1962 - LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is half a great film.

Considering the amount of work and the difficulties in filming in the desert with the 70mm camera back in 1962, this is an amazing film.  However I believe the problem with Lawrence of Arabia has always been the inability of Lean and his writers Michael Wilson and particularly Robert Bolt to get a focus on exactly who or what the character of  T. E. Lawrence was.

 I really can't find anything wrong with the first half of this film.  The scenes of Lawrence traveling in the desert in search of Prince Faisal and the rallying of the Arabs to attack the seaport of Aqaba are brilliantly done.  The acting, the scenery, Freddie Young's photography in the middle of the god forsaken desert are about as good as you will see in a film especially an epic like this.  The film ends somewhat satisfactory with Lawrence's return to Cairo.  I would quibble a bit with some of the first half of the film.  Lawrence is presented as if he had never traveled in the desert, the reality was that he was stationed in the middle east during World War I because of his knowledge of that part of the world.  However after the intermission the real problems with Lawrence of Arabia begin.

The second half of the film focuses on the political maneuverings of the British government and the puzzling character of Lawrence himself.  The script does not make it very clear regarding the motivation of the British government is in the middle east.  Clearly it's to have some sort of presence but what exactly?  To me, it sounds like the British and the French want to take over the middle east after World War I.  First they have to deal with Prince Faisal played with the usual "Arab horse trader" cliches by Alec Guiness spouting lots of wise old middle east cliches.   After watching the first half of a film which is essentially an adventure epic, the film stops cold for lots of talk about treaties and agreements which are probably only of interest to middle eastern history majors not the general public.

Then it's on to the utter failure to define exactly what is going on with this T. E Lawrence guy.  The film would like people to believe that he is some sort of intellectual sadist who was also a homosexual masochist with a touch of the exhibitionist in him, really?  Peter O' Toole has a great presence on screen with his deep blue eyes but David Lean has directed him to play the character like some sort of odd creepy weirdo.  The audience is also supposed to believe that Lawrence had the best interests of the Arabic people at heart but by the end of the film they come off as a bunch of clueless morons who need a nutty British officer to tell them what to do.

Lawrence of Arabia is the first of David Lean's super epics along with Doctor Zhivago and Ryan's Daughter. All of these films are visually impressive and well made but they all suffer from script problems which David Lean and his writer Robert Bolt were unable to get a handle on.

228 minutes, written by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson.

1946 - GREAT EXPECTATIONS, classic film is good for lazy students who didn't finish the book and have a test the next day

Usually considered one of the best adaptations of a Charles Dickens novel, David Lean and his team brought this film in under two hours a considerable accomplishment considering most of these Dicken's novels are very long.

Lean and his writers apparently went through the book and underlined what they considered were the major scenes in it and then took this material and turned it into a screenplay.  Apparently this was accomplished in a couple of weeks which must be some kind of a record

The film is sort of a greatest hits of Great Expectations and having read the book (admittedly a long time ago) it's hard to figure out what exactly was left out of the film.  If I had any criticism of the film at all it would be with the ending which is just a  little contrived.  Pip finally gets Estella to see the light by literally having her walk into the light.

Even early in his career David Lean was the total pro when it came to making films.  The cinematography, acting, editing, production and sound design are at a very high level for what is a decent but modestly budgeted film.  This is a very easy film to watch for a 40's classic.

The screenplay was by David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame the running time is 113 minutes.

1965 - DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, David Lean's Russian soap opera

The second in David Lean's trilogy of super epics, Doctor Zhivago was at the time of filming  10 months in actual production.  This larger scale production has everything great photography, big sets, and crowds, an impressive film to watch.

At the time of release in 1965, the film got some of the worst reviews that David Lean had ever received, the chief focus was on Robert Bolt's screenplay which many critics felt cheapened and simplified Boris Pasternak's book.  The reality probably was that not a lot of people had actually read this very long and difficult novel.

What appears to have appealed to David Lean about Doctor Zhivago was the story of the gifted poet tormented by his love for two women.  Lean himself had a very messy personal life, so he probably could relate to the basic situation.

This was the film where I discovered how important photography could be in a film.  The cinematographer F.A. Young really outdid himself.  You could probably pull a still out of almost any part of the film and frame it.  Young filmed in 35 mm and blew it up to 70mm, you couldn't even tell, it's that good  Watching the film today, the photography's impressive if maybe a little glossy, still it's a real pleasure to watch this gorgeous film. 

After all the careful filming and planning, MGM forced Lean to rush through the post production and editing process to get the film into theaters due to their poor financial position.  The composer Maurice Jarre had very little time to score the film, he ended up writing a love theme called "Lara's Theme" which they used a lot throughout the film.   The song became very popular and was covered by just about every mainstream crooner in the world.

Doctor Zhivago's a very fine film that  didn't really turn out to be the masterpiece that David Lean had hoped for.   But he really knew how to put a film together and move the story along. Not a boring moment can be found in the entire 3 hours and 20 minutes. 

This film was extremely popular with audiences at the time of release and made a lot of money.

1949 - THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS David Lean reworks Brief Encounter

One of the few David Lean films that is not especially well known. Lean reworked the script and took over direction from Ronald Neame the future director of The Poseidon Adventure which pretty much finished off their long friendship. 

 

Yes that's David Lean driving the boat.

 

Lean used a complex flashback structure to tell the story of a woman,  Ann Todd who cheats on her husband. The very British actor Ann Todd was a woman Lean eventually left his wife for and had a pretty intense relationship and marriage with.

Ann Todd looks good in any film I've ever seen her in.  But she always acted like she had a corn cob up her butt. Not a lot of fun at a party, much less a woman to have a wild affair with. Claude Rains probably gives the best performance in the film as the pissed off husband, as pissed off as a husband can be in one of these "stiff upper lipped" British dramas.

 

The film is well made and good looking. David Lean always knew how to put a film together, but it's kind of a minor story compared to Great Expectations or Oliver Twist or even In Which We Serve,  Still an excellent example of superior film making from a superior director.

Running time 95 minutes. Written by Eric Ambler, Stanley Haynes, David Lean and H. G, Welles!