Marlon Brando & Albert Finney both turned the title character down. Its hard to imagine Lawrence of Arabia without the piercing blue eyes of Peter OToole, but as is so often the case, the actor wasnt the first choice for the part. Spiegel initially wanted Marlon Brando, but the actor turned it down in favor of Mutiny on the Bounty, which was paying better. After that, Lean liked the idea of then-unknown Albert Finney, who was about to break thanks to Karel Reiszs Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. The actor was brought in for a screen test, which cost a whopping £100,000, and was subsequently offered the part, but turned it down, concerned that the film would be a flop, and put off by a restrictive, long-running contract. Montgomery Clift lobbied hard for the role, and Anthony Perkins was considered, but instead Lean went to OToole, who Lean had seen in a small role in B-movie The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England. Spiegel was against the idea: the actor had been on call to replace Clift, should the actors drinking problem force him to withdraw, in the Spiegel-produced Suddenly Last Summer, and clashed with the producer. But Lean was insistent after the screen test, and Spiegel let the filmmaker have his way. OToole won acclaim and an Oscar nomination, despite many criticizing him for not looking like the real-life Lawrence: Noel Coward famously joked after the premiere If you had been any prettier, the film would have been called Florence of Arabia.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 12:13:08 +0000
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