Back from the chilly forests of medieval Japan, Sean and Cody put on their COVID-19 approved shemaghs and saddle up the camels for a dusty trip into the desert and the heart of one of the most beloved and acclaimed films of all time. In David Lean’s 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia, pasty British white guy Lawrence (Peter O’Toole) gets sent by khaki-wearing, cocktail-sipping sahibs to scope out the hottest new guerrilla commander in Arabia, Faisal (Alec Guinness in brownface), and see if he’d be up for a bit of Hulk-smash action against the Ottoman Turks, which, of course, he is. The result is an almost 4-hour spectacle atomic-powered by the greatest score in movie history. Environmental issues include the ecological impact of World War I, how desert environments and control of water shapes history and cultures, Western colonialism, and many more.

What effect did the First World War have on the global environment? How is an oasis formed? Can you really sink to your death in quicksand? How about a muddy shell crater? Was the real T.E. Lawrence queer, a sadist, or both? Why did he go around dressed like Jesus? Why is the score to this film so iconic? How do you pronounce the composer’s name? What’s up with Anthony Quinn’s terrible latex nose? Why would this film have been particularly terrible if it was made by the wrong people? Can we give the film a pass on some of its more problematic aspects because it’s just so fricking amazing? All of these questions are raised up on the seven pillars of wisdom in this latest episode of Green Screen.

Special thanks to Mark Aitken for permission to use his cover of the Lawrence of Arabia theme.

Lawrence of Arabia at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172/ Lawrence of Arabia at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/lawrence-of-arabia/

Next Movie Up: Kon-Tiki (1950 and 2012)

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