Who Has Played Lawrence of Arabia On Screen?

Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, is an endlessly fascinating fellow.

Though there are several books by him, and countless books about him (a small sample of which are for sale in Withnail Books' Little Shop), it is of course Peter O'Toole's portrayal in David Lean's film which continues to be the image of Lawrence which most people are familiar with.

It's an image which veers some way from the truth — O'Toole was about a foot and half taller than the real Lawrence, for a start — but it's not the only one. Who else has played T. E. on screen? 

Firstly, let's have a look at the real Lawrence on film. There is no recording of his voice (apparently he giggled like a girl!), but here's a couple of links which handily compile all the existing newsreel footage of the man himself.

There were several attempts to make a film of Lawrence's life before Lean's. Fabled producer/director Alexander Korda initially entered into negotiations with Lawrence himself to acquire the film rights to Revolt in the Desert. Actors considered for the part, all top-flight leading men of the day, included:

Laurence Olivier

Robert Donat

Leslie Howard, who was officially announced as playing the role, and gave an interview about his plans for the part, which is reproduced in the excellent book Filming T. E. Lawrence: Korda's Lost Epic.

Another nearly-T.E. who was considered, and even (for a short while) cast in the part by Korda was Walter Hudd.

Walter Hudd

Mainly a stage actor, Hudd had played Private Meek, a character based on Lawrence, in George Bernard Shaw's play Too True To Be Good. He'd corresponded with Lawrence (who approved), and got as far as costume tests for the proposed film, as this photo shows:

Alas, Hudd never got the chance, and neither did Dirk Bogarde, who was cast in a later attempt to mount the film. 

Bogarde, who also got as far as costume and hair tests, later wrote that the cancelled film was "my greatest regret."

Dirk Bogarde, around the time he was cast as Lawrence.

(The script for this version, by Terence Rattigan, ultimately became the stage play Ross, which originally starred Alec Guinness as Ross/Lawrence, but that's another story.)

Alec Guinness as Lawrence.

He went on to play Feisal in the David Lean movie, of course.

Yet another attempt to film Lawrence's story was set to star Laurence Harvey.

Laurence Harvey. Only the name was similar.

Now we finally get to the Lean epic. After a huge search, the director finally found his man. The actor performed an elaborate screen test, which took four days to film, but ultimately he didn't want to sign the multi-year contract producer Sam Spiegel required, and declined the role.

His name? Albert Finney.

Albert Finney in costume as Lawrence, from the screen test he filmed. 

Yes, O'Toole was second choice...

If you've never seen Peter O'Toole's performance as Lawrence, you really should track the film down and watch it immediately, preferably on the largest screen you can find. 

O'Toole never quite escaped this, his breakthrough role, and no wonder — he's mesmerising.

Here's a version of one of the more memorable moments of Lean's film that you probably haven't seen before...

After O'Toole, the idea of anyone else playing Lawrence seemed ridiculous, and indeed there has not been a major cinema film based on his life since.

There are still a few Lesser Lawrences to be spotted though...

Voyagers! was a short-lived US TV series in 1982-3, which was a sort of not-particularly-good cross between Doctor Who and Quantum Leap. In the episode 'A World Apart', Judson Scott guest-starred as T. E. Lawrence...

Here's the episode in full:

In 1992 the British TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia starred Ralph Fiennes as T. E., in the nearest anything has come to being a sequel to the Lean film. The plot revolves around the 1919 Paris Peace Conference (with the odd flashback to the war in the desert), and while the film certainly has its faults, Fiennes gives an excellent performance, well matched by a pre-Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Alexander Siddig as Feisal.

Fiennes was evidently fascinated by the real Lawrence. Here's a short film he made about visiting Lawrence's cottage, Cloud's Hill, for the BBC programme One Foot in the Past:

Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World is a very good two-part documentary from 2003, directed by James Hawes (these days better known for helming dramas such as Doctor Who and Penny Dreadful). Hawes included some dramatised recreations, using a couple of actors in the role of Lawrence. Well, one actor, and a crew member who looked the part.

George Pagliero

Michael Maloney, as the post-war Lawrence.

It's not really a surprise that Indiana Jones was good mates with Lawrence. The TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles featured Indy meeting up with him in two episodes:

'The Curse of the Jackal', played by the late Joseph A. Bennett

'Daredevils of the Desert', played by Douglas Henshall

An oddity: Lawrence Al-Arab, a Syrian TV series starring Jihad Saad in the title role.

You can watch episode one of the series online here. I've seen no Western writing on this series at all, and alas my Arabic is non-existent, so I'm not about to start... I'd love to hear from anyone who has seen and understood it. From a very cursory view, it does not appear to be anti-Lawrence (though it certainly looks anti-Turk!).

Coming more up to date, here's RPatz himself, Robert Pattinson, playing a supporting role as Lawrence in Queen of the Desert, Werner Herzog's Gertrude Bell biopic, which has so far only received a spotty release worldwide (garnering some pretty spotty reviews). Mind you, a pro-Arab film is a tough sell these days, sadly.

Finally, a couple of 'tributes'.

David McCallum in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode 'The Arabian Affair', in which Kuryakin claims to be Lawrence's son, to help get an Arab tribe on side against THRUSH.

... and Michael Fassbender as the android David in Ridley Scott's Prometheus. I wish I could find this bit of fan art in a big enough scan to put on a t-shirt...

So, who have I missed out? There's bound to be many, especially if one counts spoofs and tributes, but are there any other 'proper' on-screen portrayals of the historical T. E. Lawrence to add? Do let me know...

Bruce Robinson and Withnail on the YouTube

Bruce Robinson is currently doing the rounds to publicise his recently published Jack the Ripper book, They All Love Jack. Having now read all 800-odd pages of it, I can heartily recommend it to anyone who is even slightly intrigued by it.

Even if you've never read a book about the Ripper, if you're reading this blog entry I can only assume you're a fan of Robinson's work, and if that's the case, you won't be disappointed: it's written in his inimitable style, and is by turns shocking, deeply researched, closely argued, and, to be frank, an extended and often hilarious rant. Bruce is *furious* about corruption in Victorian society, and he's not shy about telling you why.

Does he completely nail his Ripper suspect beyond reasonable doubt? Not really, in my opinion, but it's as good a theory as any recent research has uncovered, and there is very definitely something about the historical record of Michael Maybrick (or rather, as Bruce points out, the suspicious lack of it) which points to a cover-up of some sort.

It's well worth a read: and if you're in the market for a copy signed by the author, which comes with an original (and now extremely scarce) copy of the sheet music for the Maybrick-penned song which gave Robinson his title, you just have to ask...

Interviews with Bruce Robinson are always a pleasure to read or listen to. He's pretty much incapable of uttering a dull sentence. Here's a bunch of links that should keep you happy on the YouTube for a goodly while...

The Peculiar Memories of Bruce Robinson documentary:

Bruce on the Ruby Wax show:

Withnail and Us documentary:

Radio 4's The Reunion, about Withnail and I (really excellent, this):

Bruce with Kermode and Mayo, on The Rum Diary:

... and a few more general Withnail links:

5 lads visit the filming locations:

A visit to, and inside, Uncle Monty's cottage, Sleddale Hall (before it was bought by its present owner, who is now busy restoring the house):

... and finally this small piece of genius. If you've seen it, you'll have no problem seeing it again. And if you've never seen it, you're in for a treat.

(... those last three videos are marked as parts 2, 3 and 4. If anyone ever comes across a part 1, do please let me know!)

A Halloween Plug: The Art of Horror

As well as manning the Little Shop, now and again I do a spot of freelance editorial work. A book I was Project Manager for has just been published in time for Halloween, and biased though I may be, it really is a stunner, and belongs on the coffee table of anyone remotely interested in its subject area. So if you'll forgive me, this is a shameless plug.

The Art of Horror is edited by Stephen Jones, and features a Foreword by Neil Gaiman, and over 500 images, from early engravings, via book and magazine covers, movie posters and paintings, to cutting-edge digital art, with contributions from a plethora of artists. 

It's organised into ten themed chapters, with written contributions from David J. Skal (on vampires), Jamie Russell (on zombies), Gregory William Mank (on Frankenstein's Creature and other man-made monsters), Kim Newman (on werewolves and shape-changers), Richard Dalby (on Ghosts), Barry Forshaw (on psychos), Lisa Morton (on Halloween horrors), S. T. Joshi (on Lovecraft), Bob Eggleton (on prehistoric monsters and other behemoths) and Robert Weinberg (on aliens). Alongside Stephen Jones' detailed captions, it all builds into a uniquely illustrated history of horror. It is, pun intended, bloody brilliant.

You can buy it at Amazon UK or US for a very decent discount, though of course you should patronise your local independent bookseller if you can. If you're quick, you can pre-order a copy HERE signed by Stephen Jones and a number of the contributors (including artist Dave McKean) from Forbidden Planet in London: the signing is on Halloween itself, Saturday October 30th.

Here's just two of the images from the book, the first being of Cumbria's very own legend, 'The Croglin Vampire'. I lobbied for it to be included in the vampires chapter, because it's a great painting by Les Edwards, but also because I live in Croglin!

The Croglin Vampire © Les Edwards

La Muerte Enamorada (Death in Love) © Chema Gil Ramirez

The contributor copies started going out a week or so ago, and for those of you who know who Basil Gogos is, you'll know how cool it was for him to pop up on Facebook proclaiming the book "may become the bible of Horror Art." In fearful imagery circles, this is like getting a blessing from the Pope.

MAY 2016 UPDATE: I'm delighted to say the book has won the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction. In horror publishing, this is the equivalent of winning an Oscar, so I'm very proud to have been involved!

A Dalek With Indigestion: The Doctor Who Story You've Never Seen!

With the good Doctor back on TV (he fought nasty aliens alongside Vikings last night), now's as good a time as any to post this oddity.

Back in their Christmas issue for 1964, the Radio Times included an 8 page supplement called 'Barbara in Wonderland', with a story by Rowan Ayres, and some specially shot photos. The Alice stand-in was Barbara Lord, a dancer from the BBC 2's hip and happening live music show The Beat Room (she later became better known as Babs in Pan's People). 'Wonderland' was the BBC Television Centre in London, then only a few years old, and certainly an exciting place full of wonders as far as the readers of the Radio Times were concerned.

The full story is below, thanks to the Radio Times archive website, but it's one encounter that's of interest here...

"Never be a slave to time. And never waste it, either." That's rather good. I can imagine Peter Capaldi saying that. Anyway, William Hartnell and a couple of Daleks were corralled for a photoshoot: one of the rarer colour photos of the First Doctor in action...

... and here's the whole thing. You should be able to grab and zoom in enough to read the scans...

Bruce Robinson Has Finally Unmasked Jack the Ripper!

"It is either one of the most arcane conspiracy theories in British criminal history, or it’s the truth. By the time you’ve turned the last page, Robinson leaves you in no doubt that it’s the latter."

The Telegraph

"If he’s right, it’s the biggest cover-up in British history. If he’s wrong – well, it’s still a bloody good read."

The Guardian

After at least fifteen years of research and writing Withnail and I creator Bruce Robinson's magnum opus They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper is nearly upon us, and the media campaign has begun.

As revealed on this blog many months ago, Robinson's culprit is the singer/songwriter Stephen Adams, aka Michael Maybrick, pictured above. You can bring yourself up to speed reading the previous blog posts about Robinson's adventures in Ripperland HERE and HERE.

Bruce was interviewed at his house by reporter Nicola Stanbridge on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning (at about 8.20, if you want to find it on the iPlayer listen again), and there's a huge article about the book and its author in today's Telegraph, which you can read HERE.

Meanwhile the first review is in, from the Grauniad, which concludes: "If he’s right, it’s the biggest cover-up in British history. If he’s wrong – well, it’s still a bloody good read." You can read the full review HERE.

Robinson is making several appearances over the next few weeks to talk about the book. Click below for more details of:

An event in London in conversation with Will Self

An appearance at the Cheltenham Literary Festival

An appearance in Leeds, coupled with a screening of a certain film, which he will introduce...

Finally, you can buy the book here, but of course you should be ordering it from your local independent bookshop.

UPDATE:
Another stop on Robinson's book tour, this time in Bath.

A review of the book by Craig Brown, who doesn't like it. But it's in the Daily Mail, so what do you expect?

A long Sunday Times feature/interview (though it's behind a paywall).

A Wall Street Journal article.

A long article in GQ.

Jeremy Brett Recreates Sydney Paget's Sherlock Holmes Illustrations

It's just over twenty years since Jeremy Brett died. I've enjoyed plenty of actors in the role over the years, but anyone who thinks there's ever been a better Sherlock Holmes is just plain wrong.

Much has been written about how Brett 'became' Holmes in a way that was somewhat unhealthy. While much of this is hyperbole, it is fair to say that some of the more extreme aspects of Brett's own character certainly didn't hurt when it came to creating a mesmerising Sherlock on screen.

Above all though, Brett just wanted to embody Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. For him, the text was sacrosanct, and any question about the character could be answered by going back to the stories. Similarly, for him, the original Sydney Paget illustrations were the visual source. Hence his delight in recreating them for the TV series (with thanks to this blog...)

There are several books about Brett as Holmes. Annoyingly, they are in so much demand from Sherlockians that they command rather high prices. Expect to pay £50+ for all but the last of these, though at least Bending the Willow is available as a cheaper ebook, and A Study in Celluloid is back in print from Gasogene Press.