Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

Boris Pasternak (novel)
Robert Bolt (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 December 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

The entertainment event of the year!

Plot:

Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution.

Plot Keywords:

Missing Child | Library | Suitor | Gunshot Wound | Widow

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

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)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Sostar S.A.

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Ibérica S.A. (1965) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (????) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• MGM Sound Department  sound re-recording
• Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore  book publisher (as Feltrinelli Editore of Milan)
• Iberduero  sincere appreciation to (as Iberduero S.A. Aldeadavila Dam)
• Spanish Railways National System  sincere appreciation to
• VR  sincere appreciation to (as Finnish State Railways)
• Canadian Pacific Railway  sincere appreciation to (as Canadian Pacific Railway Company)
• CEA Studios  sincere appreciation to (as C.E.A. Studios, Madrid)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature themes.

Runtime:

197 min | Sweden:160 min | Sweden:192 min (2001 re-release) | Sweden:200 min (1998 re-release) | UK:192 min (1999 re-release) | UK:193 min | UK:200 min (1992 re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

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:

South Korea:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Canada:PG (video rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (1995) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | UK:15 (1987) | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1971) | USA:Approved (original rating) | UK:A (1966) | UK:PG (1992) | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Alberta, Canada

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The soundtrack sold more than 600,000 copies during the film's initial release.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Urals are gradually rising mountains, not snowcapped peaks visible from perfectly flat steppes.

Quotes:

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: I told myself it was beneath my dignity for arresting a man for pilfering firewood. But nothing ordered by the party is beneath the dignity of any man, and the party was right: one man desperate for a bit of fuel is pathetic; five million people desperate for a bit of fuel will destroy a city...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Munsters' Revenge (1981) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Prelude in G minor, Op.23-5

Romance And Revolution

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.