains the 1971 re-release version which was rated "G" by the MPAA.
  
  
• In accordance with a 1995 decision by the Writers Guild of America to give Michael Wilson a co-writing credit (based on documentary evidence that he had been a major contributor to the script), newer copies such as the DVD and the prints made for the 40th anniversary re-release feature the altered credit: "Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson" (previously, only Bolt's name was listed).
  
  

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