WITH the passing of Peter o'Toole earlier this week, the endlessly chattering beast that is Twitter went into some kind of mock-grieving meltdown. Actors and fellow celebs, prime ministers and the general public were practically falling over themselves to sing the great man's praises in 140 characters or less.
Sadly a large percentage of this social media slabbering was based around his days as a booze-addled hellraiser, raising a glass to the years he wasted propping up the bar with the likes of Richard Burton rather than recalling the time he spent starring in movies or treading the boards of the world's greatest stages. While there's no denying o'Toole's tendency for tippling on a terrifying scale, such misplaced romanticism is unfortunate and sells the man seriously short. It may seem like an obvious statement to make but as a pure actor o'Toole was really quite something.
If you want proof of his towering prowess as a sparkly eyed thespian look no further than the film that would catapult him to global stardom and seal his fate as a leading man and Hollywood hero forever - Lawrence of Arabia.
Released in 1962, David Lean's oscar-winning film remains a remarkable achievement to this day. As big and bold an artistic statement as cinema will allow, there was every chance that the then 30-year-old actor charged with taking on the larger-than-life character of Arabist and aesthete TE Lawrence could have been crushed by the sheer scale of it all. In fact o'Toole owns the film from beginning to end. on screen for most of the movie's 20-plus minutes, he radiates charisma and old-school blue-eyed charm like few big-screen stars before or since. The role of Lawrence, so packed with contradictions - the compassionate man versus the blood-thirsty one, the loner versus the exhibitionist - is captured in all its complexity.
Growing from a cheeky English lieutenant to icon for Arab revolutionaries before taking an almighty fall, the film traces his story from dull days in Cairo during the First World War through to his placement deep in the desert as advisor to Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness). It's there he conjured up the ingenious, and potentially disastrous, plot to keep the Turks at bay. Against all odds he leads opposing tribes across the Nefud for a surprise attack on the port of Aqaba. He's joined on his journey by Sherif Ali (omar Sharif) and Auda abu Tavi (Anthony Quinn) but can he deliver on his promise to bring democracy?
As a pure adventure story, it is as vast and sprawling as Lean's own widescreen vision. It's a feast for the eyes, with enormous, arid deserts and dramatic rocky outcrops stretching off into the distance. Such is the vastness of Jordan and the huge scale of Lawrence's task that the whole thing sometimes feels almost overwhelming just to watch.
It's a triumph for Lean and cinematographer FA Young, for sure, but o'Toole is simply electrifying throughout.
For any actor it would have been a career-defining performance.
For a debut starring role it is simply stunning. o'Toole may have been caricatured as a hellraiser by many but it's the brilliance of his best work that will ensure his memory lives on forever.