Lawrence of Arabia helped keep the lights on. That’s what I remember a programmer at the American Cinematheque telling me about the handful of big-screen showings the retro movie group hosted each year of David Lean’s 1962 epic. Every time they presented the legendary Best Picture winner in all its 70mm magnificence, the tickets would sell out. Every time. And people would travel there from great distances . Some other titles they played might be more obscure, might play to less-than-full houses, but Lawrence of Arabia always packed them in.

The reason for this is only perplexing if you’ve never seen it. The World War I drama starring Peter O’Toole as a British adventurer forging alliances in the vast deserts of the Middle East is enthralling—and transporting. But it must be seen on

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