more movie mumblings

Lawrence of Arabia-- well, it was one of the first movies filmed in CINEMASCOPE, it was Peter O'Toole's signature role, it was a huge cecil B Demille -esque production (they hired the Moroccan Army to play the Bedouin "army"), and the locations for the film (the Sahara Desrt) are as much a part of why it's spectacular as the drama. It's basically a biopic of T E Lawrence, British scholar turned soldier, who is considered one of the great adventurers of the 20th centuy. I remember reading Colin Wilson's book "The Outsiders" (you might remember him as the one who delighted millions with "The Mid Parasites") back in 1980 in which T E Lawrence figured prominently as a symbol of the lone genius defying convention to achieve greatness. "Lawrence" was made in 1962 and seems dated in many ways (such as Alec Guiness in dark makeup playing King Faisal) but was really an interesting story. My friend Marion says that Lawrence of Arabian is a good overview of the historic roots of the present day conflict in the mideast, and in a sense I agree.