Background Boris Pasternak's novel was published in the West amidst celebration and controversy. Pasternak began writing it in 1945, and was giving private readings of excerpts as early as 1946. However, the novel was not completed until 1956. The book had to be smuggled out of the
Soviet Union by an Italian called D'Angelo to be delivered to
Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, a left-wing Italian publisher who published it shortly thereafter, in 1957. Helped by a Soviet campaign against the novel, it became a sensation throughout the non-communist world. It spent 26 weeks atop
The New York Times best-seller list. Pasternak was awarded the 1958
Nobel Prize for Literature. While the citation noted his poetry, it was speculated that the prize was mainly for
Doctor Zhivago, which the Soviet government saw as an anti-Soviet work, thus interpreting the award of the Nobel Prize as a gesture hostile to the Soviet Union.
Development and casting The film treatment by David Lean was proposed for various reasons. Pasternak's novel had been an international success, and producer
Carlo Ponti was interested in adapting it as a vehicle for his wife,
Sophia Loren. Lean, coming off the huge success of
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), wanted to make a more intimate, romantic film to balance the action- and adventure-oriented tone of his previous film. One of the first actors signed onboard was
Omar Sharif, who had played Lawrence's right-hand man Sherif Ali in
Lawrence of Arabia. Sharif loved the novel, and when he heard Lean was making a film adaptation, he requested to be cast in the role of Pasha (which ultimately went to
Tom Courtenay). Sharif was quite surprised when Lean suggested that he play Zhivago.
Peter O'Toole, star of
Lawrence of Arabia, was Lean's original choice for Zhivago, but turned the part down;
Max von Sydow and
Paul Newman were also considered.
Rod Taylor was offered the role but turned it down.
Michael Caine tells in his autobiography that he also read for Zhivago and participated in the screen shots with Christie, but (after watching the results with David Lean) was the one who suggested Omar Sharif.
Rod Steiger was cast as Komarovsky after
Marlon Brando and
James Mason turned the part down. Ultimately,
Julie Christie was cast based on her appearance in
Billy Liar (1963)
Filming between Spain and Portugal. Lean's experience filming a part of
Lawrence of Arabia in Spain, access to
CEA Studios, and the guarantee of snow in some parts of Spain led to his choosing the country as the primary location for filming. However, the weather predictions failed and David Lean's team experienced Spain's warmest winter in 50 years.
Nicolas Roeg was the original director of photography and worked on some scenes but, after an argument with Lean, he left and was replaced by
Freddie Young. Principal photography began on 28 December 1964, and production ended on 8 October the following year; the entire Moscow set was built from scratch outside Madrid. Most of the scenes covering Zhivago's and Lara's service in World War I were filmed in Soria, as was the Varykino estate. The "ice-palace" at Varykino was filmed in Soria as well, a house filled with frozen beeswax. The charge of the partisans across the frozen lake was also filmed in Spain; a cast iron sheet was placed over a dried river-bed, and fake snow (mostly marble dust) was added on top. Some of the winter scenes were filmed in summer with warm temperatures, sometimes of up to 25 °C (77 °F). Other locations include
Madrid-Delicias railway station in Madrid and the
Moncayo Range. The initial and final scenes were shot at the
Aldeadávila Dam between Spain and Portugal. Although uncredited, most of those scenes were shot on the Portuguese side of the river, overlooking the Spanish side. Other winter sequences, mostly landscape scenes and Yuri's escape from the partisans, were filmed in Finland near
Joensuu. Winter scenes of the family traveling to Yuriatin by rail were filmed in Canada. The locomotives seen in the film are Spanish locomotives like the
RENFE Class 240 (ex-1400 MZA), and Strelnikov's armoured train is towed by the RENFE Class 141F
Mikado locomotive. One train scene became notorious for the supposed fate that befell
Lili Muráti, a Hungarian actress, who slipped clambering onto a moving train. Although she fell under the wagon, she escaped serious injury and returned to work within three weeks (and did not perish or lose a limb). Lean appears to have used part of her accident in the film's final cut.
Music ==Release==