Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

An eccentric English officer inspires the Arabs to unite against the Turks during WWI in David Lean’s seven Oscar-winner, an epic in every sense.

“I’m different,” declares Peter O’Toole’s T.E. Lawrence. Director David Lean had worked on something approaching this scale on The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), but his masterstroke with Lawrence of Arabia was to centre this colossal epic about the WWI Arab revolt on a strange and fascinating performance from O’Toole, then enough of an unknown to merit the credit “And Introducing...”.

One stunning set piece follows another: the entrance of Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) through a mirage, the capture of the town of Aqaba and the attack on a Turkish train. But for all this epic splendour Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson’s script asks searching questions about identity and loyalty, and the ultimately grim view of British intervention in Arab affairs remains all too relevant.

1962 United Kingdom
Directed by
David Lean
Produced by
Sam Spiegel
Written by
Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson
Featuring
Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Running time
222 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Lawrence of Arabia

Critics

Matthew Asprey Gear
UK
Monica Castillo
USA
Gary Crowdus
USA
Amir Emary
Egypt
Adam Gonet
UK
Adam Hyman
USA
Harlan Jacobson
USA
Amir Labaki
Brazil
Hans Langsteiner
Austria
Andrei Liimets
Estonia
Todd McCarthy
USA
Steve Moore
Canada
Nasreen Munni Kabir
UK
Susan Napier
USA
Constantine Nasr
USA
Camille Paglia
USA
Neil Smith
UK
Meg Walters
UK/Canada
Armond White
USA
Norm Wilner
Canada
Matthias Wittmann
Switzerland/Austria
Ab Zagt
Netherlands

Directors

Sanjay Leela Bhansali
India
Vidhu Vinod Chopra
India
Roger Corman
Julie Dash
Alex Gibney
USA
Mark Gustafson
USA
Neil Marshall
UK
Sir Horace Ové
UK
Chris Shepherd
United Kingdom
Oliver Stone
USA
Lindsey Vickers
UK

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