fact and fiction

We just finished watching Lawrence of Arabia.

Quiz: At what point in the movie does the first woman appear?
Answer: Many hours into it. She is a Red Cross nurse, she has no lines, and she may very well have been played by a man given all the Red Cross nurse uniform she is wearing and the fact that she is only visible from a distance and from behind.

This article talks about a woman called Gertrude Bell. In reality she made Lawrence's "incredible exploits" possible. As an intelligence agent she had drawn the maps, and she provided invaluable information about desert tribes.

So why wasn't there a small part for her in the movie? Because reality didn't fit the mold?

Art gives us hopes and dreams, and millstones around our necks.

(Dan found the article. Credit where credit is due.)