During his remarkable transformation, Arab Larry encounters many famous actors in supporting roles. They include Jack Hawkins as perceptive and manipulative General Allenby, a steady supporter of Lawrence; Anthony Quayle as Col. Brighton, an intense and blunt British officer; Claude Rains as an influential and circumspect British civil servant; Alec Guiness as cunning and well-spoken Arab prince Feisal; Omar Sharif as Lawrence's fiery and loyal Arab military adviser; Anthony Quinn as an Arab bandit leader seeking plunder; Arthur Kennedy as an American journalist and adventurer; and José Ferrer as a Turkish police captain fond of torture.
How others will see it. A few years in the making, the movie was even longer and more expensive than director Lean's previous epic, Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Fortunately for all involved, the movie was a box office smash and a resounding critical success, winning seven Oscars including best picture, best director, best color cinematography, best color art direction, best editing and best sound. However, it did not win any acting awards, though both O'Toole and Sharif were nominated.
Today at imdb.com, the movie remains extremely popular, with 100K user ratings and a whopping 8.5 grade. A gender gap is noticeable above age 45, with men giving it 8.7 versus the 7.8 awarded by women. Although a 7.8 is very high, the grade may be lower from older women due to the absence of female roles. Indeed, no women have spoken lines, coming closest in a crowd scene where they trill their tongues.
Fifty years ago when the film was first released there were a few naysayers: those who knew the historical figures portrayed. For example, the real-life Lawrence was seven inches shorter than Peter O'Toole, and it is difficult to see the real-life Lawrence killing a score of Turks in battle while clinically insane with blood lust.
How I felt about it. There's also the matter of tact. We have Omar Sharif riding up to Lawrence and his companion and shooting the latter. In real life, Lawrence would return fire. Or get on his camel and flee. What he would not do is scream insults at the armed and dangerous Sharif.
Later, Lawrence returns to Cairo, and tells the big man on campus general that he shot an Arab and enjoyed it. Not that the general would care about such a trifle during wartime, but his time is valuable, and there's no sense in wasting it telling him things he'd rather not hear.
Anthony Quinn's character is overripe, as well. Such a mercenary; no wonder his family sued the studio upon release.
Actually, it is difficult to understand why most film fans believe this to be a great movie. The cinematography requires only a suitable budget. The thunderous score is generally intrusive, and clearly inferior to that of Gone With the Wind (1939), as an example as how such a score can be done. Star power is present, but typically in small roles.
Here we have an Arab story from a British perspective. The British are competent and effective, the Arabs are backward and barbarous, and the Turks are sadists. The Arabs manage to displace the Turks, who of course are only Turks, but they can't do it without the help of British officer Lawrence, plus British money and military aid. Then the Arabs prove so rife with tribal factions that they can't even maintain Turkish infrastructure, and require British assistance.
The real curiousity is that every Arab, in 1917, seems to speak first-rate English.
The only character that works, then, is Omar Sharif's, who is aware that Arab blood is spilt to replace Turkish hegemony with the British. Perhaps the British are better, and perhaps they will allow greater autonomy. Perhaps not. In any event, Sharif isn't happy about it, and he's sick of working with the mercurial and sometimes delusional Lawrence.