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Colonel Harry Brighton is a fictional character in the film Lawrence of Arabia (1962). He is played by Anthony Quayle.
Brighton first appears at T. E. Lawrence's funeral. He has the film's first line of dialogue: "He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew."
Brighton is mentioned in early scenes as being the chief British liaison to the Arab Revolt. He first meets Lawrence during the canyon scene (when Lawrence sings "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" to himself) and then briefs Lawrence on the situation. Brighton seems to take umbrage with Lawrence and his presence there, and advises Lawrence to "keep your mouth shut" once they get into camp. Their conversation is interrupted when Turkish aeroplanes begin bombing the camp of Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness), whom Brighton complains has ignored his request to withdraw to the south. Feisal speaks to Brighton and Lawrence for the first time after the raid, saying that he will agree to Brighton's advice, but wishes to move the wounded to Yenbo.
Brighton is seen in the exodus scene, witnessing the prank played by Farraj (Michel Ray) and Daud (John Dimech) on Corporal Jenkins, Brighton's aide (Norman Rossington). He then engages in a heated strategic discussion with Feisal and Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif), who accuse him and the British of having imperialist designs. Brighton dismisses their pleas for artillery and modern equipment, emphasizing that he feels discipline and training is more important. He clashes with Lawrence in this scene, disagreeing with his idea of the Bedouin engaging in guerrilla warfare and referring to Lawrence at one point as a traitor. Feisal agrees to Brighton's plan to withdraw to Yenbo, and exits the tent.
Brighton reappears at the end of Act I, confronting Lawrence in the Cairo bar after he has seized Aqaba. Though initially sceptical, he becomes proud of Lawrence's achievement and arranges for him to meet with the new commander, General Edmund Allenby (Jack Hawkins). He sits in on Lawrence and Allenby's conference and expresses admiration for Lawrence's achievement: "I think you should recommend a decoration, sir. I don't think it matters what his motives were - it was a brilliant bit of soldiering!"
Brighton is next seen early in Act II, after Lawrence's first successful train raid. He is still attached to the forces of the Arab Revolt (still technically senior to the now-Major Lawrence), and chastises Sherif Ali and the Arabs over their method of looting and then deserting the army. He drives around in an armoured car and mans a machine gun during the train raids. He openly clashes with Auda ibu Tayi (Anthony Quinn) after Auda deserts following a successful raid:
While Lawrence and his ever-shrinking forces continue north towards Deraa, Brighton returns to Cairo and meets with Allenby. He informs Allenby that Lawrence is exaggerating the size of his force, and defends Lawrence and his actions from a sceptical Allenby, who fears Lawrence has "gone native". Brighton briefly appears in the Jerusalem scene, acting a secretary/aide to Allenby, though his only dialogue is to greet Lawrence. It is clear by this time that he genuinely admires Lawrence and his ability.
Brighton next appears at the staff meeting for General Allenby's army in the field, discussing the movements of the Arab army, and is assigned to find and report on them. Brighton meets Allenby a few scenes later, discussing Lawrence's cocky attitude and expressing fear that he might reach Damascus first - unless they are slowed by a large column of retreating Turks.
Brighton is already in Damascus when General Allenby arrives, informing Allenby of the Arab Council's success in taking over the city. Though Brighton feels the Arabs unable to rule the city, Allenby, at the advice of Dryden (Claude Rains), refuses to aid the Arabs. Brighton chastises Allenby, saying that it's a "heavy responsibility" in allowing the Arabs to collapse in chaos. Brighton later appears with Lawrence's departure and the subsequent conference between Allenby, Feisal, and Dryden. He ultimately becomes so disgusted by their cold attitude towards Lawrence that he excuses himself, hoping to meet Lawrence and express his admiration. Unfortunately, Lawrence has already left, and Brighton is left observing the anarchy engulfing Damascus, with tears in his eyes.
Brighton was created by Robert Bolt as an amalgam of various officers who served with T. E. Lawrence during the war. Historically, there was no equivalent to Brighton at the time that Lawrence joined with Feisal, although there were a handful of lower-ranking French and British officers who served primarily as weapons advisors. The character most historically similar to Brighton was, perhaps, Lt. Colonel Stewart F. Newcombe, who was a close friend of Lawrence, and unlike Brighton was able to gain acceptance by the Arabs. He was captured in 1917 but was able to escape with the help of a Turkish girl, although he never returned to the Arabian theatre. Newcombe would continue his friendship with Lawrence after the war; he was one of the pallbearers at Lawrence's funeral. In Michael Wilson's original script, Brighton was named Colonel Newcombe.
Other notable officers include Captains Boyle and Garland, the latter responsible for the first British/Arab raid on the Hejaz Railway, Alan Dawnay, Allenby's liaison to the Arabs through 1918, and Lt. Col. Charles E. Wilson, who served as official commander of the British attachment over Lawrence in 1917. Wilson had a much more fractious relationship with Lawrence than the above officers; Lawrence initially did everything he could to avoid serving under Wilson's direct command.
Brighton was considered by director David Lean to be "the only honourable character in the film", while actor Anthony Quayle thought Brighton was an idiot. [1] Robert Bolt interpreted the character as "stand(ing) for the half-admiring, half appalled disturbance raised by Lawrence in minds quite wedded to the admirable and inadequate code of English decency". [2] Whatever intentions Lean, Quayle, and Bolt had regarding the character, both interpretations can be read into the character.
In the early scenes at Feisal's camp, Brighton comes across as a stuffy, conventional British officer. He is disgusted by the somewhat effeminate Lawrence and seems to hold the Arabs in contempt. His insistence on "discipline" show him to be an inflexible regular army man, although in this scene he shows some hint of flexibility by expressing interest in Lawrence's proposed guerrilla strategy.
However, Brighton gradually becomes respectful towards Lawrence, frequently expressing admiration towards him and even defending him to Allenby, Dryden and others. Unlike Lawrence's other superiors, who simply wish to manipulate him, Brighton genuinely admires Lawrence.
It is clear that Brighton does have a strong sense of honour, as evidenced by his disgust with the Arab practice of desertion and his arguments with Ali and Auda. His distaste towards Allenby's "hands-off" approach towards the collapse of the Arab Council, the British betrayal of the Arabs, and the disrespectful and cold treatment of Lawrence by his superiors leads him to storm out of the conference room abruptly.
A similar character appears in Terence Rattigan's Lawrence-themed play Ross , in the form of Colonel Barrington, although Barrington maintains his contempt throughout the whole of the play, feeling Lawrence to be an unfeeling, soulless brute.
Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 epic biographical adventure drama film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence and his 1926 books Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company Horizon Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film stars Peter O'Toole as Lawrence with Alec Guinness playing Prince Faisal. The film also stars Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains and Arthur Kennedy. The screenplay was written by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson.
Thomas Edward Lawrence was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi was King of Iraq from 23 August 1921 until his death in 1933. A member of the Hashemite family, he was a leader of the Great Arab Revolt during the First World War, and ruled as the unrecognized King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria from March to July 1920 when he was expelled by the French.
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led the British Empire's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the conquest of Palestine.
The Arab Revolt or the Great Arab Revolt was an armed uprising by the Arabs against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I.
The Faisal–Weizmann agreement was signed by Emir Faisal, the third son of Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi, King of the short-lived Kingdom of Hejaz, and Chaim Weizmann, President of the Zionist Organization on 3 January 1919. Signed two weeks before the start of the Paris Peace Conference, it was presented by the Zionist delegation alongside a March 1919 letter written by T. E. Lawrence in Faisal's name to American Zionist leader Felix Frankfurter as two documents to argue that the Zionist plans for Palestine had prior approval of Arabs.
The Battle of Megiddo was fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, on the Plain of Sharon, in front of Tulkarm, Tabsor and Arara in the Judean Hills as well as on the Esdralon Plain at Nazareth, Afulah, Beisan, Jenin and Samakh. Its name, which has been described as "perhaps misleading" since very limited fighting took place near Tel Megiddo, was chosen by British commander Edmund Allenby for its biblical and symbolic resonance.
Auda Abu Tayeh or Awda Abu Tayih, nicknamed the Commander of the People or the Desert Falcon, was the Sheikh of a section of the Howeitat or Huwaytat tribe of Bedouin Arabs at the time of the Great Arab Revolt during the First World War. The Howeitat lived in what is now Saudi Arabia/Jordan.
The Battle of Aqaba was fought for the Red Sea port of Aqaba during the Arab Revolt of World War I. The attacking forces, led by Sherif Nasir and Auda abu Tayi and advised by T. E. Lawrence, were victorious over the Ottoman Empire defenders.
Ross is a 1960 play by British playwright Terence Rattigan.
Jackson Bentley is a fictional American journalist appearing in the film Lawrence of Arabia (1962); he is portrayed by Arthur Kennedy. He is based on the famed American journalist Lowell Thomas.
The 1921 Cairo Conference, described in the official minutes as Middle East Conference held in Cairo and Jerusalem, March 12 to 30, 1921, was a series of meetings by British officials for examining and discussing Middle Eastern problems, and to frame a common policy. The secret conference of British experts created the blueprint for British control in both Iraq and Transjordan. By offering nominal leadership of those two regions to the sons of the Sharif of the Mecca, Churchill felt that the spirit if not the actual letter of Britain's wartime promises to the Arabs were fulfilled.
The Arab Kingdom of Syria was a self-proclaimed, unrecognized constitutional monarchy existing briefly in the territory of historical Syria. It was announced on 5 October 1918 as a fully independent Arab constitutional government with the permission of the British military. It gained de facto independence as an Emirate after the withdrawal of the British forces from OETA East on 26 November 1919, and was proclaimed as a Kingdom on 8 March 1920.
Lt Col. Stewart Francis Newcombe (1878–1956) was a British army officer and associate of T. E. Lawrence.
This is the order of battle for the Battle of Megiddo (1918), the concluding engagement of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. The Entente's Egyptian Expeditionary Force, commanded by General Edmund Allenby and composed mainly of British, Indian, Australian and New Zealand troops, with a small French and Armenian contingent, cooperated with the Arab Northern Army, which was part of the Arab Revolt and was under the overall command of the Emir Feisal, in an all-out offensive against the Yıldırım Army Group, part of the army of the Ottoman Empire.
The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a joint British, French and Arab military administration over Levantine provinces of the former Ottoman Empire between 1917 and 1920, set up on 23 October 1917 following the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and Arab Revolt of World War I. Although it was declared by the British military, who were in control of the region, it was followed on 30 September 1918 by the 1918 Anglo-French Modus Vivendi in which it was agreed that the British would give the French control in certain areas, and the Hashemites were given joint control of the Eastern area per T.E. Lawrence's November 1918 "Sharifian plan".
The Capture of Damascus occurred on 1 October 1918 after the capture of Haifa and the victory at the Battle of Samakh which opened the way for the pursuit north from the Sea of Galilee and the Third Transjordan attack which opened the way to Deraa and the inland pursuit, after the decisive Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory at the Battle of Megiddo during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. Damascus was captured when Desert Mounted Corps and Prince Feisal's Sherifial Hejaz Army encircled the city, after a cavalry pursuit northwards along the two main roads to Damascus. During the pursuit to Damascus, many rearguards established by remnants of the Ottoman Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Armies were attacked and captured by Prince Feisal's Sherifial Army, Desert Mounted Corps' Australian Mounted Division the 4th and the 5th Cavalry Divisions. The important tactical success of capturing Damascus resulted in political manoeuvring by representatives from France, Britain and Prince Feisal's force.
The Pursuit to Haritan occurred between 29 September and 26 October 1918 when the XXI Corps and Desert Mounted Corps of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) pursued the retreating remnants of the Yildirim Army Group advanced north from Damascus after that city was captured on 1 October during the final weeks of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. The infantry and corps cavalry advanced from Haifa and Acre to capture the Mediterranean ports at Beirut and Tripoli between 29 September and 9 October. These captures enabled the inland pursuit to be supplied when the Desert Mounted Corps' 5th Cavalry Division resumed the pursuit on 5 October. The cavalry division occupied one after the other, Rayak, Homs, Hama. Meanwhile, Prince Feisal's Sherifial Force which advanced on the cavalry division's right flank, attacked and captured Aleppo during the night of 25/26 October after an unsuccessful daytime attack. The next day the 15th Cavalry Brigade charged a retreating column and attacked a rearguard during the Charge at Haritan near Haritan which was at first reinforced but subsequently withdrew further north.
The Battle of Aleppo was fought on 25 October 1918, when Prince Feisal's Sherifial Forces captured the city during the Pursuit to Haritan from Damascus, in the last days of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War.
The Sharifian or Sherifian Solution, was an informal name for post-Ottoman British Middle East policy and French Middle East policy of nation-building. As first put forward by T. E. Lawrence in 1918, it was a plan to install the three younger sons of Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi as heads of state in newly created countries across the Middle East, whereby his second son Abdullah would rule Baghdad and Lower Mesopotamia, his third son Faisal would rule Syria, and his fourth son Zeid would rule Upper Mesopotamia. Hussein himself would not wield any political power in these places, and his first son, Ali would be his successor in Hejaz.