In the first half, he’s a hero – in the second, he’s losing his mind. T.E. Lawrence is the conflicted figure who inserts himself into the Arab Revolt during World War I, only to find his reputation, sanity, and very identity hanging in the balance.

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is one of the best regarded movies of all time. Normally, that raises an eyebrow, but in this case, we find it’s absolutely still true. It’s a multifaceted portrait not just of the soldier-turned-diplomat thrillseeker but of the entire British insertion into the Arabian Peninsula. Its strength is in its scope: Impossibly wide vistas frame four men sitting in a tent as broadly as entire tribes, rarely letting a single face speak for itself. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is interested not in iconoclasm or image rehabilitation – only a complex, awesome portrait of a complex, awesome event and the people who shaped it.

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Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Overture" from the LAWRENCE OF ARABIA soundtrack by Maurice Jarre.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 236: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

1:38 - The episode actually starts

3:06 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.)

6:45 - Expectations of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA vs. the reality

14:43 - Broadening the scope beyond Lawrence

24:50 - The Lawrence we meet in the first half vs. the Lawrence we know in the second half

39:27 - The allegory of Lawrence

50:25 - The Junk Drawer

52:57 - Good Grief, Give Me a GIF!

58:37 - Cody’s Noteys: Try-Lawrence of Arabi-love