History Trivia / DoctorZhivago

* NoExportForYou: The film wasn't shown in Russia until 1994.

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/DavidLean cast Creator/JulieChristie as Lara after seeing her in ''Film/BillyLiar'' and on the recommendation of Creator/JohnFord, who had directed her in ''Film/YoungCassidy''.

** In an early scene, Komarovsky was supposed to kiss a shocked Lara. After noticing in rehearsals that Creator/JulieChristie was anticipating the scene and showing nervousness, Rod Steiger, with Lean's permission, decided, while kissing her, to not let her go and follow up that first kiss with a french kiss. It worked.

* FakeRussian: The Lebanese-Egyptian Creator/OmarSharif as the Russian Dr. Yuri Zhivago. Then again, most of the cast are British (or in Rod Steiger's case, American) actors playing Russians, so the trope's in effect for everyone.

* ThrowItIn: In another scene, after Lara slaps Komarovsky, he slaps her back with his glove. Komarovsky's response wasn't on the script. Rod Steiger later commented that "nobody slaps Komarovsky and gets away with it".

** Creator/StanleyKubrick and Creator/KirkDouglas [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/09/stanley-kubrick-kirk-douglas-wanted-doctor-zhivago-movie-rights enquired about adapting the novel]].

** Creator/PeterOToole was the original choice for Yuri, while Creator/OmarSharif was cast as Pasha. However, O'Toole refused to work with Lean again following ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' and Sharif got the lead role. Creator/DirkBogarde, Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/PaulNewman and Creator/MaxVonSydow were also considered. Creator/MichaelCaine tells in his autobiography that he also read for Zhivago and participated in the screen shots with Christie, but (after watching the results with Lean) was the one who suggested Sharif.
** Carlo Ponti wanted to cast his wife Creator/SophiaLoren as Lara, but Lean thought she was too tall for the role. Creator/JaneFonda was also considered.

* ProductionPosse: Creator/DavidLean reused some of the crew of ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' - script writer Creator/RobertBolt, composer Maurice Jarre, and production designer John Box, not to mention actors Omar Sharif and Creator/AlecGuinness.
* PromotedFanboy: Omar Sharif was a big fan of the novel.
* RealLifeRelative: Omar Sharif's son played the young Zhivago.

* SameLanguageDub: Creator/KlausKinski's lines was looped by Robert Rietti due to his thick German accent.

** Producer Carlo Ponti won a bidding war for the film rights to Boris Pasternak's novel, and wanted it to be a spectacle on the same scale as ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'', so he hired many of the same crew members, including Creator/DavidLean, script writer Robert Bolt, composer Music/MauriceJarre, and production designer John Box. He wanted location shooting to take place in the Soviet Union, but was refused permission by the government due to the content of the novel. Scandinavia was deemed too cold for a lengthy film shoot, while Yugoslavia was ruled out for both the cold weather and the obstructive bureaucracy; the location shooting was mostly done in Spain. Construction of the Moscow set in a suburb of Madrid took nearly eighteen months, while filming itself fell behind schedule as Lean hoped to shoot scenes during each of the various seasons as depicted in the novel. Unfortunately, the winter scenes did not go as planned due to the unusually mild winter, and they were instead mostly filmed in summer in temperatures as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with marble dust and plastic snow standing in for actual snow and the actors' profuse sweating requiring frequent makeup touchups.[[note]] Some of the winter scenes were filmed in more appropriate weather in Finland and Canada.[[/note]]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Pasternak modelled Pasha Antipov on UsefulNotes/LeonTrotsky. In the film adaptation, Tom Courtenay is dressed to look like historical photos of him.

* DirectedByCastmember: Omar Sharif directed his son, playing the young Zhivago, himself so he'd get a better feel of the character.
* DyeingForYourArt: Omar Sharif shaved off his real hair as it looked too Middle Eastern, and wore a wig to play Zhivago.

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #39
** AFIS100Years100Passions: #7

* UsefulNotes/BFITop100BritishFilms: #27

* AFIS100YearsSeries:

** Creator/PeterOToole was the original choice for Yuri, while Creator/OmarSharif was cast as Pasha. However, O'Toole refused to work with Lean again following ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' and Sharif got the lead role. Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/PaulNewman and Creator/MaxVonSydow were also considered. Creator/MichaelCaine tells in his autobiography that he also read for Zhivago and participated in the screen shots with Christie, but (after watching the results with Lean) was the one who suggested Sharif.

* ThrowItIn: In another scene, after Lara slaps Komarovsky, he slaps her back with his glove. Komarovsky's response wasn't on the script. Creator/RodSteiger later commented that "nobody slaps Komarovsky and gets away with it".

** Producer Carlo Ponti won a bidding war for the film rights to Boris Pasternak's novel, and wanted it to be a spectacle on the same scale as ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia, so he hired many of the same crew members, including Creator/DavidLean, script writer Robert Bolt, composer Maurice Jarre, and production designer John Box. He wanted location shooting to take place in the Soviet Union, but was refused permission by the government due to the content of the novel. Scandinavia was deemed too cold for a lengthy film shoot, while Yugoslavia was ruled out for both the cold weather and the obstructive bureaucracy; the location shooting was mostly done in Spain. Construction of the Moscow set in a suburb of Madrid took nearly eighteen months, while filming itself fell behind schedule as Lean hoped to shoot scenes during each of the various seasons as depicted in the novel. Unfortunately, the winter scenes did not go as planned due to the unusually mild winter, and they were instead mostly filmed in summer in temperatures as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with marble dust and plastic snow standing in for actual snow and the actors' profuse sweating requiring frequent makeup touchups.[[note]] Some of the winter scenes were filmed in more appropriate weather in Finland and Canada.[[/note]]