Lawrence of Arabia

The gold standard against which every subsequent epic is measured, and the best argument for why some films cannot survive a phone screen - David Lean and cinematographer Freddie Young stage the desert in 70mm as a space vast enough to erase a man, then hold the shot long enough that you feel it happen. What keeps this from being scenery is Lean's refusal to resolve his subject. Peter O'Toole's T.E. Lawrence is a contradictory enigma: a British officer championing Arab independence on behalf of an empire that has already privately carved up the territory, a man appalled by violence who discovers he enjoys it, finally consumed by the myth he helped build. Seven Oscars from ten nominations. O'Toole was not among the winners, losing Best Actor to Gregory Peck.