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Lawrence of Arabia (film)

1962 film directed by David Lean

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 epic biographical drama film directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through the latter's British company Horizon Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It is based on the life of T. E. Lawrence and his 1926 book Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Lawrence of Arabia introduces Peter O'Toole as Lawrence, with Alec Guinness playing Prince Faisal. It also stars Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Jose Ferrer and Arthur Kennedy. The screenplay was written by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Lawrence of Arabia (film)” as 1962 film directed by David Lean. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lawrence, Arabia and film.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1962, 1926—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Lawrence, Arabia and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Lawrence of Arabia (film)”, the useful work is to connect “1962 film directed by David Lean” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1962 and 1926.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Lawrence of Arabia (film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Lawrence of Arabia (film) primary sources, Lawrence of Arabia (film) archive and Lawrence research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lawrence of Arabia (film)”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Lawrence of Arabia (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.