Lawrence of Arabia or Smith in the Desert?

David Lean's film reviewed by a historian

Jeremy Wilson

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The disclaimer
Not many people will have read this: it is tucked away at the end of the film:  

'This story is based upon actual events, however, some of the characters and incidents portrayed and the names herein are fictitious, and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person, living or dead, or any actual event is entirely coincidental and unintentional'

In other words....

Major characters in the film who were real people:

• T.E. Lawrence

• General Allenby

• Emir Feisal

• Auda Abu Tayi

For these characters, it is legitimate to question the historical plausibility of words and actions.

Objections by historians, families, friends and survivors were telling criticisms of the film. But they were telling only if you believe that a 'historical' film - in order to validate its claim to be historical - should at least in essence be historically accurate. The alternative is to accept that calling films 'historical' is little more than a marketing ploy. In other words, it doesn't matter if a film about a historical event is complete fiction, so long as audiences enjoy it and tell their friends. In that scenario, the key is to get people past the box office in the first place - and of course the title Lawrence of Arabia was likely to do that

Where does David Lean's film lie on that spectrum? Is it sufficiently accurate - at least in essence - to warrant the title Lawrence of Arabia? Or is the title it really merits something like Smith in the Desert?

The major fictional characters:

• Dryden

• Colonel Brighton

• Sherif Ali

• Jackson Bentley

The words and actions of these characters were constrained neither by historical fact nor specific plausibility.

Yet in this film they are crucial to the narrative and interpretation.

Dryden  

Modelled on:

Ronald Storrs, D.G. Hogarth, and others.

Comment
According to Adrian Turner (AT p. 83) Dryden was introduced by Bolt, who "used the character to represent the civilian and political wing of British interests, to balance Allenby's military objectives."  In real life Storrs, a public servant, played little role after the beginning of the Revolt (though Lawrence encountered him in passing as the Governor of Jerusalem). Hogarth, whose real-life role seems closer to Dryden's, wore uniform. Yet, as a travelling scholar and archeologist with a profound knowledge of history, he seems to have been far less cynically political than Dryden.

Colonel Brighton  

Modelled on:

C. E. Wilson, S. F. Newcombe, and others.  

Comment
Brighton is a composite, but many of his lines echo real sentiments of the time. As a person, Brighton seems to me to be one of the most valid characters in the film. That said, he is also an out-and-out stereotype: an easy character to write. In real life Newcombe was not in the least like Dryden, even though he failed to identify as successfully as Lawrence with the Arab tribesmen.

Sherif Ali ibn Kharish of the Harith

Modelled on:

Various Arab leaders in Seven Pillars of Wisdom including a real Harith chief, Sherif Ali ibn el Hussein.

Comment
No single Arab leader was with Lawrence for so much of the campaign, and none matches the relationship portrayed between Lawrence and Ali in the film. Nor does Ali ibn el Hussein, in particular, appear in Seven Pillars to be a person with political ambitions. 

The supposition that this is Ali ibn el Hussein seems to have influenced subsequent popular biographers such as Desmond Stewart; but the film Ali and Ali ibn el Hussein were not present at the same events.

Jackson Bentley

Modelled on:

Lowell Thomas, and journalists generally

Comment
Adrian Turner seems to hint (AT p. 82) that the extent of Bentley's role may owe something to the original Wilson script. In Bolt's version, 'Lowell Thomas became Jackson Bentley . . . and his role in the plot became rather less important. Wilson, we recall, was first asked to adapt Thomas' book and this original concept, which made Thomas the virtual narrator of the picture, was hard to shake off, even when the rights to Lawrence's own book were secured.'

In real life Thomas was younger than Lawrence and was with the Arabs for only a week, whereas Bentley appears repeatedly. As a middle-aged journalist, 'Bentley' seems to embody worldly experience and cynical wisdom.

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