It's astonishing to think that Lean's stately masterpiece was made half a century ago, a mere 27 years after the death of TE Lawrence, and that following the initial showing in 1962 the film was cut, making it necessary for the restorers to have Charles Gray dub the voice of the late Jack Hawkins. There are no intelligent epics like this today and, because of computer-generated effects, it's unlikely that there ever will be again. To appreciate the film fully, Lawrence must be seen in a cinema, in 70mm on the widescreen and in stereophonic sound, and the present theatrical revival is not to be missed. I spent a year in the desert doing my national service and read The Seven Pillars of Wisdom there, but when I think of sand it's Freddie Young's images from Lawrence that I remember.
I'll never forget seeing the film for the first time at the Odeon, Leicester Square, a few weeks before Christmas 1962, and meeting my old university friend, Christopher Lambert, during the interval. Kit was a flamboyant gay, later co-manager of the Who before going to an early grave. "This is the first queer epic," he proclaimed to anyone in the foyer within hearing distance, and rhapsodised over the romantic encounters of a dune kind between Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif.
If you can't get to a cinema or want to have a souvenir, there's a handsomely produced 50th anniversary special edition (12, Sony Pictures), which contains three Blu-ray discs that include the film itself, some first-rate documentaries, various interviews, deleted scenes (introduced by the great Anne V Coates who won an Oscar as editor) and a frame from the 70mm print. It's accompanied by an attractively produced book about the production and a CD of the score.
