Doctor Zhivago is considered to be a classic 1965 film directed by David Lean. The film is loosely based on Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning novel of the same name. The film sticks fairly close to the events that happen in the book, but there are some events and characters that have noticeable differences than those depicted in the book.

Doctor Zhivago stars actor, Omar Sharif as Yuri, and actress, Julie Christie as Lara, the two main characters in the film. Yuri Zhivago is a married doctor and poet, who falls in love with Lara, who is also married. Lara is the inspiration behind many of Doctor Zhivago's poems. The film follows the events and life of Zhivago through World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059113/plotsummary

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.