Editing Lawrence of Arabia (film) (section)

== Production ==
=== Pre-production ===
Previous films about T. E. Lawrence had been planned but had not been made. In the 1940s, [[Alexander Korda]] was interested in filming ''The Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' with [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Leslie Howard]], or [[Robert Donat]] as Lawrence, but had to pull out owing to financial difficulties. David Lean had been approached to direct a 1952 version for [[the Rank Organisation]], but the project fell through.{{sfn|Phillips|2006|p=258}} At the same time as pre-production of the film, [[Terence Rattigan]] was developing his play ''[[Ross (play)|Ross]]'' which centred primarily on Lawrence's alleged [[homosexuality]]. ''Ross'' had begun as a screenplay, but was re-written for the stage when the film project fell through. Sam Spiegel grew furious and attempted to have the play suppressed, which helped to gain publicity for the film.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brownlow|1996|pages=410–11}}</ref> [[Dirk Bogarde]] had accepted the role in ''Ross''; he described the cancellation of the project as "my bitterest disappointment". Alec Guinness played the role on stage.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Peter O'Toole: The Definitive Biography |last=Sellers |first=Robert |publisher=Pan Macmillan |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-283-07216-1 |location=London |quote=my bitterest disappointment}}</ref>

Lean and Sam Spiegel had worked together on ''[[The Bridge on the River Kwai]]'' and decided to collaborate again. For a time, Lean was interested in a biopic of [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]], with Alec Guinness to play the title role and [[Emeric Pressburger]] writing the screenplay. He eventually lost interest in the project, despite extensive pre-production work, including location scouting in India and a meeting with [[Jawaharlal Nehru]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Brownlow|1996|pages=393–401}}</ref> Lean then returned his attention to T. E. Lawrence. [[Columbia Pictures]] had an interest in a Lawrence project dating back to the early '50s, and the project got underway when Spiegel convinced a reluctant A. W. Lawrence to sell the rights to ''[[Seven Pillars of Wisdom]]'' for £22,500.{{sfn|Phillips|2006|p=271}}

[[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]] wrote the original draft of the screenplay. Lean was dissatisfied with Wilson's work, primarily because his treatment focused on the historical and political aspects of the Arab Revolt. Lean hired Robert Bolt to re-write the script to make it a character study of Lawrence. Many of the characters and scenes are Wilson's invention, but virtually all of the dialogue in the finished film was written by Bolt.{{sfn|Phillips|2006|pp=270–282}}

Lean reportedly watched [[John Ford]]'s 1956 film ''[[The Searchers]]'' to help him develop ideas as to how to shoot the film. Several scenes directly recall Ford's film, most notably Ali's entrance at the well and the composition of many of the desert scenes and the dramatic exit from [[Wadi Rum]]. Lean biographer [[Kevin Brownlow]] noted a physical similarity between Wadi Rum and Ford's [[Monument Valley]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Brownlow|1996|page=443}}</ref>

In an interview with ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 1989, Lean said that Lawrence and Ali were written as being in a gay relationship. When asked about whether the film was "pervasively homoerotic", Lean responded:
<blockquote>
Yes. Of course it is. Throughout. I'll never forget standing there in the desert once, with some of these tough Arab buggers, some of the toughest we had, and I suddenly thought, "He's making eyes at me!" And he was! So it does pervade it, the whole story, and certainly Lawrence was very if not entirely homosexual. We thought we were being very daring at the time: Lawrence and Omar, Lawrence and the Arab boys.<ref>{{cite news |last=Yardley |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/02/03/david-lean-sorcerer-of-the-screen/784a3547-60d6-47d6-96a4-1f99f3edea55/ |title=David Lean, Sorcerer of the Screen |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=3 February 1989 |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230052041/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/02/03/david-lean-sorcerer-of-the-screen/784a3547-60d6-47d6-96a4-1f99f3edea55/ |archive-date=30 December 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Lean also compared Ali and Lawrence's romance in the film to the relationship of the two main characters in his 1945 film ''[[Brief Encounter]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Brief Encounters: Lesbians and Gays in British Cinema 1930–1971 |last=Bourne |first=Stephen |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4742-9134-7 |page=169}}</ref>

=== Filming ===
[[File:Spain Andalusia Seville BW 2015-10-23 15-35-15.jpg|thumb|The [[Plaza de España, Seville]] appeared as Britain's Egyptian Expeditionary Force Headquarters in Cairo, which included the officers' club.]]
The film was made by [[Horizon Pictures]] and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Principal photography began on 15&nbsp;May 1961 and ended on 21&nbsp;September 1962.{{sfn|Phillips|2006|pages=291, 303}} The desert scenes were shot in [[Jordan]] and [[Morocco]] and [[Province of Almería|Almería]] and [[Doñana National Park|Doñana]] in Spain. It was originally to be filmed entirely in Jordan; the government of [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] was extremely helpful in providing logistical assistance, location scouting, transport and extras. Hussein visited the set several times during production and maintained cordial relationships with cast and crew. The only tension occurred when Jordanian officials learned that English actor [[Henry Oscar]] did not speak Arabic but would be filmed reciting the Quran. Permission was granted only on condition that an imam be present to ensure that there were no misquotations.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172/trivia/ |title=Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Trivia - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=16 May 2024 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

Lean planned to film in Aqaba and the archaeological site at [[Petra]], which Lawrence had been fond of as a place of study. The production had to be moved to Spain due to cost and outbreaks of illness among the cast and crew before these scenes could be shot. The attack on Aqaba was reconstructed in a dried river bed in Playa del Algarrobico, southern Spain (at {{nowrap|{{coord|37|1|25|N|1|52|53|W|region:ES_type:landmark|display=inline}}}}); it consisted of more than 300 buildings and was meticulously based on the town's appearance in 1917. The execution of Gasim, the train attacks, and Deraa exteriors were filmed in the [[Almería]] region, with some of the filming being delayed because of a flash flood. The [[Sierra Nevada (Spain)|Sierra Nevada]] mountains filled in for Azrak, Lawrence's winter quarters. The city of [[Seville]] was used to represent Cairo, Jerusalem and [[Damascus]], with the appearance of [[Casa de Pilatos]], the [[Alcázar of Seville]] and the [[Plaza de España, Seville|Plaza de España]]. All of the interiors were shot in Spain, including Lawrence's first meeting with Faisal and the scene in Auda's tent. The Tafas massacre was filmed in [[Ouarzazate]], Morocco, with Moroccan soldiers substituting for the Turkish army; Lean could not film as much as he wanted because the soldiers were uncooperative and impatient.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brownlow|1996|pages=466–467}}</ref>

The film's production was frequently delayed because shooting commenced without a finished script. Wilson quit early in the production and the playwright [[Beverley Cross]] worked on the script in the interim before Bolt took over, although none of Cross's material made it to the film. When Bolt was arrested for taking part in an anti-nuclear weapons demonstration, Spiegel had to persuade him to sign a recognisance of good behaviour to be released from jail and continue working on the script.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
[[File:Pabellon Mudejar.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|The [[Mudéjar]] pavilion of the [[Parque de María Luisa]] in Seville appeared as Damascus.]]
O'Toole was not used to riding camels and found the saddle to be uncomfortable. During a break in filming, he bought a piece of foam rubber at a market and added it to his saddle. Many of the extras copied the idea and sheets of the foam can be seen on many of the horse and camel saddles. The Bedouin nicknamed O'Toole ''Abu-'Isfanj'' ({{lang|ar|أبو إسفنج}}), meaning "Father of the Sponge".<ref>{{cite podcast |url=https://freshairarchive.org/segments/early-years-actor-peter-otoole |title=The Early Years of Actor Peter O'Toole |website=Fresh Air |publisher=NPR |host=Terry Gross |date=16 April 1993 |time=|access-date=10 December 2023}}</ref> During the filming of the Aqaba scene, O'Toole was nearly killed when he fell from his camel, but it stood over him, preventing the extras' horses from trampling him. Coincidentally, a very similar mishap befell the real Lawrence at the Battle of Abu El Lissal in 1917.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

[[Super Panavision 70|Super Panavision]] technology was used to shoot the film, meaning that spherical lenses were used instead of [[Anamorphic format|anamorphic]] ones, and the image was exposed on a 65&nbsp;mm negative, then printed onto a 70&nbsp;mm positive to leave room for the soundtracks. Rapid cutting was more disturbing on the wide screen, so film makers had to apply longer and more fluid takes. Shooting such a wide ratio produced some unwanted effects during projection, such as a peculiar "flutter" effect, a blurring of certain parts of the image. To avoid the problem, the director often had to modify blocking, giving the actor a more diagonal movement, where the flutter was less likely to occur.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lawrence of Arabia: A Film's Anthropology |last=Caton |first=Steven Charles |publisher=University of California Press |year=1950 |isbn=0-520-21082-4 |location=Los Angeles |pages=70, 71}}</ref> Lean was asked whether he could handle [[CinemaScope]]: "If one had an eye for composition, there would be no problem."<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Epic Films of David Lean |last=Santas |first=Constantine |publisher=The Scarecrow Press, Inc. |year=2012 |location=Plymouth UK |page=xxvi}}</ref> O'Toole did not share Lawrence's love of the desert and stated in an interview "I loathe it".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUyixfiE_oM |title=Peter O'Toole talks about 'Lawrence of Arabia' in rare 1963 interview |publisher=YouTube |access-date=4 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724211714/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUyixfiE_oM|archive-date=24 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Music ===
{{Main|Lawrence of Arabia (soundtrack)}}
The [[film score]] was composed by [[Maurice Jarre]], little known at the time and selected only after both [[William Walton]] and [[Malcolm Arnold]] had proved unavailable. Jarre was given just six weeks to compose two hours of orchestral music for ''Lawrence''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2009/04/16/maurice-jarre |newspaper=The Economist |title=Obituary: Maurice Jarre |date=16 April 2009 |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725200614/https://www.economist.com/obituary/2009/04/16/maurice-jarre |url-status=live |url-access=registration}}</ref> The score was performed by the [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]]. [[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]] is listed as the conductor of the score in the film's credits, but he could not conduct most of the score, due in part to his failure to adapt to the intricate timings of each cue, and Jarre replaced him as the conductor. The score went on to garner Jarre his first [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Academy Award for Music Score—Substantially Original]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1963 |title=The 35th Academy Awards {{!}} 1963 |access-date=1 January 2025 |website=Oscars.org |archive-date=29 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241229214326/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1963 |url-status=live}}</ref> and it is now considered one of the greatest scores of all time, ranking number three on the [[AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores|American Film Institute's top twenty-five film scores]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/100years/scores.aspx |title=AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores: Lawrence Of Arabia (#3), composer Maurice Jarre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225213455/http://afi.com/100Years/scores.aspx |archive-date=25 December 2013 |url-status=dead |website=American Film Institute |date=23 September 2005 |location=Los Angeles, CA}}</ref>

Producer [[Sam Spiegel]] wanted to create a score with two themes to show the 'Eastern' and British side for the film. It was intended for Soviet composer [[Aram Khachaturian]] to create one half and British composer [[Benjamin Britten]] to write the other.{{sfn|Jackson|2007|p=90}}

The original soundtrack recording was originally released on [[Colpix Records]], the records division of Columbia Pictures, in 1962. A remastered edition appeared on [[Castle Communications|Castle Music]], a division of the [[Sanctuary Records]] Group, on 28&nbsp;August 2006.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

[[Kenneth J. Alford|Kenneth Alford]]'s march ''[[The Voice of the Guns]]'' (1917) is prominently featured on the soundtrack.

A complete recording of the score was not heard until 2010 when Tadlow Music produced a CD of the music, with Nic Raine conducting the [[City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra]] from scores reconstructed by [[Leigh Phillips]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Release "Lawrence of Arabia: World Premiere Recording of the Complete Score" by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Nic Raine – MusicBrainz |url=https://musicbrainz.org/release/cf26e8de-9f37-446d-b3f4-b08c4e6f9736 |access-date=2 March 2024 |website=musicbrainz.org}}</ref>