Doctor Zhivago

Guide Note

Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 film directed by David Lean. The film is loosely based on Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning novel of the same name.

Fast Facts

1. Release Date: December 22, 1965
2. Director: David Lean
3. Starring: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie
4. Academy Award nominations: Six
5. Wins: Five (Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Score, Cinematography, Costume Design)
6. Loosely based on Boris Pasternak novel
7. Book was banned in the Soviet Union until 1988
8. 2002: Adapted into television mini-series

Major cuts had to be made to the 592-page novel to bring Doctor Zhivago in at roughly three hours, and even so, critics still complained the film was overlong. Many subplots and characters were cut, and the entirety of World War I was compacted into five minutes of film.

Peter O'Toole was David Lean's first choice for the role of Zhivago, but O'Toole turned the role down. Producer Carlo Ponti wanted his wife Sophia Loren to play Lara, but Lean nixed the idea. James Mason was originally cast as Viktor Komarovsky, but dropped out, and Rod Steiger took the role. Omar Sharif had wanted to play Pasha, and was surprised when offered the role of Zhivago.