Film Classics: Lawrence of Arabia at the Paramount

Whenever someone says they’ve never seen Lawrence of Arabia, someone has to go, “What?!?! That’s so wrong!” It’s like some sort of rule. And if someone says they’ve never seen it on the big screen, everyone has to suck in their breath really hard like they just saw two cars almost collide: “Oh, man, you gotta see it on the big screen. You haven’t seen it if you haven’t seen it on the big screen!” (We suspect that many of the people that say that haven’t seen it on the big screen either. It’s just the rules.)

Well, guess what. You’ll never have to hear that again as of this weekend. Your friends at the Paramount are showing a restored print of this 70mm classic, voted the seventh best film of all time by the American Film Institute (you know they know film, cause check their name!). This epic saga about a young British soldier caught in tough political times in the desert sands of WWI Arabia stars acting legends Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Shariff, and Anthony Quinn. But there’s plenty more going for this film than just its all-star cast. The cinematography (remember that 70mm print we mentioned earlier?) and the musical score garnered Oscars, as did director David Lean’s (Dr. Zhivago ) directing. It’s a virtual
smorgasbord of delights for the eyes and ears, as well as the mind.

There are evening showings on Friday and Saturday, and two on Sunday, so there’s no excuse not to check this one off your “Must See Someday” list. Come on—a classic flick shown on the big screen, just the way it was meant to be seen. You’ll never be the butt of your pretentious film buff friends’ jokes again. Until they ask if you’ve seen the AFI’s tenth best film, Singin’ in the Rain, to which we recommend rolling your eyes and going “Musicals? Come on!” Then just run.