Synopsis for
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) More at IMDbPro »

The film opens with Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) as a civilian, riding his motorcycle down a narrow English country road, only to be killed when he tries to avoid a collision with a couple of bicyclists who were cycling on the wrong side of the road. His memorial service is staged at St. Paul's Cathedral. Reporters try to gain insights into this remarkable, but enigmatic, man from people who knew him, but with little success.

The movie then flashes back to Cairo during World War I, where Lawrence is a misfit British lieutenant, notable only for his insolence and knowledge of the Bedouin. Over the objections of a skeptical General Murray (Donald Wolfit), he is sent by Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains) of the Arab Bureau to assess the prospects of Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness) in his revolt against the Turks.

On his journey, his Bedouin guide is killed by Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) for drinking from his well without permission. Just outside Feisal's camp, he encounters his superior officer, Colonel Brighton (Anthony Quayle), who orders him to keep quiet, make his assessment and then leave. He promptly ignores these commands when he meets Feisal. His fine intellect and outspokenness piques the prince's interest.

Brighton advises the Arab leader to retreat after a major defeat, but Lawrence proposes an alternative, an attack on Aqaba. If taken, the town would provide a port from which the British could offload much-needed supplies for the rebellion, but it is too strongly guarded against a naval assault. However, Lawrence proposes an assault on the lightly-defended landward side. He convinces Feisal to provide fifty men on camels, led by Sherif Ali. As they prepare to leave, two teenage orphan boys, Daud (John Dimech) and Farraj (Michel Ray), attach themselves to Lawrence as his servants. They cross the Nefud Desert, considered impassable even by the Bedouins, travelling day and night on the last stage to reach water. Gasim (I. S. Johar) succumbs to fatigue and falls off his camel unnoticed during the night. The rest make it to an oasis, but Lawrence turns back for the lost man, risking his own life. When he rescues Gasim, the Bedouin are impressed, even the formerly-skeptical Sherif Ali.

Having crossed the desert, Lawrence meets with Auda abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn), the leader of the powerful local Howeitat tribe, and convinces him to turn against the Turks. Lawrence's plans are almost derailed when one of Ali's men kills one of Auda's because of a blood feud. Since no Howeitat can retaliate without angering Ali's followers and sparking further bloodshed, Lawrence declares that he will execute the murderer himself. He is stunned to discover that the culprit is Gasim, the man whose life he had saved, but he shoots him regardless. The intact alliance then sweeps into Aqaba and captures it in a surprise attack. Auda is less than pleased though, as the captured Turkish funds are in the form of paper notes, not gold as Lawrence had claimed.

Lawrence heads to Cairo, to inform Dryden and the new commanding general, General Allenby (Jack Hawkins), of his victory. Crossing the Sinai Desert, his servant Daud dies when he stumbles into quicksand. Lawrence is promoted two ranks to major and given arms and money to support the Arabs. He asks Allenby whether the Arabs' suspicions that the British have designs on Arabia after the Turks are driven out have any basis; the general says at first that he's not a politician, then when pressed, that they don't.

Lawrence launches a guerrilla war, blowing up trains and harassing the Turks at every turn. American war correspondent Jackson Bentley (Arthur Kennedy) makes him world famous by publicizing his exploits. With winter approaching, many of the tribesmen go home for the year, leaving fewer and fewer die-hard supporters to continue fighting. On one raid, Farraj is badly injured when the detonator he is carrying blows up prematurely. Unwilling to leave him for the Turks to torture, Lawrence is forced to shoot him before fleeing.

Down to twenty men, he scouts the enemy-held city of Daraa with Ali, but is taken, along with several Arab residents, to the decadent Turkish Bey (Jose Ferrer). For striking the Bey after he is covetously ogled and prodded, Lawrence is severely beaten and then thrown out into the street. Though the matter is controversial, historians and biographers (including Lawrence's authorized biographer, Jeremy Wilson) say that the rape implied by Seven Pillars of Wisdom and other sources is also implied in the film.[1] Traumatized by the experience, Lawrence abandons the fight and makes a futile attempt to return to ordinary life.

In Jerusalem, Allenby urges him to go back to the fighting to support his "big push" on Damascus, but Lawrence is a changed, tormented man and, at first, does not want to return. Lawrence relents and recruits an army, including many known killers and cutthroats motivated by money, rather than the Arab cause. They come upon a column of retreating Turkish soldiers, who have just slaughtered the inhabitants of the village of Tafas. One of Lawrence's men is from the village; describing the village, he cries "No prisoners!" before he charges the Turks on his own and is killed. Lawrence takes up the cry, "No prisoners!" - resulting in a massacre. Lawrence's men then take Damascus before Allenby.

The Arabs set up a council to administer the city, but they are tribesmen, not a nation. Unable to maintain the electricity, telephones, and waterworks, and clashing constantly with each other, they soon abandon most of Damascus to the British. Lawrence is promoted to colonel and then immediately deactivated and sent home, his usefulness at an end. The negotiations are left to Feisal and the British and French diplomats. A morose, dejected Lawrence rides in a staff car on his way back to England.

source:wikipedia