| Photos (see all 68 | slideshow) |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
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 | (director of photography) | ||
| 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 | |
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 | |
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 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 | |
Other crew | |||
| Barbara Cole | .... | continuity | |
| Hugh Miller | .... | dialogue coach | |
| Andrew Mollo | .... | consultant (uncredited) | |
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You really do miss something when you see a formatted version of Doctor Zhivago as I recently did. This is the kind of film that was made literally for the big screen. It's what epic movie making is all about.
I also think that you should see this on the big screen back to back with Warren Beatty's Reds. Two very opposite views of the Russian Revolution, one from the inside and one from the outside. You could have a very interesting discussion on which is which.
The title character, played by Omar Sharif, is Dr. Yuri Zhivago who is both doctor and poet. He was orphaned as a child and raised in the house of Ralph Richardson and Siobhan McKenna. He marries their daughter, Geraldine Chaplin who of course he loves, but naturally like a sister.
The real passion of his life is Julie Christie who is married to a committed Bolshevik in Tom Courtenay. Courtenay is also a guy, with shall we say, some issues. She loves him in her own way though and goes to search for him when he volunteers for the army to subvert it as the Bolshevik plan was when Russia entered World War I.
Christie meets Sharif at the front and the passion ignites. But all around them the society they knew and were brought up in is crumbling about them. Their story set against the background of the Russian Revolution is what Doctor Zhivago is all about.
Zhivago knows change was inevitable, the old order in Russia was ready to be toppled. But he's a poet and not one to let his art be subverted for the sake of the state. Fortunately he's also a doctor and his services are needed, in fact the Bolsheviks rather brutally insist on his accompanying one of their brigades as a medical officer.
I still remember as a lad the acclaim Boris Pasternak's novel got world wide when it was published while being banned in his home land. After winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, Pasternak died shortly thereafter. It's a pity he did not live to see this film, I think he would have approved.
From the deserts of Arabia to the steppes of Russia, David Lean certainly knew how to direct a film that involved vastness. Yet the people of his stories be it Lawrence of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago never get lost in the spectacle. Lean makes you care about the characters that Pasternak created, you get involved in the romance of Sharif and Christie, you want to know if they'll make it in this country undergoing revolutionary convulsions.
Other performances of note are Alec Guinness as Sharif's half brother Yevgeny Zhivago, a committed Bolshevik himself and Rod Steiger as the opportunistic Komorovsky.
Doctor Zhivago won a host of awards in several technical categories, strangely enough it wasn't nominated for Best Picture in 1965 though. It is a classic and even now with the Soviet Union a memory, I doubt if even a Russian made remake of Zhivago could equal what David Lean and his wonderful cast gave us in 1965.