The 50th anniversary of “Lawrence Of Arabia”
As everyone who knows me and/or visits NightHawk will appreciate , I am a massive film fan. My card index of films viewed now stands at 2.143 and I’ve reviewed lots of the more recent movies here.
My all-time favourite film is “Lawrence Of Arabia” which I have reviewed here. I first saw it when I was 14 on its release in 1963 and to date I have seen it a total of 10 times.
But my cinema buddy Spence – a 39 year old who goes to the cinema far more often than me – has never seen it. So I’ve invited him to a 50th anniversary showing at the “Empire” in London’s Leicester Square” this afternoon. He’s in for a treat …
November 18th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
I envy him his first viewing . . .
I do so remember mine . . .
November 18th, 2012 at 10:13 pm
“Nothing is written…” – great line from the movie…!
November 20th, 2012 at 12:38 am
I saw it at that very cinema 50 years ago. I’ll swear it got desert hot just as the intermission approached (the meeting between Omar Sharif and OToole happened about this time, as I recall).
The film “The Greatest Show On Earth”, as I think it was called without checking, about the contest between a failing fleapit The Bijou and a large chain cinema The Grand (which in real life was the Hammersmith Odeon – now the Hammersmith Apollo – before views of it were backed by the Hammersmith Flyover) parodied this by having the ancient engineer at The Bijou turning up the heating full blast to boost ice cream sales.
It’s a great film but our following of it was slightly marred by my father having an attack of kidney stones part way through it. Jack Hawkins very impressive, and Claude Rains as the ever cynical representative of the word of politics. Arthur Kennedy overplayed his hack journalist part. The chaotic scenes at Damascus at the end will be familiar to current peacekeeping envoys!