Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) Columbia Pictures Director: David Lean Producer: Sam Spiegel Cast: Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, José Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole Awards ceremony: -35th Academy Awards: April 8, 1963. Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California. Other films nominated for Best Picture this year: -The Longest Day. -The Music Man. -Mutiny On The Bounty. -To Kill A Mockingbird. Plot summary: Set during the World War, T.E. Lawrence (PETER O'TOOLE) a lieutenant in the British Army, joins forces with Arab leader Prince Faisal (ALEC GUINNESS) to sort out the Turks. That, and a lot of other bollocks in this utterly boring crapfest of a movie. Standout scene: The scene when Sherif Ali bin el Kharish (silly name) (OMAR SHARIF) shoots the Arab for taking the water from his well without his permission. Facts: -The 35th Academy Awards. -Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, it won 7: Best Picture, Director, Best Music, Best Sound, Best Art Direction (color), Best Cinematography (color), Best Film Editing. -The second Best Picture to be directed by David Lean (The Bridge On The River Kwai). -The third Best Picture to be produced by Sam Spiegel (On The Waterfront; The Bridge On The River Kwai). -The second Best Picture to star Alec Guinness (The Bridge On The River Kwai). -The third Best Picture to star Jack Hawkins (The Bridge On The River Kwai; Ben-Hur). -The second Best Picture to star Claude Rains (Casablanca). Personal opinion: The cinematography is just glorious. Maurice Jarre's musical score is so iconic that you always think of the desert every time you hear it. The directing is steady and smooth and the cast is of a high calibre. All positives from an otherwise utterly boring movie. The film's pace is deliberately slow, the early desert crossing for example is shown in such a way that it makes the viewer feel the torture and uncomfortable experience from the armchair. A lot of camels, sand, scorching sun and sweaty armpits dominate the almost 4-hours running time of this 'epic' (absolutely laughable evaluation by some nutter at some point in time). I'm being totally serious when I say that after 3 hours of watching it I STILL didn't really know what it was all about. I think I had about given up after the first hour and just sat back to try and be entertained by it. I failed at that too. Uninteresting and utterly lousy and poorly explained plot with barely enough interest and rarely enough entertainment. It just goes on and on for the sake of itself. Majestic, my arse. Just 24 hours after enduring WEST SIDE STORY I thought surely this one would be better. Wrong. Did it deserve the Oscar? ❌NO. 3½/10

Review date: 10 March 2025