IMDb > Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Doctor Zhivago
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Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   25,761 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 14% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
David Lean
Writers:
Boris Pasternak (novel)
Robert Bolt (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Doctor Zhivago on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 December 1965 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance | War more
Tagline:
The entertainment event of the year! more
Plot:
Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won 5 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 10 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(37 articles)
Exclusive Interview: Chris Weitz (New Moon Director) - Part I
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MGM Sounds a Death Rattle; Auctions Imminent
 (From Atomic Popcorn. 12 November 2009, 5:50 AM, PST)
User Comments:
David Lean's Doctor Zhivago more (204 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

Omar Sharif ... Dr. Yuri Zhivago

Julie Christie ... Lara
Geraldine Chaplin ... Tonya

Rod Steiger ... Komarovsky

Alec Guinness ... Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago
Tom Courtenay ... Pasha
Siobhan McKenna ... Anna
Ralph Richardson ... Alexander
Rita Tushingham ... The Girl
Jeffrey Rockland ... Sasha
Tarek Sharif ... Yuri at 8 years old
Bernard Kay ... The Bolshevik
Klaus Kinski ... Kostoyed
Gérard Tichy ... Liberius (as Gerard Tichy)
Noel Willman ... Razin
Geoffrey Keen ... Medical Professor
Adrienne Corri ... Amelia
Jack MacGowran ... Petya
Mark Eden ... Engineer at Dam
Erik Chitty ... Old Soldier
Roger Maxwell ... Beef-Faced Colonel
Wolf Frees ... Delegate
Gwen Nelson ... Female Janitor
Lucy Westmore ... Katya
Lili Muráti ... The Train Jumper (as Lili Murati)
Peter Madden ... Political Officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luana Alcañiz ... Mrs. Sventytski (uncredited)
Assad Bahador ... Colonel of Dragoons (uncredited)
José María Caffarel ... Militiaman (uncredited)
Emilio Carrer ... Mr. Sventytski (uncredited)
Catherine Ellison ... Raped woman (uncredited)
Pilar Gómez Ferrer ... (uncredited)
Víctor Israel ... (uncredited)
Inigo Jackson ... Major (uncredited)
Gerhard Jersch ... David (uncredited)
Jari Jolkkonen ... Siberian boy (uncredited)
Leo Lähteenmäki ... Siberian husband (uncredited)
María Martín ... Gentlewoman (uncredited)
José Nieto ... Priest (uncredited)
Ricardo Palacios ... Extra (uncredited)
Ingrid Pitt ... Extra (uncredited)
Robert Rietty ... Kostoyed (voice) (uncredited)
Mercedes Ruiz ... Tonya at 7 (uncredited)
Aldo Sambrell ... (uncredited)
Virgilio Teixeira ... Captain (uncredited)
Brigitte Trace ... Streetwalker (uncredited)
María Vico ... Demented woman (uncredited)
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Directed by
David Lean 
 
Writing credits
Boris Pasternak (novel)

Robert Bolt (screenplay)

Produced by
Arvid Griffen .... executive producer
Carlo Ponti .... producer
 
Original Music by
Maurice Jarre (original music composed by)
 
Cinematography by
Freddie Young 
Nicolas Roeg (some scenes) (uncredited)
 
Film Editing by
Norman Savage 
 
Casting by
Irene Howard (uncredited)
 
Production Design by
John Box 
 
Art Direction by
Terence Marsh 
Gil Parrondo (uncredited)
 
Set Decoration by
Dario Simoni 
 
Costume Design by
Phyllis Dalton 
 
Makeup Department
Anna Cristofani .... hair stylist (as Anna Christofani)
Grazia De Rossi .... hair stylist (as Gracia de Rossi)
Mario Van Riel .... makeup artist (as Mario van Riel)
 
Production Management
John Palmer .... production supervisor
Agustín Pastor .... production manager (as Agustin Pastor)
Douglas Twiddy .... production manager
Tadeo Villalba .... unit manager (uncredited)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roy Rossotti .... second unit director
Roy Stevens .... assistant director
Pedro Vidal .... assistant director
Peter Beale .... second assistant director (uncredited)
José María Ochoa .... assistant director (uncredited)
Michael Stevenson .... second assistant director (uncredited)
 
Art Department
Ernest Archer .... assistant art director
Fred Bennett .... construction
William Hutchinson .... assistant art director (as Bill Hutchinson)
Gus Walker .... construction
Roy Walker .... assistant art director
José María Alarcón .... assistant set decorator (uncredited)
Benjamín Fernández .... assistant art director (uncredited)
Mickey Lennon .... chargehand dressing prop: Spain (uncredited)
Julián Martín .... painter (uncredited)
Wallis Smith .... draughtsman (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Paddy Cunningham .... sound recordist
Winston Ryder .... sound editor
Van Allen James .... sound editor (uncredited)
Franklin Milton .... sound director (uncredited)
William Steinkamp .... sound (uncredited)
A.W. Watkins .... supervising sound editor (uncredited)
 
Special Effects by
Eddie Fowlie .... special effects
 
Visual Effects by
Gerald Larn .... matte painter (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Manuel Berenguer .... photographer: second unit
Ernest Day .... camera operator
Miguel Sancho .... chief electrician
Anthony Busbridge .... focus puller: second unit (uncredited)
John Crawford .... clapper loader (uncredited)
John Crawford .... clapper loader (uncredited)
Kenneth Danvers .... still photographer (uncredited)
Jim Dawes .... grip (uncredited)
Jim Kane .... grip (uncredited)
John Kerley .... clapper loader: second unit (uncredited)
Dennis C. Lewiston .... camera operator: second unit (uncredited)
Anthony B. Richmond .... clapper loader (uncredited)
Alex Thomson .... camera operator (uncredited)
Kenneth J. Withers .... focus puller (uncredited)
Ted Worringham .... camera maintenance (uncredited)
 
Editorial Department
John Grover .... assistant editor (uncredited)
 
Music Department
Maurice Jarre .... conductor
Bob Bain .... musician: balalaika (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Barbara Cole .... continuity
Hugh Miller .... dialogue coach
Andrew Mollo .... consultant (uncredited)
Lee Turner .... continuity: second unit (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for mature themes.
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
197 min | UK:192 min (1999 re-release) | UK:193 min | UK:200 min (1992 re-release)
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Russian
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) | DTS (re-release) (35 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)
Certification:
Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1971) | Canada:PG (video rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (1995) | UK:15 (1987) | UK:A (1966) | UK:PG (1992) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11
Filming Locations:
Alberta, Canada more
Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
William Hartnell and T.P. McKenna were both offered parts. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: In the scene where Dr. Zhivago first arrives in Moscow (near the beginning of the movie). He is boarding a tram on Tverskaya street. In the background, is a statue of Yuri Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow in 1147. The statue was placed there in 1947 on the 800th anniversary of Moscow's founding. It wasn't there before the Bolshevik revolution, the time during which the scene is supposed to have taken place. more
Quotes:
Komarovski: But don't you see her position? She's served her purpose. These men who came with me today as an escort will come for her and the child tomorrow as a firing squad! Now I know exactly what you think of me, and why. But if you're not coming with me, she's not coming with me. So are you coming with me? Do you accept the protection of this ignoble Caliban on any terms that Caliban cares to make? Or is your delicacy so exorbitant that you would sacrifice a woman and a child to it? more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Quantum Leap: Double Identity - November 8, 1965 (#1.6)" (1989) more
Soundtrack:
Prelude in G minor, Op.23-5 more

FAQ

What is this movie about?
Was the woman that Yuri saw on the street supposed to be Lara?
Why did Lara shoot Komarovsky?
more

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful.
David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, 1 September 2006
Author: raysond from Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Though it doesn't equal his 1962 Oscar-winning epic "Lawrence Of Arabia",David Lean's epic wartime romance may be his most accessible film. It tells a simple love story in a complex setting,and for the most part,avoids easy resolutions to messy emotional relationships. Even though the focus is squarely on those relationships,everything in the film revolves around the Russian Revolution. The vagaries of both World War I and the prolonged struggles among the various Bolshevik factions are the driving forces behind the plot.

In adapting Boris Pasternak's novel to the screen,writer Robert Bolt tells the story in flashback,with the powerful General Yevgraf Zhivago (Alec Guinness)questioning a teenaged girl(Rita Tushingham)about her past. He thinks she might be the daughter of his brother Yuri(Omar Sharif)and Lara(Julie Christie). Flashback to their youth and the first time that Yuri and Lara's paths cross on a streetcar. He's promising,prosperous medical student and poet,engaged to his childhood sweetheart Tonya(Geraldine Chaplin). Lara is the daughter of a dressmaker who has a long-term "arrangement" with Komarovsky(Rod Steiger),a well-connected lawyer who understands the political changes that are coming. Lara's fiancé Pasha(Tom Courtenay) is an idealistic revolutionary who is part of that change. Komarovsky's interest in Lara is not platonic. As those relationships are being sorted out,protesters are marching in the streets and the Czar's troops are taking them seriously. In the first big confrontation between a demonstration and a cavalry charge on snow-covered streets,Lean avoids the inevitable comparisons to Eisenstein's Odessa steps scene in "Battleship Potemkin",but he can't help but make a few references to it. The clash in the streets also serves as a counterpoint to Komarovsky's seduction of Lara,and the two elements are deftly interwoven. The combination of the personal life and the political has seldom been so seamless or effective as it is in that long sequence. The most memorable scenes,however,take place during World War I and the revolution:a mass of deserters meets a mass of replacement troops on a lonely road;Yuri and family embark on a long grim rail journey from Moscow to the Urals and negotiate territory controlled at times Red Guards and at times by White Guards;a machine gun attack on an unseen ememy across a field;Yuri being dragooned into service and then his long trek back home through the snow.

The Cold War being what it was in 1965(the time this film was released around Christmas of that year),Lean was denied permission to make the film in the Soviet Union,but locations in Spain,Finland,and Canada were more adequate substitutes. They give the film an impression of stark,beautiful expanse. Lean's canvas is the full-width Panavision screen. He and cimematopgrapher Freddie Young(who won the Oscar for his impressive work)along with Nicolas Roeg use all of it in both interior and exterior scenes. Instead of seeing this film on a tape or disc(DVD),the best way to experience seeing this movie in its entirely is in a theater on a widescreen in its original 70MM format. Ignore the pan and scan editions. Other the other hand,some of Lean's devices-the use of mirrors and windows,lightning are fascinating. Like in all love stories depends on viewers' involvement with the characters,and this what makes the film stand out beautifully. The two leads are attractive with exceptional performances from Omar Sharif,Julie Christie,and Geraldine Chaplin. Tom Courtenay was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar,but Rod Steiger's Komarovsky is indelible archetypal survivor. Oscar winning as well for Maurice Jarre's breathtaking score. The theme song from Doctor Zhivago,"Somewhere My Love",was a top-ten hit in 1965. Remains one of the most ambitious and watchable of the big "Panavision" films of the 1960's,and one that is also gives us the best depictions of a civil war and the terrible human lives it costs.

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