Original subtitles

[intense music playing]

[classical music playing]

[tires squealing]

He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew.

Did you know him well?

I knew him.

Well, nil nisi bonum.

But did he really deserve

a place in here?

Lord Allenby, could you give me a few words about Colonel Lawrence?

What? More words?

The revolt in the desert played a decisive part

in the Middle Eastern campaign.

Yes, sir, but about Colonel Lawrence himself.

No.

No, I didn't know him well, you know.

Mr. Bentley, you know as much

about Colonel Lawrence as anybody does.

Yes, it was my privilege to know him

and to make him known to the world.

He was a poet, a scholar, and a mighty warrior.

Thank you.

He was also the most shameless exhibitionist

since Barnum and Bailey.

You, sir. Who are you?

My name is Jackson Bentley.

I overheard your last remark,

and I take the gravest possible exception.

-He was a very great man. -Did you know him?

No, sir, I can't claim to have known him.

I once shook his hand in Damascus.

Knew him? No, I never knew him.

He had some minor function on my staff in Cairo.

Michael George Hartley,

this is a nasty, dark little room.

That's right.

We are not happy in it.

I am. It's better than a nasty, dark little trench.

Then you're an ignoble fellow.

That's right.

-[whistling] -Ah,

here is William Potter with my newspaper.

-Here you are, tosh. -Thanks.

Would you care for one of Hartley's cigarettes?

Ta.

-Is it there? -Of course.

Headlines.

But I'll bet it isn't mentioned in the Times.

"Bedouin...tribes... attack...Turkish...stronghold."

And I'll bet that no one in this whole headquarters

even knows it happened or would care if it did.

Allow me to ignite your cigarette.

Sir?

Mr. Lawrence.

Yes?

-Flimsy, sir. -Thank you.

You'll do that once too often. It's only flesh and blood.

Michael George Hartley, you're a philosopher.

And you're balmy.

Oh!

-It damn well hurts! -Certainly, it hurts.

Well, what's the trick, then?

The trick, William Potter,

is not minding that it hurts.

By the way, if Captain Gibbon should inquire for me,

tell him I've gone for a chat with the general.

He's balmy.

He's all right.

Lawrence.

-Yes? -You're supposed to be--

Do you usually wear your cap in the mess?

Always.

You're supposed to be on duty. Where are you going?

Mustn't talk shop in the mess.

I'm having a powwow with the general.

I'm not asking as your superior, Lawrence.

I'm asking as secretary of this mess.

We don't want chaps in here who should be on duty.

Where are you going, please?

I must say, Lawrence!

Sorry.

You're a clown, Lawrence.

Ah, well, we can't all be lion tamers.

Sorry.

It's an intrigue, Dryden!

And I do not propose

to let an overweening, finicky, crass lieutenant

thumb his nose at his general officer commanding

and get away with it.

It doesn't sound as though he'd be any great loss.

Now, don't try that, Dryden.

There's a principle involved.

There is indeed. He's of no use in Cairo.

He might be in Arabia.

He knows his stuff.

Knows the books, you mean.

I've already sent Colonel Brighton, who's a soldier.

And if Brighton thinks we should send them some small arms, then we will.

What more do you want?

There would be no question

of Lieutenant Lawrence giving military advice.

By God, I should hope not.

It's just that the Arab Bureau

would like its own man on the spot, sir, to...

To what?

To make our own appraisal of the situation.

It's my considered opinion, and that of my staff,

that any time spent on the Bedouin will be time wasted.

They're a nation of sheep stealers.

They did attack Medina.

And the Turks made mincemeat of them.

We don't know that, sir.

We know they didn't take it.

A storm in a teacup, Dryden. A sideshow.

If you want my opinion,

this whole theater of operations is a sideshow.

The real war is being fought

against the Germans, not the Turks.

And not here, but on the Western front, in the trenches.

Your Bedouin army, or whatever it calls itself,

would be a sideshow of a sideshow.

Big things have small beginnings.

Does the Arab Bureau want a big thing in Arabia?

If they rise against the Turks,

does the Bureau think they'll sit quietly under us when this war is over?

They think the job of the moment is to win the war.

Don't tell me my duties, Dryden.

-Lawrence, sir. -Send him in.

-Good morning, sir. -Salute.

If you're insubordinate,

I shall put you under arrest.

It's my manner, sir.

-Your what? -My manner.

It looks insubordinate, but it isn't.

I can't make out whether you're bloody bad-mannered or just half-witted.

I have the same problem, sir.

-Shut up. -Yes, sir.

The Arab Bureau seem to think you would be of use in Arabia.

Why, I can't imagine.

You don't seem able to perform your present duties.

"I cannot fiddle, but I can make a great state

-from a little city." -What?

Themistocles, sir, a Greek philosopher.

I know you've been well-educated, Lawrence.

It says so in your dossier.

You're the kind of creature I can't stand, Lawrence.

But I suppose I could be wrong.

All right, Dryden. You can have him for six weeks.

Who knows? You might even make a man of him.

-[knocking on door] -Come in.

-Yes, what is it? -Navy signal, sir.

The convoy will be in Port Said tomorrow.

-Is that certain? -Yes, sir.

There doesn't seem to be any artillery, sir.

But there must be artillery!

Sir, this is something of an expedition.

He has to get to Yenbo, find a guide,

find the Arabs, and get back.

He can't do that in six weeks.

Two months, then.

Three.

All right, three.

Now will you let me do some work, Mr. Dryden?

Thank you, sir.

I'd like to say, sir, that I am grateful--

Shut up and get out.

Sir.

How can I fight a bloody war

without bloody artillery?

How did you do it?

You might better ask why I bothered to.

Because I'm the man for the job.

I just wonder about that.

Of course I'm the man for the job.

What is the job, by the way?

Find Prince Feisal.

Good, and when I've found him?

Find out what kind of man he is.

Find out what his intentions are.

I don't mean his immediate intentions.

That's Colonel Brighton's business, not yours.

I mean his intentions in Arabia altogether.

Oh.

That's new.

Where are they now?

Anywhere within 300 miles of Medina.

They're Hashemite Bedouins.

They can cross 60 miles of desert in a day.

Oh, thanks, Dryden. This is going to be fun.

Lawrence, only two kinds of creature get fun in the desert.

Bedouins and gods. And you're neither.

Take it from me.

For ordinary men, it's a burning, fiery furnace.

No, Dryden. It's going to be fun.

It is recognized

that you have a funny sense of fun.

[majestic music playing]

Here you may drink.

One cup.

You do not drink?

No.

I'll drink when you do.

I am Bedu.

Truly, now, you are a British officer?

Yes.

From Cairo?

Yes.

You did not ride from Cairo?

No, thank heaven. It's 900 miles.

I came by boat.

And before?

From Britain?

Yes.

-Truly? -From Oxfordshire.

Is that a desert country?

No.

A fat country.

Fat people.

You are not fat?

No.

I'm different.

Here.

Take it.

First I take you to Lord Feisal.

Then you give it to me.

Take it now.

Bedu food.

Good.

More?

[majestic music playing]

[braying]

[Tafas] Bedu.

[Lawrence] Where?

From here to Lord Feisal's camp is Harith country.

Yes, I know.

I am not Harith.

No. Hazimi of the Beni Salem.

Ah. [chuckles]

Put the right foot in tight.

Lock it with your left foot.

Then when you're ready to go,

hit her on the shoulder and say, "Hut-hut-hut."

Hut-hut-hut!

[Tafas] Ahh.

Today will be difficult, but tomorrow, good riding.

I think we reach Masturah Well tomorrow.

Yes. And from Masturah Well to Lord Feisal's camp,

one day more. Now!

[splashes]

Good?

It's all right.

This is a Harith well.

The Harith are a dirty people.

[whistling]

[splashes]

Turks?

Bedu.

Who is he?

Tafas!

[gun fires]

He is dead.

Yes.

Why?

This is my well.

I have drunk from it.

You are welcome.

He was my friend.

-That? -Yes. That.

-This pistol yours? -No. His.

His?

Mine.

Then I will use it.

Your, uh, friend...

was a Hazimi of the Beni Salem.

I know.

I am Ali ibn el Kharish.

I've heard of you.

So...

what was a Hazimi doing here?

He was taking me to help Prince Feisal.

You have been sent from Cairo.

Yes.

I have been in Cairo for my schooling.

I can both read and write.

My Lord Feisal already has an Englishman.

Yes.

What is your name?

My name is for my friends.

None of my friends is a murderer.

You are angry, English.

He was nothing.

The well is everything.

The Hazimi may not drink at our wells.

He knew that.

Salaam.

Hut-hut-hut!

Sherif Ali!

So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe,

so long will they be a little people,

a silly people.

Greedy, barbarous, and cruel...

as you are!

Come. I will take you to Feisal.

I do not want your company, sherif.

Wadi Safra is another day from here.

You will not find it,

and not finding it, you will die.

I will find it... with this.

Good army compass.

How if I take it?

Then you would be a thief.

Have you no fear, English?

My fear is my concern.

Truly.

God be with you, English.

♪ As I walk along The Bois de Boulogne ♪

♪ With an independent air ♪

♪ You can hear The girls declare ♪

♪ He must be a millionaire

[echoing] ♪ ...Girls declare He must be a millionaire ♪

♪ You can rumpty-tumpty- Tumpty-tum ♪

[echoing] ♪ You can rumpty-tumpty- Tumpty-tum ♪

♪ Ti-tuddlety-tumpty- Tumpty-tum ♪

[echoing] ♪ ...Tumpty-tumpty-tum ♪

♪ I'm the man Who broke the bank At Monte Carlo ♪

[echoing] ♪ Man who broke the bank At Monte Carlo ♪

[clapping echoing]

Hey! You!

[echoing] Hey! You!

I've been waiting for you.

Did you know I was coming?

I knew someone was coming. Feisal told me.

How did he know?

Not much within 50 miles of Feisal he doesn't know. I'll give him that.

No escort?

My guide was killed at the Masturah Well.

-Turks? -No. An Arab.

Bloody savages.

This is Wadi Safra, isn't it?

Yes. They're over there.

What's your name and who sent you?

Lawrence.

I've been seconded to the Arab Bureau.

Oh.

And what are you to do for the Arab Bureau?

It's rather vague, sir.

I'm to appreciate the situation.

Well, that won't be difficult.

The situation's bloody awful.

Their morale, if ever they had any, which I doubt,

the Turks knocked out of them

in front of Medina, with howitzers.

They're fading away by dozens every night.

What I want to say to you is this.

That wherever you are and whoever you're with,

you're a British-serving officer, and here's an order.

When we get into that camp, you're to keep your mouth shut.

-Do you understand? -Yes, sir. I understand.

Make your appreciation and get back to--

[explosion]

Oh, my God.

Not again.

[explosion]

[explosion]

I've told him! God knows, I've told him!

"Move south," I said.

"You're still in range."

They simply will not understand what modern weapons do.

[chattering indistinctly]

[gun firing]

[screaming]

[screams]

Stand and fight!

Stand and fight!

Fire back at them!

[gun firing]

[men yelling and camels braying]

[men yelling]

[man screaming in other language]

Who are you?

Lieutenant Lawrence, sir.

Seconded to the Arab Bureau.

This is a bloody mess, sir. We'll have to move south.

Yes, Colonel. 50 miles south.

You were right and I was wrong.

We must take some thought for the wounded.

Well, we can take care of them at Yenbo, sir.

-If they can get to Yenbo. -They can hardly come with us.

No. They must try to reach Yenbo.

Lieutenant...

Lawrence.

You understand, Lieutenant Lawrence,

My people are unused to explosives and machines.

First the guns, and now this.

Cigarette?

I'm sorry.

Hey!

Cigarette, Your Excellency?

Umph off!

Please, Your Excellency.

Just one for two?

Heh, heh, heh, heh!

[camel grunts]

Hold it, Jenkins!

Ha, ha, ha!

Jenkins!

Jenk-- Jenkins!

[laughing]

Aurens?

Aurens.

Aurens.

You have no servant.

I don't need a servant.

No? We can do everything.

Light fires, cook food, wash clothes.

-Yes, everything. -I don't doubt it.

It will be very nice for you.

I can't afford it.

[people laughing]

[praying in Arabic]

[man] Recite as much of the Koran as may be easy to you.

God knoweth that there be some among you sick,

while others travel through the Earth

in quest for the bounties of God.

Others do battle in his cause.

Recite, therefore, as much as may be easy

and observe the prayers.

This will be best and richest in the recompense.

Seek ye the forgiveness of God.

Verily, God is forgiving, merciful--

Greetings, Ali.

-My lord. -Sherif Ali.

Lieutenant Lawrence,

you have met Sherif Ali, I think.

Yes, my Lord.

And now, Selim, "The Brightness."

"By the noonday brightness

"and by the night when it darkeneth,

"thy lord hath not forsaken thee,

"neither hath he been displeased.

"And surely the future

"shall be better for thee than the past.

"And in the end shall your Lord

"be bounteous to thee,

and thou be satisfied."

So...

Ahem!

Yes, Colonel?

I want a decision, sir.

You want me to fall back on Yenbo.

Well, you're not doing much good here, sir.

I'm sorry to rub it in, sir, but we can't supply you here.

You could supply us through Aqaba.

Aqaba? Well, if you can get ahold of Aqaba, sir,

of course we can supply you.

-But you can't. -You could.

You mean the navy?

The Turks have 12-inch guns at Aqaba, sir.

Can you imagine what that means?

Yes. I can imagine.

Put that out of your mind, sir.

The navy's got other things to do.

Oh, yes. Protecting the Suez Canal.

The one essential sector of this front is and must be the canal.

You can see that, sir, surely.

I see the canal is an essential British interest.

It is of little consequence to us.

I must ask you not to speak like that, sir.

British and Arab interests are one and the same.

Possibly.

[Ali] Hah!

Hah!

Upon my word, sir, you're ungrateful.

Fall back on Yenbo, and we will give you equipment, arms,

advice, training, everything!

Guns?

A modern rifle for every man.

No. Guns! Artillery!

Guns like the Turkish guns at Medina.

Yes. Give us guns and keep the training.

Your men need training far more than guns.

The English will teach the Bedu to fight?

We'll teach them, Sherif Ali,

-to fight a modern, mechanized army. -In the--

Yes, Lieutenant?

What do you think about Yenbo?

I think it is far from Damascus.

[Brighton] We'll have you in Damascus! Never fear.

Have you been in Damascus, Mr. Lawrence?

Yes, my Lord.

It is beautiful, is it not?

-Very. -That will do, Lawrence!

Dreaming won't get you to Damascus,

but discipline will.

Look, sir, Great Britain is a small country.

It's much smaller than yours.

A small population compared with some.

It's small, but it's great. Why?

-Because it has guns. -Because it has discipline.

Because it has a navy.

Because of this, the English go where they please

and strike where they please, and this makes them great.

-Right. -Mr. Lawrence, that'll do!

Lieutenant Lawrence is not your military adviser.

But I would like to hear his opinion.

Damn it, Lawrence, who do you take your orders from?

From Lord Feisal in Feisal's tent.

Old fool!

Why turn from him to him? They are master and man.

My Lord, I think...

I think your book is right.

The desert is an ocean in which no oar is dipped.

And on this ocean, the Bedu go where they please

and strike where they please.

This is the way the Bedu has always fought.

You're famed worldwide for fighting this way.

And this is the way you should fight now.

I don't know.

I'm sorry, but you're wrong.

Fall back on Yenbo,

and the Arab Rising becomes one poor unit in the British army.

[Ali] What is this to you?

[Brighton] Lawrence, do you know you're a traitor?

No, no, colonel. He is a young man,

and young men are passionate,

but they must say their say,

but wiser people must decide.

I know you are right.

Very well. When shall we move? The sooner the better.

You'll lose another 50 men tonight.

You tread heavily... but you speak the truth.

I will give you my answer tomorrow.

And now, uh... it is late.

Colonel Brighton means to put my men

under European officers, does he not?

In effect, my Lord, yes.

And I must do it,

because the Turks have European guns,

but I fear to do it.

[creaking]

Upon my soul, I do.

The English have a great hunger for desolate places.

I fear they hunger for Arabia.

Then you must deny it to them.

You are an Englishman.

Are you not loyal to England?

To England and to other things.

To England and Arabia both?

And is that possible?

I think you are another of these

desert-loving English.

Doughty, Stanhope,

Gordon of Khartoum.

No Arab loves the desert.

We love water and green trees.

There is nothing in the desert.

No man needs nothing.

Or is it that you think we are something you can play with

because we are " a little people. A silly people.

Greedy, barbarous and cruel"?

Or do you know, Lieutenant,

in the Arab city of Cordoba

were two miles of public lighting in the streets

when London was a village.

Yes. You were great.

Nine centuries ago.

Time to be great again, my Lord.

Which is why my father made this war upon the Turks.

My father, Mr. Lawrence, not the English.

But my father is old.

And I...

I long for the vanished Gardens of Cordova.

However, before the gardens must come the fighting.

To be great again,

It seems that we need the English or...

Or?

What no man can provide, Mr. Lawrence.

We need a miracle.

[creaking]

[wind blowing]

Aqaba.

Aqaba.

From the land.

You are mad. To come to Aqaba by land,

we should have to cross the Nefud Desert.

That's right.

The Nefud cannot be crossed.

I'll cross it if you will.

You?

It takes more than a compass, Englishman.

The Nefud is the worst place God created.

I can't answer for the place,

only for myself.

-Fifty men? -Fifty?

Against Aqaba?

If 50 men came out of the Nefud,

they would be 50 men other men might join.

The Howeitat are there, I hear.

The Howeitat are brigands.

They would sell themselves to anyone.

Good fighters, though.

Good? Yes.

There are guns at Aqaba.

They face the sea, Sherif Ali,

and cannot be turned round.

From the landward side there are no guns at Aqaba.

With good reason.

It cannot be approached from the landward side.

Certainly the Turks don't dream of it.

Aqaba is over there.

It's only a matter of going.

You are mad.

[Feisal] And where are you going, Lieutenant...

with 50 of my men?

To work your miracle.

Blasphemy is a bad beginning for such a journey.

Who told you?

Ali did.

Why not you?

You are falling back on Yenbo, sir?

Yes. Yes, I must,

but I will spare these to you.

Did Ali break confidence to tell me?

Sherif Ali owes you his allegiance, my Lord.

Yet you did not tell Colonel Brighton.

No.

[camels groaning]

Since you do know, we can claim to ride

in the name of Feisal of Mecca?

Yes, Lieutenant Lawrence. You may claim it.

But in whose name do you ride?

[intense fanfare music playing]

[imperceptible]

[laughing]

Ow!

Sherif, I caught them. They have tracked us.

They were here.

I caught them.

Why are you here? Boy!

To serve Lord Aurens, sherif.

This is true, Aurens. They do wish it.

You have been tracking us.

You were told to stay.

No, sherif. Our camel strayed. We followed her.

She led us here to be Lord Aurens' servants.

It is the will of Allah.

-Blasphemy! -Don't do that!

No, no, Aurens. These are not servants.

These are outcasts, parentless.

Be warned. They are not suitable.

They sound very suitable.

You can ride with the baggage.

-These are not servants. -[yelps]

These are worshippers.

Aurens.

One shilling every week.

That is fair.

Each.

-No! That is too much! -All right.

They will be lucky for you.

Allah favors the compassionate.

There is the railway.

And that...

is the desert.

From here until the other side,

no water but what we carry.

For the camels, no water at all.

If the camels die...

we die.

And in 20 days, they will start to die.

[camel groans]

There's no time to waste, then,

is there?

Hut!

[clamoring]

I was thinking.

You were drifting.

Yes.

It will not happen again.

Be warned.

You were drifting.

It will not happen again.

That water is wasted.

From now on we must travel by night

and rest while it is too hot to travel,

a few hours each day.

Why don't we start now?

No. We will rest now.

Three hours.

Fine.

I'll wake you.

[camels bellowing]

[camels groaning]

Do we rest here?

There is no rest now short of water, Aurens.

The other side of that.

And how much of that is there?

I'm not sure.

But however much,

It must be crossed before tomorrow's sun gets up.

This is the sun's anvil.

[Lawrence] Have we done it?

No!

But we're off the anvil.

Thank God for that, anyway.

Yes, thank him.

Aurens, I do not think you know

how you have tempted him.

I know.

We've done it.

God willing.

When do we reach the wells?

God willing... midday.

Then we've done it!

Thank him, Aurens. Thank him.

Aurens.

[Ali] Gasim's.

What's happened to him?

God knows.

Why don't you stop?

For what?

He will be dead by midday.

We must go back.

What for?

To die with Gasim?

In one hour comes the sun.

In God's name, understand!

We cannot go back!

I can.

Take the boys.

If you go back, you kill yourself, is all.

Gasim you have killed already.

Get out of my way.

Gasim's time is come, Aurens.

It is written.

Nothing is written!

Go back, then!

What did you bring us here for with your blasphemous conceit?

Eh? English blasphemer!

Aqaba? Was it Aqaba?

You will not be at Aqaba, English!

Go back, blasphemer!

But you will not be at Aqaba!

I shall be at Aqaba. that is written...

in here.

English!

English!

Aurens!

Aye-aye-aye-aye-aye-aye!

Daud!

Aye-aye-aye-aye-aye-aye!

Aurens!

Daud!

Daud!

Daud!

Farraj!

Daud!

[men chattering indistinctly]

Aurens!

Aurens?

Nothing is written.

Aurens.

Aurens.

El Aurens.

Farraj.

Wash.

Farraj.

El Aurens,

truly for some men

nothing is written unless they write it.

Not El Aurens, just Lawrence.

El Aurens is better.

True.

Your father too, just Mr. Lawrence?

My father is Sir Thomas Chapman.

Is that a lord?

A kind of lord.

Then when he dies, you too, will be a lord.

No.

Ah, you have an elder brother.

No.

But then... I do not understand this.

Your father's name is Chapman--

Ali, he didn't marry my mother.

I see.

I'm sorry.

It seems to me that you are free

to choose your own name, then.

Yes. I suppose I am.

El Aurens is best.

All right.

I'll settle for El Aurens.

They are the robes of a sherif of the Beni Wejh.

Very fine.

Great honor.

The honor is to us.

Salaam, sherif.

Is it permitted? Surely.

Salaam.

-Salaam. -Salaam.

He for whom nothing is written may write himself a clan.

-Salaam. -Salaam.

[men] Salaam.

Salaam.

[men] Salaam.

They are good for riding.

Try.

[chattering indistinctly]

[shouting in Arabic]

[laughing]

What are you doing, Englishman?

As you see.

Are you alone?

Almost.

Are you with that party of dogs who are drinking at my well?

Yours?

[fires gun]

I'm Auda Abu Tayi.

I've heard of another man of that name.

Other? What other?

The Auda I'd heard of wouldn't need to summon help to look after his wells.

He must be a great hero.

He is.

He wouldn't refuse water to men coming out of the great Nefud Desert.

Now, would he not?

Hm. No, that must be some other man.

Here is my help.

[chuckling]

Son, what fashion is this?

Harith, Father.

What manner of Harith?

A Beni Wejh sherif.

And is he Harith?

No, father. English.

[Auda laughs]

Son, they are stealing our water.

Tell them we are coming.

-Tell them! -Ha!

[gun fires]

-Empty that. -Do not!

It is Auda of the Howeitat who speaks.

It is Ali of the Harith who answers.

Harith...

Ali.

Does your father still steal?

No.

Does Auda take me for one of his own bastards?

No. There is no resemblance.

Alas, you resemble your father.

Auda flatters me.

You are easily flattered.

I knew your father well.

Did you know your own?

Auda!

We are 50. You are two.

How if we shot you down?

Then you have a blood feud with the Howeitat.

Do you desire it?

Not the generals in Cairo,

nor the sultan himself desire that.

Call off your men.

No, no, boy.

This honors the unworthy.

I've only just begun to teach him.

And what are you teaching him today,

Howeitat hospitality?

Be not clever with me, English.

Who is he?

A friend of Prince Feisal's.

Oh.

So you desire my hospitality?

-Yes. -Is he your tongue?

We do desire it.

Huh.

Then it is given, if you will take it.

[laughs]

I am at my summer camp, a poor place.

Well, to me, it seems a poor place,

some men find it marvelous.

Tomorrow, maybe I will allow the Turks

to buy you, friends of Feisal.

But...dine with me.

Dine with Auda, English.

Dine with a Howeitat, Harith.

It is my pleasure that you dine with me

in Wadi Rumm!

[men clamoring]

[guns firing]

[cheering]

This thing you work against Aqaba,

what profit do you hope from it?

We work it for Feisal of Mecca.

The Harith do not work for profit.

Well, if it is in a man to be a servant, Sherif Ali,

he could find worse masters than Feisal,

but I... I cannot serve.

You permit the Turks to stay in Aqaba?

Yes. It is my pleasure.

We do not work this thing for Feisal.

No?

For the English, then?

For the Arabs.

The Arabs.

The Howeitat, Ageyil, Ruala, Beni Sahkr--

These I know.

I have even heard of the Harith.

But the Arabs? What tribe is that?

[chuckles]

They're a tribe of slaves.

They serve the Turks.

Well, they are nothing to me.

My tribe is the Howeitat.

Who work only for profit.

Who work at Auda's pleasure.

And Auda's pleasure is to serve the Turks.

Serve?

I serve?

It is the servant who takes money.

I am Auda Abu Tayi! Does Auda serve?

No!

Does Auda Abu Tayi serve?

[men] No!

I carry 23 great wounds, all got in battle.

Seventy-five men have I killed with my own hands in battle.

I scatter, I burn my enemies' tents.

I take away their flocks and herds.

The Turks pay me a golden treasure,

yet I am poor,

because I am a river to my people.

[all clamoring]

Is that service?

No.

And yet now it seems Auda has grown old

and lost his taste for fighting.

It is well you say it in my tent, thou old tulip.

Yet, this is a tulip the Turks cannot buy.

Why should they wish to?

Now...

I will tell you what they pay me,

and you will tell me if this is a servant's wages.

They pay me, month by month,

One hundred golden guineas.

One hundred and fifty, Auda.

-Who told you that? -I have long ears.

And a long tongue between them.

One hundred, 150-- what matters?

It's a trifle, a trifle which they take from a great box they have.

In Aqaba.

-In Aqaba? -Where else?

You trouble me like women.

Friends, we have been foolish.

-Auda will not come to Aqaba. -No.

-For money? -No.

-For Feisal? -No.

Nor to drive away the Turks.

He will come...

because it is his pleasure.

Thy mother mated with a scorpion.

Make God your agent!

Aqaba!

[men] Aqaba!

Aqaba!

God be with you.

God be with you.

God be with you.

God be with you.

[women trilling]

[women trilling]

[all singing indistinctly]

[women trilling]

[singing continues]

[Ali] Yes...Aqaba.

Tomorrow we will go and get it.

Do you think we shall?

Yes.

If you are right about the guns.

[gun fires]

[shouting indistinctly]

He killed, he dies.

This is the end of Aqaba.

One of our men murdered one of Auda's men.

Why?

Theft, blood feud-- it makes no matter why.

Ali!

It is an ancient wound.

I didn't come here to watch a tribal bloodbath.

It is the law, Aurens.

The law says the man must die.

If he dies, will that content the Howeitat?

Yes.

Sherif Ali... If none of Lord Auda's men harms any of yours,

will that content the Harith?

Yes.

Then I will execute the law.

I have no tribe,

and no one is offended.

Gasim.

Did you do it?

Well, Aurens...

What ails the Englishman?

That that he killed was the man he brought out of the Nefud.

It was written, then.

Better to have left him.

It was execution, Aurens.

No shame in that.

Besides, it was necessary.

You gave life, and you took it.

The writing is still yours.

[clamoring]

[bell rings]

Auda Abu Tayi!

[cheering]

[guns firing]

[cheering in distance]

The miracle is accomplished.

Garlands for the conqueror.

Oh.

Ha, ha, ha, ha!

Tribute for the prince, flowers for the man.

I'm none of those things, Ali.

What, then?

Don't know.

Thanks.

My God, I love this country.

[rumbling]

What?

[beeping]

There's no gold in Aqaba!

No great box!

Auda, I found it!

[tapping]

That's a pity.

Ali, you get a message down the coast to Yenbo.

Tell Feisal to find boats, any boats,

and bring the Arab army here to Aqaba. Quickly.

And you?

I'm going to tell the generals... in Cairo.

Yes.

Cross Sinai.

Come on!

Sinai?

Yes.

With these?

They'll be all right with me.

Look, Ali.

If any of your Bedouin arrived in Cairo

and said, "We've taken Aqaba,"

the generals would laugh.

I see.

In Cairo, you will put off these funny clothes.

You will wear trousers

and tell stories of our quaintness and barbarity,

and then they will believe you.

You're an ignorant man.

Paper!

Paper!

There is no gold in Aqaba.

No gold!

No great box!

Did Auda come to Aqaba for gold?

For my pleasure, as you said,

but gold is honorable,

and Aurens promised gold.

Aurens lied.

See, Auda.

"The Crown of England...

"promises to pay...

"5000 golden guineas...

to Auda Abu Tayi."

Signed in His Majesty's absence

by... me.

In 10 days,

I'll be back with the gold.

With gold, with guns,

with everything.

Ten days.

You will cross Sinai?

Why not?

Moses did.

And you will take the children?

Moses did!

Moses was a prophet

and beloved of God!

He said there was gold here.

He lied.

He is not perfect.

Lord, can we not rest?

I told you no rest

till they know that I have Aqaba.

Have you two slept in beds?

Farraj?

Daud?

With sheets?

Tomorrow, the finest sheets in the finest room

in the finest hotel in Cairo. I promise.

Then it shall be so, Lord.

Look.

A pillar of fire.

No, Lord. Dust.

My compass.

No matter.

If we ride west, we must strike the canal.

Due west.

Come on!

Uh!

Aurens!

Aurens!

Aurens!

Ah!

Farraj!

Farraj, don't! Don't!

Don't!

[whimpers]

Oh!

Oh.

[crying]

Aurens.

Why do you walk?

But why, Lord?

Aurens!

But why, Lord?

There's room for both. It serves no purpose.

Aurens.

Look.

Aurens.

Aurens!

Aurens!

Aurens.

It's all right, Farraj.

It's all right.

[foghorn blares]

Hey!

Hey! Hey!

Hey!

Who are you?

Who are you?

[bell ringing]

Daud!

We're here, sir.

You taking him in there, sir?

Yes.

Here!

Here.

You.

And where the hell do you think you're going to, Mustapha?

We are thirsty.

Mr. Lawrence, is it?

Yes.

Are you going to the officer's bar, sir?

Yes.

You can't take him in there, sir.

What do you think you look like?

[chattering indistinctly]

[chattering fades to silence]

No, no. You mustn't. You mustn't.

Go, effendi, go!

Get out! You must get out!

Get out!

We want two large glasses of lemonade.

This is a bar for British officers.

That's all right. We are not particular.

Lawrence!

Are you off your head?

No. Oddly enough, I'm not.

Now look here, just clear out of here, would you?

Go on, Lawrence, clear off.

Corporal! We'll have this one out anyway.

[officer 1] Get that wog out of here.

[officer 2] Yes, clear off.

What's going on?

It's Lawrence, sir.

Lemonade with ice.

Well...

Explain yourself.

We've taken Aqaba.

Taken Aqaba? Who has?

We have.

Our side in this war has.

The wogs have.

We have.

He likes your lemonade.

You mean the Turks have gone?

No, they're still there,

but they've no boots.

Prisoners, sir. We took them prisoners,

the entire garrison.

No, that's not true.

We killed some. Too many, really.

I'll manage it better next time.

There's been a lot of killing, one way or another.

Cross my heart and hope to die,

it's all perfectly true.

It isn't possible.

Yes, it is.

I did it.

You'd better talk to Allenby.

General Allenby?

Yes. He's in command now. Murray's gone.

Well, that's a step in the right direction.

First I want a room, with a bed, with sheets.

Yes, of course.

It's for him.

Right. You want a bed yourself, don't you?

See Allenby first, though.

Will he see me?

I think so.

Do that, then.

-I had better shave. -Yes, you had.

You'd better get into some trousers too.

[chattering indistinctly]

"Undisciplined.

"Unpunctual.

"Untidy.

"Several languages.

"Knowledge of music,

"Literature.

"Knowledge of...

Knowledge of..."

You're an interesting man. There's no doubt about it.

Who told you to take Aqaba?

Nobody.

Sir.

Sir.

Then why did you?

Aqaba's important.

Why is it important?

It's the Turkish route to the canal.

Not anymore. They're coming through Beersheba.

I know, but we've gone forward to Gaza.

So?

So that left Aqaba behind your right.

True.

And it will be further behind your right

when you go for Jerusalem.

Am I going for Jerusalem?

Yes.

Very well.

Aqaba behind my right.

It threatened El' Arish and Gaza.

Anything else?

Yes. Aqaba's linked with Medina.

Do you think we should shift them out of Medina now?

No. I think you should leave them there.

You acted without orders, you know.

Shouldn't officers use their initiative at all times?

Not really. It's awfully dangerous, Lawrence.

Yes, I know.

Already?

Yes.

I'm promoting you major.

I don't think that's a very good idea.

I didn't ask you.

I want you to go back

and carry on the good work.

No.

Thank you, sir.

Why not?

Well, I, it's...

Uh, let me see.

I killed two people.

I mean, two Arabs.

One was a boy.

That was...

yesterday.

I led him into a quicksand.

The other was a man.

That was...

before Aqaba, anyway.

I had to execute him with my pistol.

There was something about it I didn't like.

Well, naturally.

No. Something else.

I see. Well, that's all right. Let it be a warning.

No. Something else.

What, then?

I enjoyed it.

Rubbish.

Rubbish and nerves. You're tired.

What do you mean by coming here dressed like that?

Amateur theatricals?

Oh, yes. Entirely.

Let me see that hat thing, or whatever it is.

Fascinating gear they wear...

How would I look in this, Harry?

Damn ridiculous, sir.

Here. You keep it.

What I'm trying to say

is I don't think I'm fit for it.

Really? What do you think, Dryden?

Before he did it, sir,

I'd have said it couldn't be done.

-Brighton? -I know what he thinks.

I think you should recommend a decoration, sir.

I don't think it matters what his motives were.

It was a brilliant bit of soldiering.

-Mr. Perkins. -Sir.

Let's have a drink, gentlemen.

Sir.

[Allenby] You've heard about this, Mr. Perkins?

Yes, sir.

What do you think about it?

Bloody marvelous, sir. Well done, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Perkins.

Sir!

Come on, then.

You're a clever man, sir.

No, but I know a good thing

when I see one.

That's fair, surely.

Look here now, if I'm going to break through to Jerusalem,

I must concentrate, not dissipate.

Clausewitz.

Do you know a better?

I fight like Clausewitz, then you fight like Saxe.

We should do very well indeed, shouldn't we?

Easy, gentlemen, please.

Will you give us something to drink?

Of course, sir.

I'm here at the invitation of Major Lawrence.

Tracy.

Shall we go outside?

[Allenby] Hmm. So you'll hold down

the Turkish desert army.

[Lawrence] Yes.

With a thousand Arabs?

A thousand Arabs means a thousand knives,

delivered anywhere, day or night.

It means a thousand camels.

That means a thousand packs of high explosive

and a thousand crack rifles.

We can cross Arabia

while Johnny Turk is still turning round.

I'll smash his railways,

and while he's mending them,

I'll smash them somewhere else.

In 13 weeks, I can have Arabia in chaos.

You are going back, then?

Yes.

Of course I'm going back.

Hm, well, if we can see it, so can the Turk.

If he finds he's using four divisions

to fend off a handful of bandits, he'll withdraw.

He daren't withdraw. Arabia's part of his empire.

If he gets out now, he knows he'll never get back again.

I wonder who will.

[Lawrence] No one will. Arabia's for the Arabs now.

That's what I've told them, anyway.

That's what they think.

That's why they're fighting.

Oh, surely.

They've only one suspicion.

We'll let them drive the Turks out

and then move in ourselves.

I've told them that that's false,

that we've no ambitions in Arabia.

Have we?

I'm not a politician, thank God.

Have we any ambition in Arabia, Dryden?

Difficult question, sir.

I want to know, sir,

if I can tell them in your name

that we've no ambitions in Arabia.

Certainly.

[trumpet playing]

Two thousand small arms, not enough. I need 5000.

Right.

Money. It'll have to be sovereigns.

They don't like paper.

Right.

Instructors for the Lewis guns.

Right.

More money.

How much more?

Twenty-five thousand now. A lot more later.

Dryden?

It can be done, sir.

A couple of armored cars.

Right.

Field artillery.

Right.

I'm going to give you

every blessed thing I can, Major Lawrence,

because I know you'll use it.

Congratulations and thank you.

Thank you for your hospitality, gentlemen.

Congratulations!

Are you really going to give them artillery?

I was wondering that, sir.

Might be deuced difficult to get it back again.

Give them artillery, and you've made them independent.

Then I can't give them artillery, can I?

-For you to say, sir. -No, it's not.

I've got orders to obey, thank God,

not like that poor devil.

He's riding the whirlwind.

Let's hope we're not.

Excuse me, friend.

Who do these bags belong to?

To Prince Feisal.

You're not Prince Feisal, by any chance?

-No. -You know him, though?

He is my master. I am his servant.

Um... can you read?

The Chicago Courier is my own particular paper,

but my work is syndicated throughout America.

I understood so from your letter, Mr. Bentley.

Now...

where can I find Major Lawrence?

Is that what you have come for?

Well, not altogether, sir. No.

Well, Mr. Bentley,

you will find Major Lawrence with my army.

Well, that's what I meant, sir. Where can I find your army?

I don't know.

Last week they were near El Ghira.

-Ghira? -I fear you have a long journey.

Can you ride a camel?

I've never tried.

Take a mule. Avoid Mellaha. The Turks are there.

In Mellaha now? They move fast.

They do,

but not so fast as we do, you will find.

Myself, I am going to Cairo, as you know.

Yes.

There is work for me there of a different kind.

Yes.

I understand you've been given no artillery.

That is so.

You're handicapped.

It restricts us to small things.

It's intended to.

Do you know General Allenby?

Watch out for Allenby.

He's a slim customer.

Excuse me?

A clever man.

"Slim customer." It's very good.

I will certainly watch out for him.

You're being very sympathetic, Mr. Bentley.

Your Highness,

we Americans were once a colonial people,

and we naturally feel sympathetic

to any people anywhere

who are struggling for their freedom.

Very gratifying.

Also, my interests are the same as yours.

You want your story told.

I badly want a story to tell.

Ah, now you are "talking turkey," are you not?

Well, Mr. Bentley, I will give you a guide and a letter.

And before I leave here, which must be presently,

I will have some facts and figures put on paper for you.

You know, of course, that we are destroying the Turkish railways?

I do, sir.

Major Lawrence is in charge of all this, is he?

My army is made up of tribes.

The tribes are led by the tribal leaders.

Your people do think very highly of Major Lawrence, though.

Oh, yes, and rightly.

In this country, Mr. Bentley,

the man who gives victory in battle is prized

beyond every other man.

One figure I can give you from my head

because it never leaves my head.

Since starting this campaign four months ago,

we have lost 37 wounded,

156 dead.

You remark the disproportion

between our dead and wounded.

Yeah. Four times as many.

That's because those too badly wounded to bring away,

we ourselves kill.

We leave no wounded for the Turks.

-You mean-- -I mean we leave no wounded for the Turks.

In their eyes, we are not soldiers but rebels.

And rebels, wounded or whole,

are not protected by the Geneva Code

and are treated harshly.

How harshly?

More harshly than I hope you can imagine.

I see.

Our own prisoners, Mr. Bentley, are taken care of

until the British can relieve us of them according to the Code.

I should like you to notice that.

Yes, sir.

Is that the influence of Major Lawrence?

Why should you suppose so?

Well, it's just that I heard in Cairo

that major Lawrence has a horror of bloodshed.

That is exactly so.

With Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion.

With me, it is merely good manners.

You may judge which motive is the more reliable.

And now perhaps--

Oh, sure, sure.

Thank you, sir.

Do you think you'd be able to manage the letter?

I'll do everything I have said, Mr. Bentley,

if you will tell me truly

the nature of your interest in my people and Major Lawrence.

It's very simple, sir.

I'm looking for a hero.

Indeed? You do not seem a romantic man.

Oh, no, but certain influential men back home

believe the time has come for America to lend her weight

to the patriotic struggle against Germany...and Turkey.

Now I've been sent to find material

which will show our people this war is...

-Enjoyable? -Hardly that, sir.

But to show it in its more adventurous aspects.

You're looking for a figure who will draw your country towards war.

All right. Yes.

Aurens is your man.

Stop!

Stop it!

Stop it!

Come on, men!

[yelling indistinctly]

Aurens!

Good... good... good.

[gun fires]

[gun fires]

[gun fires]

Jiminy!

Never seen a man killed with a sword before.

Why don't you take a picture?

Wish I had.

How is it with thee, Aurens?

Don't!

Am I in this?

Did you take his picture?

Yeah.

You are using up your nine lives very quickly.

Charming company you keep.

Auda? He's a bit old-fashioned.

He thinks these things will steal his virtue.

He thinks you're a kind of thief.

Is it all right if I take your picture?

-All right. -Okay. Just walk.

Aurens!

Aurens! Aurens!

Aurens! Aurens!

Aurens! Aurens!

Major Lawrence!

Yes, sir. That's my baby.

This looting has got to stop.

It is customary.

It's theft, and theft makes thieves.

I would not say that to Auda.

It is their payment, Colonel.

Payment!

Truly, are not British soldiers paid?

They don't go home when they've been paid!

They are not free to.

Well, there's another lot you've seen the last of.

They'll come back.

He says they'll come back.

Will they?

Not this year, Aurens.

Look, Lawrence,

how many men do you think you have left--

Two hundred?

Less.

Well, then.

I said they'll come back.

Are you badly hurt?

Not hurt at all.

Didn't you know?

They can only kill me with a golden bullet.

It is for children.

I have set myself to learn again.

What are you learning from this?

Politics.

You're going to be a democracy in this country?

You're going to have a parliament?

I will tell you that when I have a country.

[chuckles]

Did I answer well?

You answered without saying anything.

That's politics.

You learn quickly.

I have a good teacher.

Yeah.

Yeah.

-How's your hurt? -Fine.

Before I return to the fleshpots,

which I shall be very glad to do,

may I put two questions to you, straight?

I'd be interested to hear you put a question straight.

One, what, in your opinion,

do these people hope to gain from this war?

They hope to gain their freedom.

Freedom.

"They hope to gain their freedom."

There's one born every minute.

They're going to get it, Mr. Bentley.

I'm going to give it to them.

The second question?

Oh. Well, I was going to ask, um...

What is it, Major Lawrence,

that attracts you personally to the desert?

It's clean.

Well, now,

that's a very illuminating answer.

May I take one farewell picture?

I gave Math Budad two lamps for it.

One clock for two lamps.

Fair bargain.

Fair? I robbed him!

Trash!

I must find something honorable.

Honorable?

Yes.

The year is running out, Brighton.

I must find something honorable.

[neighs]

Yah!

[all yelling indistinctly]

[guns firing]

[laughs]

[laughs] Now you may blow up my train.

And what will you do now?

Oh, now I go home.

They will carry my toys. Ha, ha, ha!

They will carry my toys too. Do you see?

Major Lawrence will campaign this winter,

but you've got what you wanted, so you're going home. Is that it?

Of course.

When Aurens has what he wants, he will go home.

When you have what you want, you will go home.

Oh, no, I shan't, Auda.

Then you are a fool.

Maybe. I am not a deserter.

Give thanks to God, Brighton,

that when he made you a fool,

he gave you a fool's face.

You are an impudent rascal!

I must go, Aurens,

before I soil myself with a fool's blood.

Hah!

Like talking to a brick wall.

So, what will you do now? What can you do?

I'll go north.

That's what Allenby wants, isn't it?

Allenby wanted the Arab army behind Deraa.

Then that's where I'll take it.

Tell Allenby to hurry up,

or we'll be in Deraa before he's in Jerusalem.

Won't we?

Train, Farraj.

Yeah, Aurens.

Ay!

Hide yourself, my friend.

Detonator.

All right, fetch another.

Pardon, Aurens. I put it--

There's plenty of time. Fetch another.

[explosion]

Farraj?

[yells] Farraj?

[moaning]

What happened?

Detonator. A detonator.

[train approaching]

He cannot ride, Aurens, look.

If they take him alive,

you know what they will do to him.

Daud will be angry with you.

Salute him for me.

[panting]

[gun fires]

What will you do now?

Go north.

With 20?

What would you recommend me to do, Ali?

What would you recommend?

Well, he hasn't 1/10th so many men, sir.

He's lied, in fact.

Yes and no.

He doesn't claim to have done anything he hasn't done.

Then there is an Arab north army?

No, sir. He has lied about that.

Any idea why?

It's his army, I suppose.

It's Prince Feisal's army.

Do you think he's gone native, Harry?

No...

He would if he could...

I think.

Not my line of country, this, sir.

Well, it doesn't matter. I'm just curious.

What matters is, I believed it. The Turks believe it.

They're offering 20,000 pounds for him.

Good heavens!

Yeah. Shouldn't say he'd long to live, would you?

Well, whatever else, sir, he's a brave man.

Surely, surely. If he's still going north with 50 men, he doesn't lack guts.

I wonder if they'd offer that much for me.

But what about next year?

Will they still come back?

Well, I wouldn't be surprised.

They think he's a kind of prophet.

They do, or he does?

Now may I speak?

Yes.

Aurens, one more failure,

and you will find yourself alone.

I do not include myself.

I do not include the others.

So say they love you.

The more reason to be thrifty with them.

Give them something to do that can be done.

But, you? No. They must move mountains for you.

-No, they must walk on water. -That's right. That's right.

Who are you to know what can be done?

If we'd done what you thought could be done,

we'd be in Yenbo and nowhere.

Whatever I ask them to do can be done.

They know that if you don't.

Do you think I'm just anybody, Ali?

Do you?

My friends, who will walk on water with me?

Who will come with me into Deraa?

Deraa is garrisoned.

Will you take 20 against 2,000?

I'll go by myself if I have to.

Why?

Because I told the English generals

the Arab revolt would be in Deraa

when they would be in Jerusalem.

Or perhaps you are here...

for the English generals.

Who says this?

Rumor.

[spits]

That is not an argument.

Oh, argument!

This afternoon, I will take the Arab revolt into Deraa

while the Arabs argue.

Aurens, can you pass for an Arab

in an Arab town?

Yes, if one of you would lend me some dirty clothes.

[horn honks]

It's madness.

[horn honks]

What are you looking for?

Some way to announce myself.

Be patient with him, God.

Do you not see how they look at you? Come!

Peace, Ali. I am invisible.

-Halt! -Walk on.

-Halt! -Walk on.

-[footsteps approaching] -You! And you!

[speaks in Turkish]

You.

[man shouts in Turkish]

[coughing]

You.

[man shouts in Turkish]

[door slams]

You have blue eyes.

I say, you have blue eyes.

Yes, effendi.

Are you Circassian?

Yes, effendi.

How old are you?

Twenty-seven, effendi...

I think.

You look older. You have had a lot of experience.

It's an interesting face.

I am surrounded by cattle.

He wouldn't know an interesting face from a sow's belly.

I have been in Deraa now for three and a half years.

If they'd posted me to the dark side of the moon,

I could not be more...isolated.

You haven't the least idea

of what I'm talking about, have you?

No, effendi.

Have you?

No.

That would be too...lucky.

[coughing]

Where did you get that?

Oh, uh...

It's old, effendi.

No, no. This is recent.

You are a deserter.

No, effendi.

Yes. You are a deserter,

but from which army?

Not that it matters at all.

A man cannot be always in uniform.

Your skin is very fair.

Aah!

[shouts in Turkish]

Beat him.

[shouts in Turkish]

[coughing]

[shouts in Turkish]

[whip cracks]

[coughing]

[whip cracks]

[door opens]

[footsteps approaching]

[man yelling in Turkish]

[door opens]

[footsteps approaching]

[Ali] Sleep.

Sleep!

Eat.

Eat.

You have a body, like other men.

Good.

Then sleep.

Better?

Much better.

You were right.

Rest, rest. Can you not learn?

Oh, I've learned, all right.

I'm going, Ali.

-Why? -Why?

-Heavens. -Why?

I've come to the end of myself, I suppose.

And the end of the Arab revolt?

I'm not the Arab revolt, Ali. I'm not even an Arab.

"A man can be whatever he wants," you said.

I'm sorry. I thought it was true.

You proved it!

Look, Ali. Look.

That's me. What color is it?

That's me, and there's nothing I can do about it.

"A man can do whatever he wants," you said.

He can...but he can't want what he wants.

This is the stuff that decides what he wants.

You may as well know.

I would have told them anything.

I would have told them who I am.

I would have told them where you were.

I tried to.

So would any man.

Well, "any man" is what I am,

and I'm going back to Allenby

to ask him for a job that any man can do.

Allenby's in Jerusalem.

I'll make easy stages.

You?

Oh, yes.

Easy stages.

Look, Ali.

I think I see a way

of being just ordinarily...happy.

Can I take this?

It is not clean.

No...

But it's warm.

And these, having led them here,

have you no care for them?

You lead them.

They're yours.

Trust your own people...

and let me go back to mine.

[fanfare playing]

I say, don't forget those form fives.

All right.

Hey!

Mind if I join you?

Oh. Honored, sir.

Good to be back.

We heard you were, sir.

What's doing out there?

Where? Oh, Arabia.

Well, yes, sir.

Nothing much. Wrong time of year.

What's doing here?

We're settling in all right, sir.

-We've built a squash court. -Jolly good.

Well, I have to go up there.

It's borrowed. Someone pinched mine.

Bloody wogs?

Yes. Probably.

Jolly good about the squash court.

Lays it on a bit thick, doesn't he?

Morning.

Oh, good morning, sir.

Good to be back.

-I'll believe you, sir. -No, really. It is.

-Hello. -Morning.

You're to go right in.

Aurens.

Or is it Major Lawrence?

Sir.

Ah.

Ay.

Well, General, I will leave you.

Major Lawrence doubtless has reports to make

about my people and their weakness

and the need to keep them weak

in the British interest.

And the French interest, too, of course.

We must not forget the French, now.

I've told you, sir. No such treaty exists.

Yes, general, you have lied most bravely,

but not convincingly.

I know this treaty does exist.

Treaty, sir?

He does it better than you, general,

but, then, of course, he is almost an Arab.

You really don't know?

Then what the devil's this?

It's my request for release from Arabia, sir.

For what reason?

Are you sure you haven't heard of the Sykes-Picot treaty?

No. I can guess.

Don't guess. Tell him.

Well, now.

Mr. Sykes is an English civil servant.

Monsieur Picot is a French civil servant.

Mr. Sykes and Monsieur Picot met,

and they agreed that after the war

France and England should share the Turkish empire,

including Arabia.

They signed an agreement--

Not a treaty, sir--

An agreement to that effect.

There may be honor among thieves,

but there's none in politicians.

And let's have no displays of indignation.

You may not have known, but you certainly had suspicions.

If we've told lies, you've told half-lies.

And a man who tells lies, like me,

merely hides the truth,

but a man who tells half-lies

has forgotten where he put it.

The truth is, I'm an ordinary man.

You might have told me that, Dryden.

And I want an ordinary job, sir.

That's my reason for resigning.

It's...personal.

-Personal? -Yes, sir.

Personal? You're a serving officer in the field

and, as it happens, a damned important one.

Personal? Are you mad?

No, and if you don't mind, I'd rather not go mad.

That's my reason too.

Look, Lawrence. I'm making my big push on Damascus

the 16th of next month, and you are part of it.

Can you understand that?

You're an important part of the big push.

I don't want to be part of your big push!

What about your Arab friends? What about them?

I have no Arab friends!

I don't want Arab friends!

What in hell do you want?

I've told you. I just want my ration of common humanity.

[Dryden] Lawrence?

Yes?

Nothing.

Sorry I interrupted, sir.

Oh, that's quite all right. Thank you, Mr. Dryden.

Thank you, sir.

Why don't we...

There's blood on your back.

Do you want a doctor?

No.

Tell me what happened.

Say, what goes on in there?

-Nothing. -Oh, come on!

No, really. Nothing at all.

Is the man in trouble?

I expect so. We all have troubles.

Life's a vale of troubles.

Just let me know if the man's in trouble.

I've got an interest in that man, a claim!

What claim?

You've read my stuff. I've made that boy a hero.

When the war's over, that boy can be anything he wants.

Yes, well at the moment, he wants to be somebody else.

Will you kindly allow me to pass?

Walk away, Dryden. Walk away.

Always walking away, aren't you?

Well, I'll tell you.

It's a little clash of temperament that's going on in there.

Inevitably, one of them's half-mad,

and the other, wholly unscrupulous.

I believe your name will be a household word...

when you'd have to go to the war museum

to find who Allenby was.

You're the most extraordinary man I ever met.

Leave me alone.

-What? -Leave me alone.

That's a feeble thing to say.

I know I'm not ordinary.

That's not what I'm saying!

All right, I'm extraordinary.

What of it?

Not many people have a destiny, Lawrence.

It's a terrible thing for a man to flunk it if he has.

Are you speaking from experience?

No.

You're guessing, then.

Suppose you're wrong.

Why suppose that? We both know I'm right.

-Yes. -After all--

I said yes.

The 16th?

Can you do it? I'll give you a lot of money.

Artillery?

I can't.

They won't be coming for money, not the best of them.

They'll be coming for Damascus,

which I'm going to give them.

That's all I want.

All you want is someone holding down the Turkish right,

but I'm going to give them Damascus.

We'll get there before you do,

and when we've got it, we'll keep it.

You can tell the politicians

to burn their bit of paper now.

Fair enough.

Fair? What's fair got to do with it?

It's going to happen.

I shall want quite a lot of money.

All there is.

Not that much.

The best of them won't come for money.

They'll come for me.

Aurens! Aurens! Aurens! Aurens!

You take no pictures of us!

It's not for you, it's for Major Lawrence.

He doesn't mind having his picture taken.

He doesn't mind at all.

Well, there's only one Aurens.

Have you met Major Lawrence

since he's come back, sherif?

-Yes. -Changed, hasn't he?

No.

Oh, I'd say he had. Different man, I'd say.

Aurens! Aurens! Aurens!

What did that Turkish general do to him in Deraa?

He was the same man after Deraa.

The same man, humbled!

What did the English general do to him in Jerusalem?

Search me. Ask Aurens.

-I did. -What did he say?

He laughed.

He told me to gather the Harith here.

He offered me money.

Did you take it?

No...

But many did.

Aurens! Aurens!

Aurens! Aurens!

What is this?

This is my bodyguard.

There's not a man there without a price on his head.

There's a price on my head too.

But these are murderers.

You know, the sheiks will hang these men.

These men are mine.

Aurens, these things know nothing

of the Arab revolt.

You! Ghitan of Aleppo!

Sherif?

Where do we ride?

Damascus, Sherif!

Aye, but for what?

Sherif... for Aurens!

You have bought these things!

I bought half the men here, Ali.

That is different. These are not ordinary men.

I don't want ordinary men.

Damascus!

Damascus! Damascus! Damascus! Damascus!

Aurens!

Very well, gentlemen.

The cavalry's gone through Mazril and Deraa.

Very good, by the way. Very good, indeed.

Now your turn.

If the enemy's retreating in any kind of order,

-which we'd better assume-- -Certainly.

He can't be far from this Mallud place.

I can have him within range by 0900 hours tomorrow.

-Splendid. -Philip?

These are the last infantry supports going up now, sir.

But Mallud, we could have

the fusiliers there by Wednesday, sir.

That'll do for now.

The guns are what matter.

Any questions?

This Arab army on the right, sir, what's it consist of?

Irregular cavalry, sir. About 2000.

Where are they now?

You can only know that by being with them, sir.

-Then get with them, Harry. I want to know. -Yes, sir.

Pound them, Charley.

Pound them.

[guns and cannons firing]

God help the men who lie under that.

They are Turks.

God help them.

[bagpipes playing]

Well, he's got the bit between his teeth, all right.

Cocky?

More than cocky, sir.

He's got the bit between his teeth, all right.

I tell you, sir. I think he'll get to Damascus before we do.

-Unless... -Unless?

Well, there's a Turkish column in front of him out of Mazril.

What do the Turks have in Mazril?

A brigade, sir.

I wonder where they are now.

[clanging]

Hut!

[shouting indistinctly]

No prisoners.

Damascus, Aurens.

Aurens, not this.

Go round.

Damascus, Aurens.

Damascus.

No prisoners.

Aurens--

This was Talaal's village.

Talaal!

Talaal!

[men yelling]

No prisoners!

No prisoners!

Yah!

God.

God.

God.

God!

[firing gun]

Aurens!

Aurens!

Aurens!

[clicking]

Aurens!

Enough!

Enough! Make them stop!

[sporadic gunfire]

Aurens!

[coughing]

Aurens.

Baaa.

Baaa.

Aurens!

[crowd chanting in Arabic]

[Bentley] Major!

Major Lawrence!

Jesus wept.

Jesus wept.

Does it surprise you, Mr. Bentley?

Surely you know the Arabs are a barbarous people,

barbarous and cruel.

Who but they?

Who but they?

Oh, you rotten man.

Here.

Let me take your rotten, bloody picture.

For the rotten, bloody newspapers.

These were cut last night, Aurens, in Damascus.

Damascus!

Take them to Sherif Ali.

Tell him.

Remind him.

Is Allenby in Damascus?

Near.

Tell Sherif Ali that.

They are not ripe! Ha, ha, ha!

General...salute!

Present...arms!

Port arms!

Lawrence is behind it, sir. Lawrence.

The whole town is plastered with the Arab flag.

-When? -A day and a night, sir.

They've been here a day and a night.

They've occupied the town, sir. They've done it.

He's set up his own headquarters in the town hall.

What else beside the town hall?

Telephone exchange, post office, powerhouse,

hospitals, fire station-- everything, sir.

They call themselves the Arab National Council,

and they're in the town hall.

Well, they're your pigeon, Harry.

What do you think we should do about it?

Well, get them out of it, sir, quick time.

How about that, Dryden?

Not unless you want a full-scale rising on your hands.

Well, what, then?

When will Prince Feisal be in Damascus?

By special train in two days' time.

Two days?

Two days is what you asked me for.

I can't keep him out any longer. Isn't it enough?

Yes. Ample... I should think.

Look, sir, we can't just do nothing.

-Why not? -It's usually best.

-Get us something to drink. -Yes, sir.

And Tracey, all troops to remain quartered

-until further orders. -Yes, sir.

Does that apply to technical units, sir?

-Technical units, particularly. -Yes, sir.

-Medicals, too, sir? -I'm afraid so, Harry.

Medicals too.

[loud shouting]

[shouting indistinctly]

[shouting indistinctly]

[crowd grows silent]

[Lawrence] We here are neither Harith nor Howeitat

nor any other tribe

but Arabs of the Arab Council,

acting for Prince Feisal.

He insulted me.

Sherif Ali said that the telephones

were in the care of the Howeitat

and that the telephone had ceased to work,

and this is true, Auda.

They will not work because they are given no electricity.

The electricity is in the care of the Harith. Ah!

If you answer, there'll be bloodshed.

You speak to me of...bloodshed?

I ask...pardon of Auda Abu Tayi.

Humbly?

Humbly, Harith?

Yes, humbly!

This is a new trick.

Why is there no electricity?

I have been to that electrical house, Aurens.

There are three large...machines.

He means generators.

-[laughing] -Sorry.

One of them is burning.

They are of an incredible size, but helpless.

It is so of all machines.

Let them burn.

What need of telephones?

[crowd murmuring]

The need is absolute.

Then we need the English engineers.

No! Take English engineers,

and you take English government.

Take--

Fire has broken out.

-Where? -The Jinsibi district.

It is not a district that matters.

It will spread.

Then use the fire brigade!

We have tried, Aurens. But there is no force in the water.

Then you must carry it.

The Rualla do not carry water.

What else are they good for?

[clamoring]

We will hear petitions this afternoon.

This afternoon!

[distant gunfire]

I'm going to take this up after the war.

Surely we should do something, sir.

It's an old man's sport.

Are you an old man, sir?

Well, all I can say is, sir, it's a heavy responsibility.

Sorry, sir.

Maybe it's the bulb.

No, sir.

It's the power.

[distant chanting]

[Dryden] They're leaving, sir.

That's it, then.

Marvelous-looking beggars, aren't they?

[snoring]

Leave it, Aurens. Come with me.

-Come where? -Back!

I know your heart.

What is it?

Is it this?

I tell you, this is nothing.

Is it the blood?

The desert has dried up more blood than you could think of.

I pray that I may never see the desert again.

Hear me, God.

You will come.

There is only the desert for you.

What about you, Ali?

No. I shall stay here and learn politics.

That's a very low occupation.

I had no thought of it when I met you.

You tried very hard to give us Damascus.

It's what I came for.

And then...

it would be something.

Yes.

Much.

He is your friend?

Take your hand away!

-You love him. -No, I fear him.

Then why do you weep?

If I fear him who love him,

how must he fear himself, who hates himself?

Take your hand away!

Howeitat!

Oh...so you are not yet entirely politician.

-Not yet. -Well, these are new tricks,

and I am an old dog,

and Allah be thanked.

I'll tell thee what, though.

Being an Arab will be thornier than you suppose, Harith.

In all my years as a medical officer,

I've never seen anything like it.

It comes within the jurisdiction of the Arab Council.

I'm sorry, sir. Under the circumstances,

I think I must take over. Immediately.

Under any circumstances, you must obey your orders.

No, sir. I will not!

Control yourself.

Now, go over to the town hall and see what they say.

We did what we could in the civic hospitals.

But you forgot the Turkish Military Hospital.

-Yes. -It has 600 beds.

There are about 2000 Turkish wounded in it,

all of whom are the responsibility of your precious Arab Council.

What's it like?

[flies buzzing]

[man speaks in Turkish]

[speaks in Turkish]

[bell ringing]

[officer] This is outrageous!

Outrageous!

Outrageous!

Ha, ha, ha!

You filthy little wog!

[Feisal] My friend Aurens, if I may call him that,

"My friend Aurens."

How many men will claim the right to use that phrase?

How proudly!

He longs for the greenness of his native land.

He pines for the Gothic cottages of Surrey, is it not?

Already in imagination he catches trout

and all the activities of the English gentleman.

That's me you're describing, sir, not Colonel Lawrence.

You're promoted Colonel.

Yes. What for?

[Feisal] Take the honor, colonel. Be a little kind.

[Allenby] As a colonel, you'll have a cabin to yourself on the boat home.

Then...

thank you.

[clears throat]

Well, then...

Godspeed.

There's nothing further here for a warrior.

We drive bargains-- old men's work.

Young men make wars,

and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men.

Courage and hope for the future.

Then old men make the peace.

And the vices of peace are the vices of old men--

Mistrust and caution.

It must be so.

What I owe you is beyond evaluation.

The powerhouse, the telephone exchange. These I concede.

The pumping plant I must retain.

If you retain the plant, there'll be no water, sir.

I shall be glad of any technical assistance.

In fairness, you must bring down your flag.

I shall not, and if your men attempt it, my men will resist.

-Have you any men, sir? -Enough for that.

It's the kind of thing that makes a very ugly incident.

I'm sure your government does not wish

to appear at the peace conference

in the light of an aggressor.

I say!

It's Lawrence, isn't it?

Well...may I shake your hand, sir?

Just wanted to be able to say I done it, sir.

Haven't we met before?

Don't think so, sir.

No, no, sir. I should have remembered that.

It is widely known the Arab Council took power in my name.

They have no power, sir. It's illusory.

Illusions can be very powerful,

particularly...

when they take this form.

The world is delighted at the picture of Damascus

liberated by the Arab army.

Led, may I remind you, sir,

by a British-serving officer.

Ah, yes, but then Aurens is a sword with two edges.

We are equally glad to be rid of him, are we not?

I thought I was a hard man, sir.

You are merely a general.

I...must be a king.

Excuse me, sir.

Well?

Well...it seems we're to have a British waterworks

with an Arab flag on it.

Do you think it was worth it?

Not my business. Thank God I'm a soldier.

Yes, sir. So you keep saying.

You, I suspect,

are chief architect of this...compromise.

What do you think?

Me, Your Highness?

On the whole... I wish I'd stayed in Tunbridge Wells.

[crowd clamoring]

[honks horn]

Well, sir, going home.

Hmm?

Home, sir!

[men singing] ♪ Goodbye, Dolly I must leave you ♪

♪ Though it breaks My heart to go... ♪