Editing Lawrence of Arabia (film) (section)

=== Theatrical run ===
The film premiered at the [[Odeon Luxe Leicester Square|Odeon Leicester Square]] in London on 10&nbsp;December 1962 and was released in the United States on 16&nbsp;December 1962.

Jordan banned the film for what was felt to be a disrespectful portrayal of Arab culture.<ref name="Woolf" /> Egypt, Omar Sharif's home country, was the only Arab nation to give the film a wide release, where it became a success through the endorsement of President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], who appreciated the film's depiction of [[Pan-Arabism|Arab nationalism]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gaughan |first1=Liam |title='Lawrence of Arabia' Was Banned for Controversial Reasons |url=https://collider.com/lawrence-of-arabia-banned-censored/ |access-date=14 September 2024 |work=Collider |date=18 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Lawrence of Arabia.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Theatrical poster from 1962 during the film's release]]

The original release ran for about 222&nbsp;minutes (plus overture, intermission, and exit music). A post-premiere memo (13&nbsp;December 1962) noted that the film was {{convert|24,987.5|ft|m}} of 70&nbsp;mm film, or {{convert|19,990|ft|m}} of 35&nbsp;mm film. With {{convert|90|ft|m}} of 35&nbsp;mm film projected every minute, this corresponds to exactly 222.11 minutes. Richard May, the vice-president of Film Preservation at Warner Bros., sent an email to Robert Morris, co-author of a book on ''Lawrence of Arabia'', in which he noted that ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939) was never edited after its premiere and is {{convert|19,884|ft|m}} of 35&nbsp;mm film (without leaders, overture, intermission, entr'acte, or walkout music), corresponding to 220.93 min.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} Thus, ''Lawrence of Arabia'' is slightly more than one minute longer than ''Gone With the Wind'' and is, therefore, the longest movie ever to win a Best Picture Oscar.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In January 1963, ''Lawrence of Arabia'' was released in a version edited by 20 minutes.<ref name="AlternateVersions">{{cite news |last=Farber |first=Stephen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/02/archives/look-what-theyve-done-to-lawrence-of-arabia-now.html |title=Look What They've Done to 'Lawrence of Arabia' Now |work=The New York Times |page=D11 |date=2 May 1971 |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref> In the United States, the film was released in five key cities—New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, and Miami Beach. By February 1963, the film expanded into six more [[Roadshow theatrical release|reserved-seating engagements]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Six More Key City Dates Set for 'Lawrence' |url=https://archive.org/details/boxofficejanmar182boxo/page/n104/mode/1up |magazine=Boxoffice |date=21 January 1963 |access-date=29 December 2022 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> From 9&nbsp;October 1963 it started to open at 1,000 theatres in the United States on a non-reserved seat basis.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=18 September 1963 |page=12 |title='Lawrence of Arabia' Is The Hottest Attraction In Showbusiness Today! (advertisement) |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1963-09-18_232_4/page/12/mode/1up?view=theater|access-date=20 February 2024 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

When it was re-released in 1971, an even shorter cut of 187&nbsp;minutes was presented.<ref name="AlternateVersions" /> The first round of cuts was made at the direction and even insistence of David Lean, to assuage criticisms of the film's length and increase the number of showings per day; however, during the 1989 restoration, he passed blame for the cuts onto deceased producer Sam Spiegel.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brownlow|1996|pages=484, 705, 709}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rothman |first=Cliff |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-29-ca-1564-story.html |title=The Resurrection of 'Lawrence of Arabia' |work=Los Angeles Times |date=29 January 1989 |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref> In addition, a 1966 print was used for initial television and video releases which accidentally altered a few scenes by reversing the image.<ref>Caton, S.C. (1999). ''Lawrence of Arabia: A Film's Anthropology'' (pp. 129–31). [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]]/Los Angeles, CA: [[University of California Press]]. {{ISBN|0-520-21082-4}}.</ref>

The film was screened out of competition at the [[1989 Cannes Film Festival]]<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/239/year/1989.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Lawrence of Arabia |access-date=3 August 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119100704/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/239/year/1989.html |archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> and at the 2012 [[Karlovy Vary International Film Festival]].<ref name="kviff.com">{{cite web |url=https://fullmovieis.org/1/947/lawrenceofarabia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929155812/https://fullmovieis.org/1/947/lawrenceofarabia/|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 September 2018 |title=anniversaryKarlovy Vary International Film Festival – Lawrence of Arabia |access-date=4 July 2012 |work=fullmovieis.org}}</ref>

''Lawrence of Arabia'' was re-released theatrically in 2002 to celebrate the film's fortieth anniversary.<ref>{{cite news |last=Farber |first=Stephen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/15/arts/film-1962-when-the-silver-screen-never-looked-so-golden.html |title=1962: When the Silver Screen Never Looked So Golden |work=The New York Times |at=Section 2, p. 24 |date=15 September 2002 |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>