The Mysterious Origins of Lawrence of Arabia

Abstract

THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF DAVID LEAN'S CLASSIC FILM, Lawrence of Arabia, in 1992, brought with it the restored print and the publication of several books and the screenplay, together with a number of other celebrations befitting this impressive picture and the work of its late director. The screenplay was written by Robert Bolt based on a previous script by Michael Wilson. Many previous attempts had been made over the years to bring Lawrence to the screen. One of the earliest was written by John Monk Saunders, the American screenwriter who wrote Wings and a succession of dramas dealing with WWI. This is how he envisioned scenes later immortalized by Wilson and Bolt. During the two years of the World War in which Lawrence of Arabia was engaged in the revolt of the Arabs against the Turks he make innumerable excursions into the desert, performing myriad exploits and met countless...