Trivia for
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) More at IMDbPro »

• 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. It is reportedly the longest film not to have any dialog spoken by a woman.
  
  
• 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 (1962). 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.
  
  
• 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". It was created specifically for this shot and has not been used since.
  
  
• 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 King of Jordan', ascended to throne in 1999.
  
  
• In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #7 Greatest Movie of All Time.
  
  
• [June 2008] Ranked #1 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Epic".
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• In an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992), Peter O'Toole confessed quite proudly that, out of fear of falling off during a big camel riding scene, he and Omar Sharif decided to get absolutely hammered and then tied themselves down on the camels before shooting. By his own admission, he was so drunk he had no idea where he was or what he was doing for the entire scene (attack on Akaba).
  
  
• Peter O'Toole was nearly killed during the first take of the Aqaba scene. A gun (used to signal the beginning of the scene) went off prematurely, and O'Toole's camel panicked, throwing him to the ground, while the extras on horseback began charging. Fortunately for O'Toole, his camel stayed still and stood over O'Toole, saving him from being trampled.
  
  
• Director David Lean originally wanted Albert Finney for the title role. Katharine Hepburn urged producer Sam Spiegel to cast Peter O'Toole instead.
  
  
• Maurice Ronet was replaced by Sharif in the part of Ali once filming commenced. Ronet was bought out of the film for four times the amount that Sharif was paid for his performance.
  
  
• In his autobiography and in a letter to George Bernard Shaw's wife, there are indications that T.E. Lawrence was forced to perform homosexual acts for the Turkish governor of Deraa, something which this film skimmed over. However, both friends and enemies of the governor alike vehemently dismissed Lawrence's claims as fantasies and insisted the governor was not a homosexual.
  
  
• The film was largely based on Lawrence's autobiography "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," which a 1955 revisionist biography by Richard Adlington claimed was highly exaggerated.
  
  
• T.E. Lawrence's brother, Cambridge archaeologist A.W. Lawrence, saw the film and said he didn't recognize his brother in it.
  
  
• Arthur Kennedy replaced Edmond O'Brien in the role of Jackson Bentley, the photo-journalist character based on Lowell Thomas, after O'Brien had a heart-attack on location after filming some scenes. In the early days of the production, when the Bentley character had a more prominent role in the film, Kirk Douglas was considered for the part. However, Douglas wanted a star salary and second billing after Peter O'Toole. Douglas' demands were rejected by producer Sam Spiegel and the Oscar-winner O'Brien was cast in the part. O'Brien filmed the Jerusalem scene, and supposedly Jackson's political discussion with Omar Sharif's character Ali before being felled by his heart attack. He was replaced on short notice by Kennedy, who was recommended to director David Lean by Anthony Quinn. Kennedy had replaced Quinn as King Henry II on Broadway in the play Becket (1964). (Ironically, when "Becket" was made into a film, it was Peter O'Toole who was cast as Henry.)
  
  
• Elaborate screen tests with Albert Finney as Lawrence were shot at a cost of 100,000 pounds. Finney later balked at producer Sam Spiegel's demand that he sign a seven-year contract if he accepted the role, and dropped out, replaced by Peter O'Toole, already under contract to Speigel.
  
  
• Sam Spiegel, the producer of this film, was once known as S.P. Eagle. He had an amazing talent for finding unusual material and hiring exactly the perfect director to execute it. He produced one of Orson Welles's few commercial successes The Stranger (1946). David Lean, the director of this masterpiece, was a well-respected director of moderate-budgeted English films when Spiegel brought him to international prominence with Lean's direction of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). He also worked with John Huston, first on We Were Strangers (1949) and most notably on The African Queen (1951). Finally he found the funding from Harry Cohn at Columbia for Elia Kazan's controversial On the Waterfront (1954). Perhaps no other independent producer has been associated with so many brilliant film directors on so many diverse and original stories.
  
  
• When film conservationists Robert A. Harris and Jim Painten got permission form Columbia to restore David Lean's film, four tons of extraneous footage was delivered to their door. It took them nearly a year to get through all the material.
  
  
• The film spent 2 years in pre-production before 14 months of shooting in locations like Jordan, Spain and Morocco.
  
  
• The film took longer to make than it did for the real Lawrence to go from lieutenant to colonel, to see the desert tribes united and tip the balance in the Allies' favor against the Turks in World War I.
  
  
• Albert Finney's screen tests in Arab costume as Lawrence are the most requested viewing item in Britain's National Film Archive.
  
  
• David Lean happened to catch a B-movie called The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960) which featured a young Peter O'Toole. He was immediately taken by the striking looking young actor.
  
  
• Producer Sam Spiegel was initially opposed to the casting of Peter O'Toole. He had already worked with the actor when he was understudy for Montgomery Clift on Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) as Clift's alcoholism had made him unreliable to work with.
  
  
• Original choice to play Faisal was Laurence Olivier.
  
  
• Alec Guinness was made up to look like the real Faisal as close as possible. When they were shooting in Jordan, several people who knew the man mistook him for the real thing.
  
  
• Anthony Quinn applied his own make-up and would often arrive in real Arab clothes. At one point, David Lean mistook him for a native on the studio lot and so he sent his assistant to tell Quinn that he had replaced by this new arrival.
  
  
• Jack Hawkins shaved his head to play General Allenby.
  
  
• Omar Sharif was originally cast to play Lawrence's guide Tafas.
  
  
• José Ferrer was initially very unsatisfied about the small part he was offered. He only accepted on condition that he be paid $25,000 - more than Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif combined - plus a factory made Porsche. Ironically Ferrer once said about his tiny role that he considered it to be the finest acting of his career.
  
  
• Jack Hawkins was originally set to take on the part of Colonel Harry Brighton. When he was shifted over to play Allenby, Anthony Quayle got the part of Brighton. Arthur Kennedy was cast as Edmond O'Brien's replacement largely at the suggestion of Anthony Quinn.
  
  
• Arthur Kennedy was cast as Edmond O'Brien's replacement largely at the suggestion of Anthony Quinn.
  
  
• There are no women speaking in the film.
  
  
• The Allenby family lodged a formal complaint against Columbia about the portrayal of their ancestor. The descendants of Auda abu Tayi and the real Sharif went even further and actively sued the studio. The case dragged on for 10 years before being dropped.
  
  
• Michael Wilson wrote the first draft screenplay. However, David Lean wasn't happy with the result so he hired Robert Bolt to rewrite it.
  
  
• David Lean watched John Ford's _The Searchers_ time after time for inspiration.
  
  
• David Lean hoped to film in the real Aqaba and the archaelogical site at Petra. Much to his regret, however, the production had to be moved to Spain because of cost overruns and outbreaks of illness among the cast and crew before these scenes could be shot.
  
  
• The town of Aqaba was recreated in a dried river bed in southern Spain, consisting of over 300 buildings.
  
  
• David Lean personally supervised the first cuts that brought the film down to 3 hours as he wanted it to enjoy more showings per day. During the 1989 restoration, he would later pass blame for the cuts onto the then deceased Sam Spiegel. This is Steven Spielberg's all-time favorite film. An urban myth stated that Lawrence's watch switches from his left wrist to the right in the film. Restorer Robert A. Harris actually found this to be true, but only because the second reel of film had been spliced in reverse. Restorer Robert Harris and editor Anne V. Coates went through 450 rusted old film cans for the 1989 restoration.
  
  
• This is Steven Spielberg's all-time favorite film.
  
  
• An urban myth stated that Lawrence's watch switches from his left wrist to the right in the film. Restorer Robert A. Harris actually found this to be true, but only because the second reel of film had been spliced in reverse.
  
  
• Restorer Robert A. Harris and editor Anne V. Coates went through 450 rusted old film cans for the 1989 restoration.
  
  
• David Lean didn't see his first royalty check for the film until 1978.
  
  
• After the tremendous success of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), producer Sam Spiegel and David Lean were keen to work together on a similarly worthy topic. Initially the pair considered making a film of the life of Gandhi but soon gave up on that.
  
  
• The idea of filming the life of T.E. Lawrence had been floating around for many years. Herbert Wilcox had even been approached by Lawrence himself about it in 1926.
  
  
• Sam Spiegel was much taken with Robert Bolt's successful play A Man for All Seasons. When he and David Lean weren't happy with Michael Wilson's stab at the screenplay, he sent it to Bolt for rewriting. Bolt found the script lacking in good dialog and also character depth. He essentially rewrote the whole thing, using Lawrence's book 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom' as his starting point.
  
  
• David Lean wanted Malcolm Arnold to score the film, while Sam Spiegel wanted William Walton to do it. Both composers turned down the chance to work on the film.
  
  
• Musically, Maurice Jarre was hired to write the dramatic score, Aram Khachaturyan was handling the eastern themes and Benjamin Britten was to provide the British imperial music. Neither Khatchaturian or Britten were able to properly get involved so Sam Spiegel hired Richard Rodgers to fill in the musical gaps. When Spiegel and Lean heard Rodgers' compositions, they were hugely disappointed, so they turned to Jarre to see what he had done. The minute Lean heard Jarre's now-classic theme, he knew they had the right composer. Jarre was given the job of scoring the whole film - in a mere six weeks.
  
  
• The film missed out on a 11th Oscar nomination - for Best Costume Design - because someone forgot to submit Phyllis Dalton's name for consideration.
  
  
• T.E. Lawrence's brother, A.E. Lawrence, who was also executor of his will, wasn't keen on the film's representation of his brother so he didn't allow the use of his sibling's autobiography title "Seven Pillars of Wisdom".
  
  
• The film was banned in many Arab countries as they felt they were misrepresented. Omar Sharif arranged with President Nasser of Egypt to view the film to show him there was nothing wrong with the way they were portrayed. Nasser loved the film and allowed it to be released in Egypt where it went on to become a monster hit.
  
  
• Costume designer Phyllis Dalton devised a subtle way to indicate Lawrence's failing grip. As the film progresses, his robes become thinner and thinner until they are virtually translucent.
  
  
• The only studio set built for the film was the crypt in St Paul's Cathedral, London, home of Lawrence's bronze memorial.
  
  
• Costume designer Phyllis Dalton deliberately made Peter O'Toole's army outfit too small and ill-fitting to signify Lawrence's discomfort with the military uniform.
  
  
• The famous cut from Lawrence blowing out a match to the desert sunrise was originally just going to be a dissolve. But editor Anne V. Coates suggested to David Lean that he use the cut in the fashion of the then current French New Wave.
  
  
• When filming in Jordan, every drop of water for the production was brought in by truck from the nearest well, 150 miles away.
  
  
• Alec Guinness shaved his head for his role.
  
  
• Initially the production used white plastic cups for its drinking water but the wind would frequently pick up and blow them into the desert. After having numerous shots ruined due to errant white plastic cups, David Lean had them banned and replaced with ceramic mugs instead.
  
  
• Although women have no lines in the film, they occasionally can be seen in the background of some scenes. For the Arabian ones, tradition forbade Bedouin women from being photographed so costume designer Phyllis Dalton had some Christian women dress up in the flowing robes.
  
  
• The charge on Aqaba employed 450 horses and 150 camels.
  
  
• So long was the production schedule that Sam Spiegel insisted on a 2 month break. This afforded him the chance to find a filming location that was less arduous than Jordan, ultimately settling on Spain. Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, Alec Guinness and Omar Sharif all took advantage of the break to work on other films.
  
  
• Two miles of track were laid for the train scenes.
  
  
• José Ferrer had to be talked into taking the role of the sadistic Bey, dubious about it being such a small part. David Lean convinced him that Bey was a pivotal character in Lawrence's history.
  
  
• Peter O'Toole claimed that he learned more about acting from his few days of filming with José Ferrer than he did in all his years at drama school.
  
  
• General Allenby's Jersualem headquarters was filmed at the Moorish mansion, Casa de Pilatos, in Seville. While setting up there, the lighting crew accidentally smashed a centuries old statue. Fortunately, the authorities were appeased and filming was allowed to continue.
  
  
• At one point when filming was progressing far too slowly for his liking, producer Sam Spiegel invited William Wyler to visit the set. He wanted Wyler to encourage Lean to rely more on his second units for filming additional scenes, as he had done on "Ben-Hur". The visit was to no avail, however, as Lean was too much of a perfectionist to relinquish control.
  
  
• The moment when Lawrence - freshly adorned in his new flowing white robes - raises his dagger to look at his reflection was an improvisation by Peter O'Toole. The moment would be repeated at the end of the film in a wholly different context when a battered Lawrence looks at his bloodied dagger after the battle for Damascus.
  
  
• Montgomery Clift coveted the role of Lawrence and actively lobbied for the part with David Lean. 'Sam Spiegel', however, had a low opinion of Clift after the latter's drinking problems surfaced on Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) and refused to consider his casting.
  
  
• Peter O'Toole and Jack Hawkins became close friends on set, much to David Lean's consternation; Lean thought Hawkins should maintain a fatherly distance from O'Toole to help with the part, but Hawkins "didn't see the point" of Lean's advice. The two frequently went drinking after shooting concluded, including one instance in a Seville restaurant (where Alec Guinness was also present) where a drunken O'Toole threatened a waiter, backing down when the waiter produced a knife. O'Toole and Hawkins would also frequently improvise humorous dialogue on set (often during takes), which infuriated Lean.
  
  
• Steven Spielberg estimated that to make the film today would cost in the region of $285 million.
  
  

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