Wednesday, April 6, 2011




In August 2006 Eddie gave an informal chat to a group of dedicated movie buffs in the village of Carboneras (Almeria, Spain).
The group organised the event to celebrate the making of 'Lawrence of Arabia', much of which was shot in the province. Eddie talked about his experience working on this and other films he shot in the country.
The event was also notable because Pablo Carbonell - a well known Spanish comedian and actor - turned up to listen to Eddie, as did a chap who had worked as an extra on ‘Lawrence’ and hadn’t seen Eddie in over four decades. I accompanied Eddie to translate for him.
It was fascinating watching how ‘Lawrence’ still captivated the minds of people young and old, despite it having been made 45 years earlier. They hung on every word and listened in complete silence, until they took turns to ask a polite question. Eddie was his usual charming self, even when he revealed that one of the reasons he enjoyed making movies in Spain was because the authorities bent over backwards to help film makers. To illustrate the point Eddie said officials “were bloody easy to bribe!”
My thanks to José Enrique Martínez Moya for sending the pictures, especially as there aren’t many snapshots of me and Eddie together.

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