14.

Lawrence of Arabia
Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson
Based on the life and writings of Col. T.E. Lawrence

About the writing of the film:

• Michael Wilson was the original writer on Lawrence of Arabia, writing three drafts between 1959 and
1961. He was hired by producer Sam Spiegel, and his work was praised by director David Lean:
“What a masterly job you are doing. Your extraordinary grasp and inventive appreciation of complex
subject and character fills me with admiration and excitement.” —David Robb, The New York Times,
th
Sept. 14, 1995 / David Robb, Daily Variety, 55 anniversary issue, 10/25/88
• After Wilson was blacklisted, Robert Bolt was hired to work on the screenplay. Wilson did not receive
credit on the film as originally released. The Writers Guild of Great Britain restored Wilson’s shared
credit in 1963. —David Robb, The New York Times, 9/14/95
• “Lawrence of Arabia was made a legend in the West. He was never a legend here,” according to Sari
Nasir, a University of Jordan sociologist who has written on Western views of Arabs… “Sensitivities
are so strong that Jordan banned the Academy Award-winning Lawrence of Arabia.” —Chicago
Tribune, 8/17/86

About the writers:

• British writer Robert Bolt started his career as an English teacher.
• Bolt was a young playwright when he was hired for Lawrence of Arabia in 1960. His hit play A Man
For All Seasons had just opened in London.
• As a screenwriter, Bolt specialized in adapting literature to the screen.
• Screenwriting awards/nominations for Robert Bolt: 3 Golden Globes nominations, with 3 wins, for
Doctor Zhivago, A Man For All Seasons, The Mission; 3 Academy Awards nominations, with two
wins, for Doctor Zhivago, A Man For All Seasons.

• Michael Wilson started out as a short story writer. At the beginning of his movie-writing career, he
wrote for Hopalong Cassidy westerns.
• The British Screenwriters Guild determined that Wilson should receive coequal screen credit for his
work on Lawrence of Arabia in 1963.
• In September 1995, the Writers Guild of America determined that Wilson’s credit should be restored.
• The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted on September
26, 1995, to grant Michael Wilson an Academy Award nomination, along with Robert Bolt, for
Lawrence of Arabia. This was the result of the Writers Guild of America finding that Wilson and Bolt
share the credit for the screenplay.
• Michael Wilson’s credit for Bridge on the River Kwai (#48) and that of his co-writer Carl Foreman—
also blacklisted—were officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in
1984, when their widows were presented with a posthumous Oscar®. —David Robb, Daily Variety,
th
55 anniversary issue, Oct. 25, 1988
• Screenwriting awards/nominations for Michael Wilson: WGA Screen Laurel Award (1976), nominated
for the Robert Meltzer Award (1952); 3 Writers Guild Award nominations, with 2 wins, for A Place in
the Sun and Friendly Persuasion; 1 Golden Globes win, for Five Fingers; 4 Academy Award
nominations, with 1 win, for The Bridge on the River Kwai.