The year is 1929 and dictator Benito Mussolini (Rod Steiger) is still faced with the 20-year long war waged by Bedouin patriots to combat Italian colonization in Africa. Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani (Oliver Reed) governor of Lybia, confident that he can crush the rebellion and restore the glories of Imperial Rome.
Inspirational in the Bedouin resistance toward the oppressors is the leadership of one man - Omar Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn). A teacher by profession, guerrilla by obligation, Mukhtar has committed himself to a war that cannot be won in his lifetime.
Making a film of such epic proportions as Lion of teh Desert demanded the approach of planning a vast military campaign. Whole villages had to be built to house the cast and crew of 400 in remote filming locations, along with a medical center to treat ailments from scorpion stings, to heat stroke, to broken bones suffered in battle scenes.