Another day, another classic screening, this time it’s the 50th anniversary of David Lean’s classic Lawrence of Arabia. It’s the film Hollywood would never make today, as everyone says, which is part of the reason we’ve had to sit through this spate of “Hollywood is dead” stories. Hollywood is a choking victim right now, partly because the lack of balls for projects of this scope unless they’re based on an existing property, but there also isn’t a David Lean in the ranks right now to get it done anyway.

It’s perfect timing with all of the hubbub about 70mm right now. Lawrence is probably the most famous example of a film shot on 70mm, though the film is being presented as 4k digital, not 70mm.

Twitch Film’s Jason Gorber did an interview with Robert A. Harris, who worked on the restoration for Columbia Pictures, and said, “I think [Lean would] prefer [4k DCP]. He was a perfectionist. I believe both he and Freddie Young, his cinematographer, would be amazed at the new digital version that Sony has created.” 

A friend who worked as a projectionist made me promise her a long time ago to never see Lawrence in anything but 70mm. I agreed, though broke my promise when I ended up watching the DVD.

Lawrence is playing at the following theaters:

Altamonte Mall 18 ALTAMONTE SPRINGS 32701

AMC Pleasure Island 24 ORLANDO 32830

AMC Universal Cineplex 20 with IMAX ORLANDO 32819

Cinemark Orlando Festival Bay ORLANDO 32819

Pointe Orlando with IMAX ORLANDO 32819

Waterford Stadium 20 ORLANDO 32828

Cobb Grand 10 Cinemas WINTER HAVEN 33881

Lakeside 18 Cinemas LAKELAND 33803

This special event features an exclusive introduction from Lawrence of Arabia star and Academy Award® nominee Omar Sharif, newsreel footage of the New York premiere, as well as footage of King Hussein visiting the film set. In addition, Academy Award® winning Director Martin Scorsese will talk about the over-arching themes of Lawrence of Arabia and its influence on other iconic films in a recent, exclusive never-before-seen interview.

Buy tickets: Fathom, Fangando.

This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2012.