# The Lawrence of Arabia appreciation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079 "2010-08-22T16:55:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/1 "2010-08-22T16:55:55Z")
So I just finished watching this movie for the first time (all 3 hours and 45 minutes of it) and I was really impressed. Not just by the sweeping landscapes and cinematography, and not even by the amazing acting. What I’m most impressed by is the sophisticated portrayal of the main characters involved. Somehow, considering the release date (1962), I expected this to be a depiction of Lawrence as some perfectly, manly, brightly-shining white man who saves the barbarous Arabs from themselves. With maybe some noble-savage types thrown in. Instead, he is depicted as arrogant, effeminate, and at types borderline-insane, while Ali (I think that is the name of his buddy, the servant of Faisal) is basically the sane one the audience can relate to. And the British and Arabs are depicted as equally noble and savage, wise and stupid. And of course, the cinematography is gorgeous. Cairo and the desert look equally stunning and exotic. Peter O’Toole also does a great job depicting Lawrence in all his bizareness. Is O’Toole naturally that effete, or did he have to work on it? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/2 "2010-08-22T18:21:24Z")
This is one of the best movies ever made. I was lucky enough to see this for the first time in a reissue in a movie theatre. It was glorious. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/3 "2010-08-22T18:39:37Z")
It was a great movie for the reasons you stated. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/4 "2010-08-22T19:18:02Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Peter O’Toole also does a great job depicting Lawrence in all his bizareness. Is O’Toole naturally that effete, or did he have to work on it? Well, that’s your interpretation, you’re going to have to watch more of his work and determine that for yourself. (He is _ **British** _.) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/5 "2010-08-22T20:53:38Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Peter O’Toole also does a great job depicting Lawrence in all his bizareness. Is O’Toole naturally that effete, or did he have to work on it? A couple of points: I think the subtext of some level of homosexuality is intentional (although I was so young when it first came out, I didn’t at all understand that whole scene with Jose Ferrer). So the effeteness was part of the character. Also, see his other early work, maybe specifically Lord Jim, the character of which seems to me similar in some ways to Lawrence, and then Becket, a very different character, or the Lion in Winter, only 6 years later than Lawrence, but again a very different character - aggressively masculine and kingly. I think the answer is that he is (or was) a very good actor. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/6 "2010-08-22T23:55:09Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > This is one of the best movies ever made. > > I was lucky enough to see this for the first time in a reissue in a movie theatre. It was glorious. Quoted for truth. I also saw it for the first time in a theatre after the reissue. Just stunning. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/7 "2010-08-23T00:57:39Z")
I saw this in the theater when I was 11 years old, back in the days when they dropped the kids off at the local movie house for the day, during the summer. I was overwhelmed. I was transfixed. I fell violently in love with Peter O’Toole. I demanded to be taken back to see it again. (and yes, I most definitely knew what that scene with Jose Ferrer was all about). Oh, I love this movie SO much. Everything about it is so grand, the music is so glorious, I could blather on for hours. It was MADE for a big screen. Not a cell phone or a twitter or a laptop. Lawrence of Arabia is a crown jewel. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/8 "2010-08-23T01:01:25Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > > [@Zebra](#): > > > > This is one of the best movies ever made. > > > > I was lucky enough to see this for the first time in a reissue in a movie theatre. It was glorious. > > Quoted for truth. I also saw it for the first time in a theatre after the reissue. Just stunning. My parents brought me to a revival when I was a kid and I fell asleep. Then I went to the Egyptian Theater for its restoration premiere and Peter O’Toole showed up. It has been a favorite film of mine ever since and is one of those flicks I put on two and three times a year. I know how much Harper Lee’s _To Kill A Mockingbird_ is so beloved in America as to have made it a favorite for Academy voters that year (Gregory Peck won for his Finch character), but in retrospect, I think Peter O’Toole got robbed that Best Actor award. Hands down, _Lawrence_ is in my Top Five of all-time best movies ever made… ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/9 "2010-08-23T01:03:11Z")
I would like to add that I saw it at The Castro Theater in San Francisco last year and the current prints that are out in circulation SUCK big giant rocks; snaps, scratches, and the colors are fading. It was so bad I wrote a letter to both the theater and the distribution company. That is how much I love this movie. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/10 "2010-08-23T02:17:37Z")
This is an appreciation thread. Should I hold my tongue on criticism? ---
**Author:** ![seanchai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@seanchai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seanchai)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/11 "2010-08-23T02:47:34Z")
If you liked the movie, hustle down to the local library and read TE Lawrence’s book, “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.” In it, he gives some background to the desert war - which was so movingly depicted in the movie. Also, look for a biography of the man; his early life rather tellingly explains, at least partly, the man pre- Lawrence of Arabia. He was a man who marched to his own drummer, for sure. I think he was most frustrated (he was a scholar as well as a soldier) when the British officers above him seemly could not comprehend his intuitive grasp of the way the Arabians thought. A man of many facets who amply repays our study of him. an seanchai ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/12 "2010-08-23T02:50:37Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > This is an appreciation thread. Should I hold my tongue on criticism? No, go ahead! I’m really interested in all comments 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/13 "2010-08-23T02:54:15Z")
I’m a 40 y.o. American woman and it’s my number one favorite movie of all time. Unfortunately, I’ve only gotten to see it on a tv screen. I love it so much, I don’t have a copy and I only watch it occasionally so that it can still surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/14 "2010-08-23T13:39:06Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > I would like to add that I saw it at The Castro Theater in San Francisco last year and the current prints that are out in circulation SUCK big giant rocks; snaps, scratches, and the colors are fading. > > It was so bad I wrote a letter to both the theater and the distribution company. > > That is how much I love this movie. This is just so wrong! This movie was carefully restored in the late 80’s, just because the original prints were deteriorating. If they were showing it in a revival on a big screen, there is no excuse for using an old print. I’m glad you took the time to write letters of complaint. Turner Classic Movies shows it every so often. It must be wonderful to watch it on a big screen souped up TV home theater thing. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/15 "2010-08-23T14:21:06Z")
LoA is my favourite film. O’Toole isn’t effeminate, it’s just part of the character that he’s playing. He’s still acting (he played the Pope in The Tudors, for instance). ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/16 "2010-08-23T14:27:36Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > > [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > > > I would like to add that I saw it at The Castro Theater in San Francisco last year and the current prints that are out in circulation SUCK big giant rocks; snaps, scratches, and the colors are fading. > > > > It was so bad I wrote a letter to both the theater and the distribution company. > > > > That is how much I love this movie. > > This is just so wrong! This movie was carefully restored in the late 80’s, just because the original prints were deteriorating. If they were showing it in a revival on a big screen, there is no excuse for using an old print. I’m glad you took the time to write letters of complaint. > > Turner Classic Movies shows it every so often. It must be wonderful to watch it on a big screen souped up TV home theater thing. The manager of the movie house responded (I never heard from the distribution company) who confirmed that the print they received is that 80s restoration version. However, those prints are now 30 years old and _is_ now considered an old print! Granted, it is the restored version, but there are few in circulation and being handed around from theater to theater on the revival circuit, those few prints are getting over-used and the expense to create a new print cost-prohibitive. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/17 "2010-08-23T14:29:33Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Oh, I love this movie SO much. Everything about it is so grand, the music is so glorious, I could blather on for hours. It was MADE for a big screen. Not a cell phone or a twitter or a laptop. Lawrence of Arabia is a crown jewel. This. I have seen _LoA_ twice since its restoration, both times in 70mm, displayed of a HUGE screen in a movie palace. It’s breathtaking! From Roger Ebert’s review of the restored print: > [@](#): > > There is a moment in the film when the hero, the British eccentric soldier and author T.E. Lawrence, has survived a suicidal trek across the desert and is within reach of shelter and water–and he turns around and goes back, to find a friend who has fallen behind. This sequence builds up to the shot in which the shimmering heat of the desert reluctantly yields the speck that becomes a man–a shot that is held for a long time before we can even begin to see the tiny figure. On television, this shot doesn’t work at all–nothing can be seen. In a movie theater, looking at the stark clarity of a 70mm print, we lean forward and strain to bring a detail out of the waves of heat, and for a moment we experience some of the actual vastness of the desert, and its unforgiving harshness. > … > To see it in a movie theater is to appreciate the subtlety of F.A. (Freddie) Young’s desert cinematography–achieved despite blinding heat, and the blowing sand, which worked its way into every camera. ‘‘Lawrence of Arabia’’ was one of the last films to actually be photographed in 70mm (as opposed to being blown up to 70 from a 35mm negative). By all means, if you have the opportunity to see the restored 70mm print, do so. It is one of the great moviegoing experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/18 "2010-08-23T15:08:48Z")
Claude Rains. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/19 "2010-08-23T15:30:29Z")
I think it is a gorgeous movie. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079/20 "2010-08-23T17:56:02Z")
Ooo! [URL=“[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=4455](http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=4455)”] playing on TCM this coming Saturday (8/28) at 8 p.m. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lawrence-of-arabia-appreciation-thread/551079.md?page=2)