Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

 The story of Lawrence unfolds in flashbacks after his death from a motorcycle accident. A complex man, who at first abhors violence, confronts it head on in the desert as a symptom of war. Finding his aversion a cover for his actual passion for violence, Lawrence unwittingly then determinedly becomes a hero to the Arabs. The Arabs worship and camaraderie lead to conflicting emotions as Lawrence begins to question his allegiance to Britain and his passion for the desert.  For two years he leads a guerrilla army against the Turks, spilling blood and causing havoc. Towards the end of his crusade he is a broken and changed man leading an army made up of thugs instead of people devoted to the Arab cause. Things come to a head at the massacre at the village of Tafas, where Lawrence goes mental while slaughtering the enemy. The taking of Damascus is no longer victorious as Lawrence witnesses how the Arabs are ill-suited to the task of setting up governance in Damascus and abandon the city to the British, giving them further foothold on the Ottoman Empire and erasing whatever important work Lawrence first set out to accomplish. Deflated, Lawrence is promoted to Colonel and ordered home.

A movie filled with wonderful acting and rivaled only by it's breath-taking scenery, Lawrence of Arabia is definitely a classic essential. O'Toole is absolutely gorgeous in this film. So much so that after the premiere, Noel Coward told O'Toole, "If you had been any prettier, the film would have been called Florence of Arabia".  O'Toole is surrounded by some pretty heavy hitters who also give outstanding performances- most notably Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, and  José Ferrer who said, "If I was to be judged by any one film performance, it would be my five minutes in Lawrence." He must of forgotten his superb performance in Cyrano de Bergerac! Lawrence of Arabia is well worth the time it takes to watch it and I would definitely recommend!


Tonight on TCM!
Lawrence of Arabia! Now's your chance!!

The Ruling Class (1972)

Following the death of Ralph Gurney, the 13th Earl of Gurney (Harry Andrews), Jack Gurney (Peter O'Toole) becomes the 14th Earl of Gurney. However, Jack is quite insane. Claiming to be Jesus Christ, he shocks his family with talk of returning to the world to bring it love and charity. He finds solice sleeping upright on a cross when faced with unpalatable facts such as his true identity. His uncle, Sir Charles (William Mervyn) is set on getting him committed and decides to marry him off to his mistress, Grace (Carolyn Seymour), in hopes of producing an heir who will take on the title. However, his plan fails when Jack’s psychiatrist Dr. Herder (Michael Bryant) is persuaded by Lady Clair (Coral Browne), who hates her husband, to cure Jack. Further, Grace has completely fallen in love with Jack and Sir Charles own son Dinsdale (James Villiers) is his ally.


Herder spends nine months trying to cure Jack and it isn’t unitl the night Grace goes into labor with their first child that Herder makes a break through. He introduces Jack to "The Electric Messiah" (Nigel Green) another patient who believes he is Christ. He uses his “electroshock” to jolt Gurney out of his delusions, showing him that the two men could not both be God and so he must really be the 14th Earl of Gurney. The plan works and Jack eventually does claim himself to be Jack.

Unfortunately he now thinks he is Jack the Ripper. Becoming the very opposite of his Jesus Christ character, Jack is now a violent psychopath with a fanatical hatred of women. He murders Lady Claire when she tries to seduce him and frames the Communist family butler, Tucker (Arthur Lowe), for the murder. He will eventually murder Grace for expressing her love for him. He also plans to take his place in the House of Lords, reestablish the death penalty, and bring Britain back to it’s former glory. Ironically, this side of Jack is more accepted in his class of people and they embrace this side of him.

I love Peter O’Toole. I mean seriously, has he ever been in anything terrible, and if so, was he terrible in it? I think not. The man is an amazing talent and it’s a shame that he was nominated eight times (thus far) and never received an Oscar for a singular performance. I remember the beginning of his speech when he did receive the Honorary Academy Award for his body of work in 2003…”Always a bridesmaid, never a bride…” Apparently he balked at the idea of accepting this honor. He wrote the Academy that he wanted more time to “win the lovely bugger outright”. But is children convince him that it was the highest honor one could receive in his field and so he accepted it.

O’Toole was especially wonderful in The Ruling Class because we get to see two opposing sides of him. Thus the film is lighthearted and funny for the first half, dark and sadistic for the second half, all due to O’Toole’s splendid form of acting. I could listen to the man talk all day and The Ruling Class offers up some hilarious and daring soliliquies. Oh, and the film breaks into spontaneous song and dance at the most unexpected moments. O’Toole sings and dances- it’s fantastic!



Oscar trivia:

Peter O’Toole has been nominated eight times for Best Actor for his roles in Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye Mr. Chips (Must see this!), The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man, My Favorite Year (Hilarious!), Venus.

The Lion in Winter (1968)

The Lion in Winter concerns the dysfunctional family of King Henry (Peter O’Toole) and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn). Eleanor, who has been kept imprisoned in a tower for the past ten years due to her efforts in raising civil war against Henry in the past, has been let out for Christmastide and the visit of King Philip II of France (Timothy Dalton). Due to the death of their heir apparent Henry, King Henry must name a new heir from their three sons, Richard, Geoffrey, and the youngest, John. All of who are vying for the privilege of being the next king. Eleanor favors Richard (Anthony Hopkins), while Henry favors John (Nigel Terry). Poor Geoffrey (John Castle) isn’t considered at all. To complicate matters, the young Phillip is visiting expressly to remind Henry of a treaty he signed many years earlier with his father King Louis (who was once Eleanor’s husband until their marriage was annulled), promising Philip’s sister Alais’ (Jane Merrow) hand in marriage to Henry’s heir. However, Alais has been Henry’s mistress for the past few years, and Henry secretly hopes to marry her off to John but keep her for himself.

 When it becomes apparent that Eleanor and Henry will spend Christmas trying to outmaneuver, scheme and plot for their choices of heir with no consideration for him, Geoffrey begins to plot with King Phillip, planning a war against his father. A plot that will eventually include his younger brother John who ignorantly believes his father when he announces to Eleanor that Richard will be king. Not seeing it for the sneaky maneuver it really is, Henry will discover Geoffrey and John’s plan. Combined with his sudden knowledge that Richard prefers men to women, Henry realizes that he wants none of his sons to be the next king. After much consideration, he decides to annul Eleanor, marry Alais and make new heirs. A tricky maneuver Eleanor immediately pounces on due to Henry’s age, his inability to will Alais to bare sons, and even then, his inability to protect said sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John who would naturally fight for the throne.


The Lion in Winter explores many themes beyond the dysfunctional family such as political maneuvering, love loss, aging, death, and of course, inheritance. Filled with much plotting and scheming, it’s difficult to believe what and who is true or false.

Hepburn, in what I consider to be her best role yet (this is no Hepburn of the 30’s and 40’s here), elicits such sympathy as the independent yet pitiful Eleanor, a woman who still loves her husband but only arouses his passion through anger and insult. Though she manages to tolerate seeing Henry with Alais (a girl she had a hand in raising), her jealousy is translated through civil war against her husband using her son’s rivalry to aid them in committing treason and even possibly, murder.

O’Toole, who continues his reign as Henry II from the earlier film Becket (1964) does so masterfully. In Becket, his Henry is portrayed over a number of years, he is young, impetuous, a serious womanizer, warrior, and lover of all things fun. However, by the end of the film, some of that fire has gone out of him with the death of Becket. In The Lion in Winter, he is much tamer but still has the strength to roar when the situation calls for it- mostly when Eleanor is around. Like when she confesses she slept with Becket and his father. She knows how to goad him, in a way trying to prove there is still love or passion there. There is, making it all the more heartbreaking that they cannot get along better. They have been at war so long, that neither knows a better way to communicate beyond taunts and insults.

Beyond O’Toole and Hepburn, The Lion in Winter also features great acting from newcomers Anthony Hopkins and my long-time crush, the ever-handsome Timothy Dalton (who made a perfectly wonderful 007, in my book). I highly recommend this film. The dialogue alone is quite a treat!

Tonight on TCM!
Featuring director Josef von Sternberg!

Period Pieces...