Come on!
Lawrence!
Farraj!
Farraj, don't! Don't!
Don't!
Why do you walk?
But why, lord?
There is room for both. It serves no purpose.
Lawrence, look!
It's all right, Farraj.
It's all right.
Who are you?
- Daud! - We're here, sir.
You taking him in there?
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 officers' bar? - Yes.
You can't take him in there, sir.
What do you think you look like?
No, no. You must go.
No, no. 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. - We are not particular.
- Are you off your head? - No. Oddly enough I'm not.
- Just clear out of here, will you? - Get that boy out of here.
Corporal, we'll have this one out anyway.
- Get that wog out of here. - Clear off.
What's going on?
- It's Lawrence, sir. - Lemonade with ice.
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.
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? - He's in command. Murray's gone.
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'd better shave. - Yes, you had.
You'd better get into some trousers too.
"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 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' Arîsh 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.
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...
Let me see now...
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.
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 coming dressed like that? Amateur theatricals?
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.
- You've heard about this, Mr. Perkins? - Yes, sir.
- What do you think about it? - Bloody marvellous, sir. Well done.
- 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?
If I need a breakthrough to Jerusalem, I must concentrate, not dissipate.
- Bravo. - You know better?
I fight like Clausewitz, then you fight like Saxe.
We should do very well indeed, shouldn't we?
Easy, gentlemen, please.
- Give us something to drink. - Of course, sir.
I'm here at the invitation of Major Lawrence.
Tracy.
Shall we go outside?
So you hold bound the Turkish desert army?
Yes.
With 1000 Arabs?
1000 Arabs means 1000 knives.
Delivered anywhere, day or night.
It means 1000 camels.
That means 1000 packs of high explosives and 1000 crack rifles.
We can cross Arabia while Johnny Turk is still turning round.
I'll smash his railways.
While he mends, 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.
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'll never get back again.
- I wonder who will. - 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.
That we'll let them drive the Turks out and then move in ourselves.
I've told them that that's false, that we have 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.
2000 small arms, not enough. I need five.
Right.
Money. It'll have to be sovereigns. They don't like paper.
- Instructors for the Lewis guns. - Right.
More money.
- How much more? - 25,000 now. A lot more later.
- Dryden? - It can be done, sir.
A couple of armoured cars.
Right.
Field artillery.
Right.
I'll give you every blessed thing I can...
...because I know you'll use it. Congratulations.
Thank you for your hospitality, gentlemen.
Congratulations!
Are you really going to give them artillery, sir?
I was wondering that, sir.
Might be difficult to get it back.
Give them artillery and you've made them independent.
Then I can't give it to them, can I?
- For you to say. - 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? - No.
You know him though?
He is my master. I am his servant.
Can you read?
Chicago Courier is my paper, but my work is syndicated in America.
I understood so from your letter, Mr. Bentley.
Now...
- Where can I find Major Lawrence? - Is that what you have come for?
Not altogether, sir, no.
Well, Mr. Bentley, you will find Major Lawrence with my army.
That's what I meant, sir. Where can I find your army?
I don't know.
- Last week they were near El Ghira. - Ghira?
Yes, 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's 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'll certainly watch out for him. You're being very sympathetic.
Your Highness, we Americans were once a colonial people.
We naturally feel sympathetic to any people...
...who struggle 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?
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 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?
Oh, yes. And the 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 wounded to bring away, we ourselves kill.
We leave no wounded for the Turks.
- You mean? - We leave no wounded for the Turks.
In their eyes, we are not soldiers but rebels.
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 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?
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.
Can you manage the letter...?
I'll do everything I have said...
...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 influential men back home believe it's time for America...
...to lend her weight to the struggle against Germany.
And Turkey.
I've been sent to find material to show our people that this war is...
- Enjoyable? - Hardly that, sir.
But to show it in its more adventurous aspects.
You look for a figure who will draw your country towards war.
All right. Yes.
Lawrence is your man.
Stop!
Stop it!
Come on, men!
Lawrence!
Good God! God!
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, Lawrence?
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.
It's all right to take your picture?
- All right. - Okay.
Just walk.
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 being 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, Lawrence.
Look, Lawrence, how many men do you think you'll have left? 200?
- Less. - Well, then?
I said, they'll come back.
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'll be a democracy in this country? You gonna have a parliament?
I will tell you that when I have a country.
Did I answer well?
You answered without saying anything. That's politics.
You learn quickly.
I have a good teacher.
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.
I'm going to give it to them.
- The second question? - Well, I was going to ask...
...what is it 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.
A fair bargain.
Fair? I robbed him.
Trash.
I must find something honorable.
Honorable?
The year is running out, Brighton.
I must find something honorable.
Now you may blow up my train.
And what will you do now?
Now I go home. They will carry my toys.
They will carry my toys too, see?
Major Lawrence will campaign this winter.
But you got what you wanted, so you're going home, is that it?
Of course. When Lawrence has got what he wants, he will go home.
When you've got what you want, you will go home.
No, I shan't, Auda.
Then you are a fool.
Maybe. But 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, Lawrence, before I soil myself with a fool's blood.
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.
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, Lawrence.
Hide yourself, my friend.
Detonator.
All right, fetch another.
- Pardon, Lawrence. I put... - Plenty of time. Fetch another.
Farraj?
- What happened? - Detonator. A detonator!
He cannot ride, Lawrence. Look.
If they take him alive, you know what they'll do to him.
Daud will be angry with you.
Salute him for me.
What will you do now?
Go north.
With twenty?
What would you recommend me to do?
What would you recommend?
He hasn't 1 l10 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. - It doesn't matter. Just curious.
What matters is I believed it.
The Turks believe it.
They are offering 20,000 pounds for him.
Good heavens.
- Shouldn't say he had long to live. - Whatever else, 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.
What about next year? Will they still come back?
I wouldn't be surprised.
- They think he's a kind of prophet. - They do or he does?
- Now may I speak? - Yes.
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, 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 now.
Whatever I ask them to do can be done. They know that if you don't.
Do you think I'm just anybody?
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 2000?
- 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'd be in Jerusalem.
Or perhaps you are here...
...for the English generals.
Who says this?
Rumour.
That is not an argument.
Oh, argument.
This afternoon I will take the Arab revolt into Deraa...
...while the Arabs argue.
Can you pass for an Arab in an Arab town?
Yes. If one of you would lend me some dirty clothes.
It's madness.
What are you looking for?
Some way to announce myself.
Be patient with him, God.
- Do you not see how they look at you? - Peace, Ali, I am invisible.
Halt!
Walk on.
- Halt! - Walk on.
You and you.