Lawrence of Arabia won seven Academy Awards at the 1963 ceremony.
David Lean’s epic won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography, along with awards for Art Direction–Set Decoration, Film Editing, Music, and Sound. Its seven victories made it one of the most successful films of the 1962 awards season.
The film dramatizes T. E. Lawrence’s role during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Peter O’Toole played Lawrence, while Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, and Claude Rains appeared in important supporting roles. The screenplay was based partly on Lawrence’s memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Lawrence of Arabia received ten nominations overall, so it did not win every category in which it competed. O’Toole lost Best Actor to Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird, and Sharif was not the supporting-actor winner. The film remains especially noted for its desert imagery and large-scale 70 mm photography.