Screening:
Saturday, April 29, 8:00 PM, The Senator

Synopsis:
Peter O'Toole, who was virually unknown at the time, delivers a career-defining performance as T. E. Lawrence, a young maladjusted lieutenant in the British Army in North Africa during WWI. Unhappy with his assignment coloring maps, he is ecstatic when he is offered a job as an observer in the deserts of the land that would come to be called Saudi Arabia.

David Lean's follow-up to Bridge on the River Kwai was nominated for 10 Academy Awards-winning 7, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. Unfortunately, the film's star, Peter O'Toole was not one of the honorees that evening. Though he was nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance as T.E. Lawrence greatest screen, O'Toole was passed over for Gregory Peck who won for To Kill A Mocking Bird. This was the first of 7 times he would leave the party without Oscar.

Tidbit:
Thinking it would be "fun" to restore the complete version of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, Robert Harris embarked on what turned out to be a 2-year odyssey-involving months of intensive research; more months of detective work, as he literally scoured the world gathering over four tons of surviving picture and sound elements; and a touch of modern archeology as he attempted to reconstruct an entirely new negative with neither written continuity nor a surviving print of the original premiere version to work with. The end result, however, was proclaimed one of the great triumphs of film reconstruction and went on to win over new audiences in theatrical release.

Bio:
Bob Harris mixes art with archeology, bringing forth from the vaults, some of the 20th Century's greatest cinematicworks and magically reconstructing-restoring them for this and future generations to enjoy. A producer, whose credits include Stephen Frears' The Grifters, Harris began his restoration career assisting Kevin Brownlow in reviving Abel Gance's Napoleon. Harris, along with Partner James C. Katz, followed Lawrence of Arabia with an acclaimed restoration of Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (Sunday, April 30, 2:00 PM). They continues their dominence as the world's foremost experts in the complex reconstruction and restoration of large-format films with a restoration of My Fair Lady (Saturday, April 29, 1:00 PM), using the latest in digital technology to bring badly damaged source material back to life. Harris' latest projects have included two master works by Alfred Hitchcock: Vertigo and the recent re-issue of Rear Window. Harris is currently working on an original feature, and preparing for another major restoration, both with Katz.