History Trivia / LawrenceOfArabia

* AllStarCast: Besides O'Toole and Sharif, who became stars thanks to this movie, most of ''Lawrence'''s supporting cast were leading men in their own right (Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn) or veteran character actors (Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains). You even have Oscar-winner Jose Ferrer in a glorified cameo. O'Toole once commented that acting opposite so many seasoned stars was more intimidating than anything else about the film.
* BannedInChina: Most Middle Eastern countries banned ''Lawrence'' during its original release, finding its portrayal of Arabs offensive. One exception was Egypt: UsefulNotes/GamalAbdelNasser reportedly loved the movie and it subsequently became a hit in that country.
* DeletedScenes: Despite the extensive restoration done in 1989, the currently available cut of Lawrence (216 minutes without overture and intermission) still misses several sequences present in the original 1962 release. The most famous is a longer version of Lawrence's meeting with Allenby in Jerusalem towards the end, the so-called "balcony" or "seduction" scene. According to Robert Harris this scene couldn't be restored because of a poor audio match. It is included in the 2012 Blu-Ray release, with Charles Gray dubbing Jack Hawkins as Allenby.

** Kind of. Half-Irish, half-Scottish Creator/PeterO'Toole, who might have been born in England or Ireland (he had two different birth certificates), as Welsh born but half Anglo-Irish and half Scots Lawrence. At any rate, they're both from the British Isles.

** Logistics filming in Jordan were a nightmare. For a start, gaining rights to film there required intense negotiation: Spiegel brought in Anthony Nutting, a former British Foreign Office official, to secure King Hussein's approval.note The crew commandeered tanker trucks full of fresh water from Aqaba and airlifted frozen food to the location every day. Lean and crew had to meticulously sweep the desert sands free of footprints and tire tracks between takes. Outbreaks of illness laid many crew members low. Peter O'Toole's on-set drinking caused tension with Arab extras. The Jordanian government initially cooperated with the production but proved leery about filming in cities like Aqaba and Maan.
** Sam Spiegel and David Lean's already testy relationship soon reached the breaking point. Spiegel rarely visited the set, but constantly complained long-distance about Lean's "wasting" money and allegedly poor footage. On one visit he showed up with William Wyler in tow, threatening to replace Lean if he didn't work faster. Lean eventually got back at Spiegel by sneaking into the dailies a shot of him flipping Spiegel off... in 70mm. Unsurprisingly, Lawrence marked their last collaboration.

** Having survived an arduous production, the film encountered several PR disasters up to its release. Professor A.W. Lawrence, the title character's brother, threatened to sue the filmmakers, then tried to discredit the movie through interviews and editorials. An ugly scandal arose when Spiegel again refused to credit Michael Wilson. A Writers' Guild arbitration found in Wilson's favor, but Robert Bolt still received sole credit. Creator/PeterO'Toole attended press interviews drunk, drawing more bad attention. Finally, Lawrence received its American premiere during a newspaper strike in New York, and the few critics who saw it gave overwhelmingly negative reviews note . For all that Lawrence became a smash hit, and eventually an all-time classic, but it overcame a lot getting there.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Several actors were offered the leading role, including Creator/MarlonBrando, but Lean initially seemed set on Creator/AlbertFinney, an unknown actor with few roles to his credit. Finney received an elaborate, four day screen test, performing scenes from early script drafts with several actors and reciting passages from Lawrence's ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom''. Finney impressed Lean and producer Sam Spiegel, but Spiegel demanded Finney sign a multi-picture contract. Finney refused, instead performing his StarMakingRole in ''Film/SaturdayNightAndSundayMorning'' while ''Lawrence'' was still in production. Enter Peter O'Toole and the rest is history.

** Logistics filming in Jordan were a nightmare. For a start, gaining rights to film there required intense negotiation: Spiegel brought in Anthony Nutting, a former British Foreign Office official, to secure King Hussein's approval.note The crew commandeered tanker trucks full of fresh water from Aqaba and airlifted frozen food to the location every day. Lean and crew had to meticulously sweep the desert sands free of footprints and tire tracks between takes. Outbreaks of illness laid many crew members low. Peter O'Toole's on-set drinking caused tension with Arab extras. The Jordanian government initially cooperated with the production but proved leery about filming in cities like Aqaba and Maan.

** Morocco. The crew took up residence at an old Foreign Legion encampment in Ouarzazate, with no air conditioning in 100-plus degree F temperatures. Lean argued with his second unit directors on how to film the battle, firing one (Andre de Toth). note More diseases broke out among crew-members. Procuring camels again proved a problem. The main difficulty however came with the extras. Soldiers from the Moroccan army were employed without pay, which they understandably resented. During off-hours they actually took potshots at cast and crew, Lean included. Others deserted between takes and never came back.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Several actors were offered the leading role, including Creator/MarlonBrando, but Lean initially seemed set on Creator/AlbertFinney, an unknown actor with few roles to his credit. Finney received an elaborate, four day screen test, performing scenes from early script drafts with several actors and reciting passages from Lawrence's ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom''. Finney impressed Lean and producer Sam Spiegel, but Spiegel demanded Finney sign a multi-picture contract. Finney refused, instead performing his StarMakingRole in ''Film/SaturdayNightandSundayMorning'' while ''Lawrence'' was still in production. Enter Peter O'Toole and the rest is history.

* StarMakingRole: Creator/PeterO'Toole and Creator/OmarSharif. O'Toole was an acclaimed stage actor, but only had a few minor film roles beforehand: Lean reportedly spotted him in ''Film/TheDayTheyRobbedtheBankofEngland'', playing a SympatheticInspectorAntagonist. Sharif was already famous in Egypt, but this movie made him an international superstar.

** Logistics filming in Jordan were a nightmare. For a start, gaining rights to film there required intense negotiation: Spiegel brought in Anthony Nutting, a former British Foreign Office official, to secure King Hussein's approval.note The crew commandeered tanker trucks full of fresh water from Aqaba and airlifted frozen food to the location every day. Lean and crew had to meticulously sweep the desert sands free of footprints and tire tracks between takes. Outbreaks of illness laid many crew members low. Peter O'Toole's on-set drinking caused tension with Arab extras. The Jordanian government initially cooperated with the production but proved leery about filming in cities like Aqaba and Maan.

** Morocco. The crew took up residence at an old Foreign Legion encampment in Ouarzazate, with no air conditioning in 100-plus degree F temperatures. Lean argued with his second unit directors on how to film the battle, firing one (Andre de Toth). note More diseases broke out among crew-members. Procuring camels again proved a problem. The main difficulty however came with the extras. Soldiers from the Moroccan army were employed without pay, which they understandably resented. During off-hours they actually took potshots at cast and crew, Lean included. Others deserted between takes and never came back.

** Creator/DavidNiven was consisdered for Colonel Brighton.

** Kind of. Half-Irish, half-Scottish Peter O'Toole, who might have been born in England or Ireland (he had two different birth certificates), as Welsh born but half Anglo-Irish and half Scots Lawrence. At any rate, they're both from the British Isles.
** Though apparently Guinness bore such a striking resemblance to the real Faisal that people who didn't know he was dead thought he was the real deal, it's rather uncomfortable to a modern audience to see a white Englishman playing an Arab.
** Mexican-American Anthony Quinn as Bedouin tribal leader Auda Abu Tayi.
** Puerto Rican Jose Ferrer as the [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Turkish]] Turkish Bey.
* StarMakingRole: Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif. O'Toole was an acclaimed stage actor, but only had a few minor film roles beforehand: Lean reportedly spotted him in ''The Day They Robbed the Bank of England'', playing a SympatheticInspectorAntagonist. Sharif was already famous in Egypt, but this movie made him an international superstar.

* TroubledProduction: Check out the entry on the pertinent page. Along with ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and ''Film/HeavensGate'', ''Lawrence'' is pretty much a TropeCodifier.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Several actors were offered the leading role, including Creator/MarlonBrando, but Lean initially seemed set on Creator/AlbertFinney, an unknown actor with few roles to his credit. Finney received an elaborate, four day screen test, performing scenes from early script drafts with several actors and reciting passages from Lawrence's ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom''. Finney impressed Lean and producer Sam Spiegel, but Spiegel demanded Finney sign a multi-picture contract. Finney refused, instead performing his StarMakingRole in ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' while ''Lawrence'' was still in production. Enter Peter O'Toole and the rest is history.
* WordOfGay: When interviewed David Lean was pretty straightforward about this issue. He thought that one of Lawrence's key conflicts throughout the film was his inability to come to terms with his own homosexuality, and if you keep this in mind there are a lot of moments in the film that can be read in this way. He also compared the relationship between Lawrence and Ali to the doomed love affair in his heterosexual romance ''Film/BriefEncounter''.

* HeyItsThatGuy
** This isn't the first time Claude Rains has played an unscrupulous government official stationed in [[Film/{{Casablanca}} North Africa during a World War.]]
** Also, Arthur Kennedy [[Literature/ElmerGantry has played a cynical journalist before]].
** Prince Faisal is [[Franchise/StarWars Obi Wan Kenobi.]]
** [[Film/TheGunsOfNavarone Andrea Stavrou and Major Franklin]] reunite for another guerrilla campaign.

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* AllStarCast: Besides O'Toole and Sharif, who became stars thanks to this movie, most of ''Lawrence'''s supporting cast were leading men in their own right (Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn) or veteran character actors (Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains). You even have Oscar-winner Jose Ferrer in a glorified cameo. O'Toole once commented on how intimidating it was to act opposite so many seasoned costars.

** Also, Arthur Kennedy [[Literature/ElemerGantry has played a cynical journalist before]].

* AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #5
** AFIS100Years100Thrills: #23
** AFIS100Years100HeroesAndVillains:
*** #10 Hero, TE Lawrence
** AFIS100Years100Cheers: #30
** AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #7
** AFIS10Top10:
*** Epic Film, #1

* StarMakingRole: Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif. Sharif was already famous in Egypt, but this movie made him an international superstar.

** Kind of. Half Irish half Scottish Peter O’Toole, who might have been born in England or Ireland (he had two different birth certificates), as Welsh born but half Anglo-Irish and half Scots Lawrence. At any rate they’re both from the British Isles.
** Though apparently Guinness bore such a striking resemblance to the real Faisal that people who didn’t know he was dead thought he was the real deal, its rather uncomfortable to a modern audience to see a white Englishman playing an Arab
** Mexican-American Anthony Quinn as Bedouin tribal leader Auda Abu Tayi
** Puerto Rican Jose Ferrer as the [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Turkish]] Turkish Bey

** This isn't the first time Claude Rains has played an unscrupulous government official stationed in [[Film/{{Casablanca}} North Africa during a World War]]
** Prince Faisal is [[StarWars Obi Wan Kenobi]]

* WordOfGay: When interviewed David Lean was pretty straightforward about this issue. He thought that one of Lawrence’s key conflicts throughout the film was his inability to come to terms with his own homosexuality and if you keep this in mind there are a lot of moments in the film that can be read in this way. He also compared the relationship between Lawrence and Ali to the doomed love affair in his heterosexual doomed romance Film/BriefEncounter

* BannedInChina: Most Middle Eastern countries banned ''Lawrence'' during its original release, finding its portrayal of Arabs offensive. One exception was Egypt: Gamal Abdel Nasser reportedly loved the movie and it subsequently became a hit in that country.

** Price Faisal is [[StarWars Obi Wan Kenobi]]

* AFI Accolades:

** "100 Years. . .100 Movies" - #5
** "100 Years. . .100 Thrills" - #23
** "100 Years. . .100 Heroes & Villains"
*** #10, TE Lawrence
** "100 Years. . .100 Cheers" - #30
** "100 Years. . .100 Movies (10th Anniversary) - #7

** "100 Years. . .100 Thrils" - #23

** "100 Years. . .100 Heroes & Villains" - #10, TE Lawrence

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Several actors were offered the leading role, including Creator/MarlonBrando, but Lean initially seemed set on Creator/AlbertFinney, an unknown actor with few roles to his credit. Finney received an elaborate, four day screen test, performing scenes from early script drafts with several actors and reciting passages from Lawrence's ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom''. Finney impressed Lean and producer Sam Spiegel, but Spiegel demanded Finney sign a multi-picture contract. Finney refused, instead performing his StarMakingRole in ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' while ''Lawrence'' was still in production. Enter Peter O'Toole and the rest is history.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Several actors were offered the leading role, including Creator/MarlonBrando, but Lean initially seemed set on Creator/AlbertFinney. Finney received an elaborate, four day screen test, performing scenes from early script drafts with several actors and reciting passages from Lawrence's ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom''. Finney impressed Lean and producer Sam Spiegel, but Spiegel demanded Finney sign a multi-picture contract. Finney refused, instead performing his StarMakingRole in ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' while ''Lawrence'' was still in production.

* TroubledProduction: Check out the entry on the pertinent page. Along with ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and ''Film/HeavensGate'', ''Lawrence'' is pretty much a TropeCodifier.

* TroubledProduction: Check out the entry on the pertinent page. Along with ''ApocalypseNow'' and ''HeavensGate'', ''Lawrence'' is pretty much a TropeCodifier.

* DeletedScenes: Despite the extensive restoration done in 1989, the currently available cut of Lawrence (216 minutes without overture and intermission) still misses several sequences present in the original 1962 release. The most famous is a longer version of Lawrence's meeting with Allenby in Jerusalem towards the end, the so-called "balcony" or "seduction" scene. According to Robert Harris this scene couldn't be restored because of a poor audio match. It is included in the 2012 Blu-Ray release, with Charles Gray dubbing Jack Hawkins as Allenby.