212 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
monetarily motivated to fight. They come upon a column of retreating Turkish sol-
diers who have just massacred the residents of Tafas. One of Lawrence’s men from
Tafas demands “No prisoners!” He charges the Turks alone and is shot dead. Law-
rence takes up the dead man’s battle cry. The result is a gruesome slaughter in
which Lawrence himself gleefully participates. Lawrence’s men take Damascus
ahead of Allenby’s forces. The Arabs then set up a council to administer the city
but despite Lawrence’s diplomatic efforts, they bicker constantly and get nothing
done. As a result, the city is abandoned to the British. Lawrence attains the rank
of col o nel, but has outlived his usefulness to both Faisal and the British forces. He
is ordered to return to England. As he leaves Damascus in a British staff car, his
automobile is passed by a motorcycle, which kicks up a cloud of dust.Reception
The world premiere of Lawrence of Arabia was a Royal Command Per for mance
attended by Queen Elizabeth II at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, on
10 December 1962. The movie went into wide release in the UK the next day and
then opened in the United States five days later. Audience reaction was enthusias-
tic but reviews were mixed. Alexander Walker joined many other critics in offering
high praise: “Lawrence of Arabia is an unpre ce dented kind of multimillion- dollar
spectacle. Here is an epic with intellect behind it. An unforgettable display of action
staged with artistry. A momentous story told with moral force. What on earth has
wrought this miracle?” (Walker, 1960). Bosley Crowther panned the movie alto-
gether: “Like the desert itself, in which most of the action in Lawrence of Arabia
takes place, this much- heralded film about the famous British soldier- adventurer...
is vast, awe- inspiring, beautiful with ever- changing hues, exhausting and barren
of humanity. It is such a laboriously large conveyance of eye- filling outdoor
spectacle— such a brilliant display of endless desert and camels and Arabs and
sheiks and skirmishes with Turks and explosions and arguments with British mil-
itary men— that the possibly human, moving T. E. Lawrence is lost in it. We know
little more about this strange man when it is over than we did when it begins”
(Crowther, 1962). Despite widespread confusion and dismay over the film’s por-
trayal of T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia did well at the box office, grossing
$37.5 million in worldwide box office receipts versus a $15 million bud get. It also
did extremely well in the awards department, with 10 Oscar nominations and 7 wins
for Best Picture (Sam Spiegel); Best Director (David Lean); Best Cinematography,
Color (Freddie Young); Best Art Direction- Set Decoration, Color ( John Box, John
Stoll, and Dario Simoni); Best Sound ( John Cox); Best Film Editing (Anne V. Coates);
and Best Music, Score (Maurice Jarre). Nominated for Best Actor for a per for-
mance often cited as the greatest of all time, Peter O’Toole lost to Gregory Peck
for his rendition of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Lawrence of Arabia also
won four BAFTA Awards and six Golden Globes. Since its initial run in 1962–
1963, the film has since been restored and re- released numerous times all over the
world; its stature as one of the greatest films is secure. It is worth noting, however,
that despite its epic length (227 minutes), the film has no women in speaking