Editing Dirk Bogarde (section)

===Missed roles===
While under contract with the Rank Organisation, Bogarde was set to play the role of [[T. E. Lawrence]] in a proposed film ''Lawrence'' written by [[Terence Rattigan]] and to be directed by [[Anthony Asquith]].<ref>Brownlow 1996. p. 407.</ref> On the eve of production, after a year of preparation by Bogarde, Rattigan and Asquith, the film was scrapped without full explanation—ostensibly for budgetary reasons—to the dismay of all three men.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Darlow|first=Michael|title=Terence Rattigan – The Man and his Work|publisher=Quartet Books|year=2000|location=London|pages=354}}</ref> The abrupt scrapping of ''Lawrence'', a role long researched and keenly anticipated by Bogarde, was among his greatest screen disappointments.<ref name=MorleyS-DBRO/> (Rattigan reworked the script as a play, ''[[Ross (play)|Ross]]'', which opened to great success in 1960, initially with Alec Guinness playing Lawrence.) Bogarde was also reportedly considered for the title role in [[MGM]]'s ''[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]'' (1965).<ref>{{cite web |title=Doctor Zhivago (Original) |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150018318 |website=British Film Institute |publisher=BFI |access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref> Earlier, he had declined [[Louis Jourdan]]'s role as Gaston in MGM's ''[[Gigi (1958 film)|Gigi]]'' (1958).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gigi (1958) |url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0051658/trivia/?ref_=tt_ql_trv |access-date=13 October 2022 |website=IMDB}}</ref>

His contract with Rank had precluded him from accepting the lead in the [[Look Back in Anger (1959 film)|film adaptation]] of John Osborne's ground-breaking stage play, ''[[Look Back in Anger]]'' in 1959.<ref name="Military"/> In 1961, Bogarde was offered the chance to play Hamlet at the recently founded [[Chichester Festival Theatre]] by artistic director Sir [[Laurence Olivier]] but had to decline owing to film commitments.<ref>Coldstream, John 2004, pp. 361–362.</ref> Bogarde later said that he regretted declining Olivier's offer and with it the chance to "really learn my craft".<ref>Bogarde 1988, p. 169.</ref>