Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

Boris Pasternak (from the novel by)
Robert Bolt (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 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:

Love | Russia | Epic | Bolshevik | Poetry

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Omar Sharif	...	Yuri
Julie Christie	...	Lara
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Tonya
Rod Steiger	...	Komarovsky
Alec Guinness	...	Yevgraf
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	...	Hospital Inmate (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)

Directed by
David Lean

Writing credits
Boris Pasternak		(from the novel by)
Robert Bolt		(screenplay)

Produced by
Arvid Griffen	....	executive producer
Carlo Ponti	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Freddie Young		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Norman Savage		(film editor)

Casting by
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Production Design by
John Box

Art Direction by
Terence Marsh

Set Decoration by
Dario Simoni

Costume Design by
Phyllis Dalton

Makeup Department
Anna Cristofani	....	hairstylist (as Anna Christofani)
Grazia De Rossi	....	hairstylist (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
Stanley Goldsmith	....	production manager (uncredited)
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)
Tom Jung	....	poster designer (uncredited)
Mickey Lennon	....	chargehand dressing prop: Spain (uncredited)
Julián Martín	....	painter (uncredited)
Mickey O'Toole	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
Gil Parrondo	....	associate art director (uncredited)
Wallis Smith	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Paddy Cunningham	....	sound recordist
Winston Ryder	....	sound editor
Van Allen James	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Franklin Milton	....	re-recordist (uncredited)
William Steinkamp	....	re-recordist (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	....	second unit photography
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)
Nicolas Roeg	....	cinematographer: some scenes (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: original music
Leo Arnaud	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Bob Bain	....	musician: balalaika (uncredited)
Maurice Jarre	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Barbara Cole	....	continuity
Hugh Miller	....	dialogue coach
Andrew Mollo	....	consultant (uncredited)
Julián Benito Navarro	....	equine consultant (uncredited)
Lee Turner	....	continuity: second unit (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Carlo Ponti Production
• Sostar S.A. (uncredited)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Ibérica S.A. (1965) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1966) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS) (restored widescreen)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Sandrews (2001) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1977) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Filmipaja (1966) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Hafbo (1966) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (????) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Esselte Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• MGM/CBS Home Video (1981) (USA) (video) (CED Videodisc)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2001) (Finland) (DVD) (2-disc edition)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2010) (Finland) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (both 2-disc editions)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2010) (Brazil) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1995) (2009) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• MGM Sound Department  re-recording
• Iberduero  we wish to express our sincere appreciation to the following (as Iberduero S.A. Aldeadavila Dam)
• Spanish Railways National System  we wish to express our sincere appreciation to the following
• VR  we wish to express our sincere appreciation to the following (as Finnish State Railways)
• Canadian Pacific Railway  we wish to express our sincere appreciation to the following (as Canadian Pacific Railway Company)
• CEA Studios  we wish to express our sincere appreciation to the following (as C.E.A. Studios, Madrid)
• Crest Digital  post-production
• Turner Entertainment  current copyright proprietor

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature themes (re-rating) (1995)

Runtime:

197 min | UK:192 min (1999 re-release) | UK:193 min | UK:200 min (1992 re-release)

Country:

USA | Italy

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 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) | 6-Track Stereo (Linear PCM)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | 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 (video rating) (1987) | UK:A (original rating) (1966) | UK:PG (video rating) (1992) (1999) | UK:PG (2008) | UK:PG (tv rating) | Japan:PG-12 | USA:PG-13 | Netherlands:14 (orginal rating)

Filming Locations:

Alberta, Canada

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Strelnikov's armored train was a very accurate replica of actual trains that were used during WWI and WWII to patrol areas with heavy snow that were unaccessable to trucks or tanks.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the "peaceful protest" scene, in a close-up of the crowd the mouth movements don't match the soundtrack.

Quotes:

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago:I told myself it was beneath my dignity to arrest 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 fuel will destroy a city...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Becker: Snow Means Snow (#6.11)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Prelude in G minor, Op.23-5

Flawless beauty - the fact that it's not Lean's best is beside the point

David Lean had just directed two of the greatest films ever made ("The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia"), the more recent of which was easily the greater. As you'd expect "Doctor Zhivago" isn't as good. But this isn't to say that it's flawed in any way; there is, in fact, NOTHING wrong with it.

Of course, the previous two films had exceptionally strong stories; this one, while rich in incident, has almost no story - which would not be interpreted as a defect. The point of the film is to sketch a historical epoch by showing us the thin life-lines of a handful of people who lived through it. It's like looking at a stretch of a vast river and seeing the illuminated pathways of half a dozen or so minute particles. If there seems to be an undue amount of coincidence in the way these pathways repeatedly intersect ... well, we had the whole river to choose from.

It was fashionable to criticise Maurice Jarre's score at the time, but, in addition to being undeniably attractive and catchy, it comes across as a model of intelligent and tasteful scoring today. Bolt's script is based on less promising material than "Lawrence of Arabia" so is less inspired, but still flawlessly crafted. Particularly good are the gaps in the narrative. Some things we simply don't see: anything of Yevgraf's life before he enters the story, anything that happens to Pasha when he isn't in the vicinity of Zhivago ... but we have the material available to infer, and as it happens, it's the fact that we infer rather than see that makes the story feel so convincingly large.

Most of all, this is a beautiful film, with some of the most breathtaking location footage (it doesn't matter that it's Spain and Finland standing in for Russia) ever shot. As always, the real test is whether the characters look like they're really there (Moscow, the distant Russian countryside), their feet really touching the ground and leaving footprints. If "Doctor Zhivago" had done nothing but convey this impression so well it would still be a masterpiece.