A Few Words About While we wait for A few words about...™ Lawrence of Arabia -- in 4k/UHD Blu-ray (4 Viewers)

[PaulDA]

Too bad I live too far away to attend. Hitchcock is my favourite director and I'd love to get a chance to visit that place.

 

[Paul Penna]

A shot I took of the school building in August 1964, the "Bodega Bay School" sign from the filming still in place.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/3769

 

[Charles Smith]

Nice, all of that.

 

[Robert Harris]

http://www.classic-auctions.com/Auctions/30-10-2013-ThePavilionGardens-1345/1935BroughSuperior4-LitreDualPurpose-36681.aspx

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I'll give you a ride in that after the auction.

 

[PaulDA]

Would that I had the money for that car. Perhaps a lucky lotto ticket for tonight's draw?

 

[Robert Harris]

http://library.creativecow.net/kaufman_debra/Restoring-Mary-Pickford-Film/1

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Amazing stuff you guys do, RAH and other restorers.

 

[Robert Harris]

http://cinefex.com/blog/

 

[OliverK]

Now kind of out in 4k according to a post on AVSforum:

I mentioned in the other thread for the x900a, that I downloaded Lawrence of Arabia. Check it out. At least look at the preview. It is quite something to behold. This and Life Cycles are the two best 4K movies I have seen so far. Lawrence is breathtaking in every way.

Boldened part by me.
Now where is that black cakebox and a compatible Sony 4k projector when I need them...

 

[Robert Harris]

http://your-story.org/john-wayne-set-play-lawrence-arabia-406790/

 

[Reed Grele]

Perhaps Mr. Wayne would have added a little more "awe" to the role.

 

[OliverK]

Perhaps Mr. Wayne would have added a little more "awe" to the role.

That would truly have made it the greatest story ever told.

 

[Seppo]

Wow, we really dodged a bullet there.

 

[Paul Rossen]

While talking about the casting of Wayne as Lawrence I would really like to see the 'elaborate' screen test of Albert Finney who was originally offered the role and supposedly turned it down stating he didn't want to be tied up in the desert for such a long period of time or be under long term contract to Sam Spiegel. I'm sure RAH had a chance to discuss this casting with David Lean.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I'm just trying to imagine the Duke delivering the line "Themistocles....a Greek philosopher".

 

[AdrianTurner]

While talking about the casting of Wayne as Lawrence I would really like to see the 'elaborate' screen test of Albert Finney who was originally offered the role and supposedly turned it down stating he didn't want to be tied up in the desert for such a long period of time or be under long term contract to Sam Spiegel. I'm sure RAH had a chance to discuss this casting with David Lean.

The extras on the Blu-ray disc (and the previous DVD) are a bit of a wasted opportunity. Putting aside all copyright problems, that Finney screen test would have been a marvellous extra - a 35mm print exists at the BFI Archive - not only for its value to see Finney as TEL but also to hear some of Michael Wilson's original screenplay. Also, the BBC's superb documentary, Lawrence and Arabia, would have put the real TEL into thorough historical context and I would also have added A Dangerous Man, the underrated TV-movie about TEL's involvement in the Paris peace talks. Ralph Fiennes makes a superb TEL in my view.

 

[Robert Harris]

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/polls-surveys/stanley-kubrick-cinephile

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm just trying to imagine the Duke delivering the line "Themistocles....a Greek philosopher".

And I always imagined someone else altogether in the role of the enigmatic TE Lawrence:

 

[PaulDA]

The extras on the Blu-ray disc (and the previous DVD) are a bit of a wasted opportunity. Putting aside all copyright problems, that Finney screen test would have been a marvellous extra - a 35mm print exists at the BFI Archive - not only for its value to see Finney as TEL but also to hear some of Michael Wilson's original screenplay. Also, the BBC's superb documentary, Lawrence and Arabia, would have put the real TEL into thorough historical context and I would also have added A Dangerous Man, the underrated TV-movie about TEL's involvement in the Paris peace talks. Ralph Fiennes makes a superb TEL in my view.

I use excerpts from Lawrence and A Dangerous Man in my Modern Middle Eastern History course to illustrate a number of points about changes in the way filmmakers approach historical subjects over time, as well as providing visual shorthand for some of the reading material when we cover that period. I believe Spielberg chose Fiennes to be in Schindler's List in part because he liked his performance as Lawrence.