'aurance and his band of merry men will be on TCM at 8 PM EST this evening. Having read T.E. Lawrence's excellent book Seven Pillars of Wisdom I now view the film more as entertainment rather than a history lesson.

Off to the desert.

best movie ever

With very few exceptions, movies that center around a historical figure or event are rarely ever accurate to a high degree. I often fell into the trap when I was younger where I would often assume that a movie would be as close to historical fact as possible. It was only later that I realized that a movie at its core is really just a form of entertainment and everything is catered to serve the story. If there is a historical fact that is seen to not mesh well with the story that the writers and directors want to tell, that fact will be altered or omitted.

With that said, "Lawrence of Arabia" is a great artistic achievement but it should not be used as a basis for understanding that period of history. Books will always be the most important source when you want to know and understand the facts.

One of the most impressive movies ever made... when you consider that it was ALL done practically. No visual effects.

David Lean was probably the most talented director when it came to making historical based epics. Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, A Passage to India, Bridge on the River Kwai are all classics IMHO.

Seeing the desert scenes on a wide screen TV for the first time was impressive. It was not shown in HD but was beautiful none the less.

Some of the major deviations from reality were that Quinn's character Auda was part of the march on Aquaba across the Nefu desert from the start. He was also more cooperative and less belligerent than portrayed in the film and became a good friend to Lawrence.

The same applies to Lawrence who was actually a serious minded soldier not the prancing flamboyant character portrayed for the dramatic effect by Peter O'Toole in the film.

Lastly the character of Sherif Ali, Omar Sharif's character was probably a compilation of many characters since he was not a real person in Lawrence's book, probably his closest associate was Auda.

The part of the newsman represented Lowell Thomas who covered part of Lawrence's campaign for the news services.

Still a great film worth viewing periodically. One thing that surprised me was during the opening credits of cast members it said "and introducing Peter O'Toole."

Quite a role for a newcomer.

Great soundtrack also,Lawrence was a very strange character,been a couple of television Dramas based on his career after the war,Aircraftssman Shaw was one, definately a very odd bloke,we seemed to be good at producing these strange driven characters in Victorian/Edwardian period,most of them flawed on one way or another.
Must be summat in the water.

According to IMDB he had appeared in a couple of UK tv shows and movies before Lawrence of Arabia but I guess he was still relatively unknown.

@ Tony Draper - The soundtrack by Maurice Jarre is definitely great and memorable.