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Doctor Zhivago (1965)

The Lawrence of Arabia thread got me thinking to watch Doctor Zhivago. My, what a film.

Based on the superb novel by Boris Pasternak, this epic follows the Zhivago family as they navigate the vast land of Russia from the 1890's-1950's.

Omar Sharif acts with his eyes in this movie. It is a damn good performance that people tend to overlook.

The rest of the cast consists of Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Sir Ralph Richardson, Tom Courtenay, Siobhan McKenna Rita Tushingham, Klaus Kinski, and Alec Guinness as Lt. General Zhivago.

The musical composition by Maurice Jarre is one that will be taught in the history books.

Director David Lean and producer Carlo Ponti once again deliver a great triumph for cinema.

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by Anonymousreply 272September 28, 2022 11:24 PM

The trailer

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by Anonymousreply 1January 12, 2022 9:23 PM

Julie Christie's makeup and bouffant hairdo seem out of place

by Anonymousreply 2January 12, 2022 9:24 PM

Except that Julie Christie's daughter would never look like Rita Tushingham......

by Anonymousreply 3January 12, 2022 9:27 PM

Gorgeous film

by Anonymousreply 4January 12, 2022 9:30 PM

Love Geraldine Chaplin. So delicate yet so strong.

by Anonymousreply 5January 12, 2022 9:31 PM

Never want to hear "Lara's Theme" again.

by Anonymousreply 6January 12, 2022 9:31 PM

What happened to Omar Sharif? He lost a lot of steam after 1980 or so.

by Anonymousreply 7January 12, 2022 9:36 PM

"Lara's Theme" was played to DEATH after the release of that film.

For a while there, every elevator in the country and department store speaker was playing that tune.

by Anonymousreply 8January 12, 2022 9:37 PM

The poster art was devised in such a way that it seemed like Julie Christie’s breasts were supporting all of Russia.

by Anonymousreply 9January 12, 2022 9:54 PM

Not a great book but a great movie.

by Anonymousreply 10January 12, 2022 9:56 PM

Sir Ralph Richardson gives a good performance.

by Anonymousreply 11January 12, 2022 10:40 PM

One of the best movies of all time

by Anonymousreply 12January 12, 2022 11:36 PM

Rod Steiger as Komarovsky was the best thing in it. Alec Mcguinnes and Tom Courtenay were a close second. The historic retelling and cinematograpy were both excellent.

The central love story/triangle was a chemless bore though. Its all about the supporting characters and the non love story parts of the story. Lara had mor chemistry with Steiger/Komarovsky and Yuri/Shariff with Geraldine Chaplin.

And JC's beehive hairdo in whats supposed to be the 1910's-1940's still gives me a rage boner.

by Anonymousreply 13January 12, 2022 11:50 PM

R13 Alec Guiness not Mcguiness....my bad. Oof.

by Anonymousreply 14January 12, 2022 11:58 PM

[quote] Sir Ralph Richardson gives a good performance.

Was his tremoring hands the first sign of incipient Parkinson's disease?

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by Anonymousreply 15January 13, 2022 12:04 AM

[quote] Not a great book but a great movie.

What was wrong wth the book, R10?

by Anonymousreply 16January 13, 2022 12:11 AM

R10 The OP says it's a "superb novel".

by Anonymousreply 17January 13, 2022 12:13 AM

Nabokov hated the novel and never missed the chance to lambast it.

by Anonymousreply 18January 13, 2022 12:16 AM

I don't believe the critics liked it. Lean claimed in its first week you could shoot off canons in theaters and nobody would get hurt but I don't think that's true. For some reason the word of mouth was very strong from the get go and it quickly became an international hit making his fortune.

Sadly Lean's type of film making by 1970 was not only out of favor with the critics but with audiences as well. He's one of my favorite directors. He could make very effective intimate dramas as well as grand epics.

by Anonymousreply 19January 13, 2022 12:21 AM

I love this movie. Julie Christie is incandescent in this.

by Anonymousreply 20January 13, 2022 12:29 AM

He stopped making effective intimate dramas in 1947.

Ann Todd froze him up.

She had the reputation of being a frigid queen and this passionless 'intimate drama' is set in the icy cold of the snowy Alps.

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by Anonymousreply 21January 13, 2022 12:30 AM

R19 but A Passage to India was a massive success.

by Anonymousreply 22January 13, 2022 12:35 AM

I saw DZ when I was young and was bored to tears. I will say that this BFI trailer made the film much more intriguing for me. I can only imagine how heavy-handed and "important" the original trailer would have been, including the heavy balalaika use of Lara's Theme.

by Anonymousreply 23January 13, 2022 12:40 AM

It has been years since I've seen DZ, but I remember it well because for some reason Georgia Public Broadcasting(PBS) used to seemingly run it for every pledge drive period. I guess it had something to do with Ted Turner, he couldn't justify giving them GWTW so he gave them DZ and Raintree County.

by Anonymousreply 24January 13, 2022 12:47 AM

[quote] Omar Sharif acts with his eyes in this movie.

David Lean knew he was dealing with someone more familiar with Egyptian camels than the English language.

David Lean told him to "imagine the act of sexual congress' whilst the doctor watched the Bolshevik massacre from the balcony.

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by Anonymousreply 25January 13, 2022 12:55 AM

I've only seen bits of it. I thought it was some florid breeder romance. I guess I'd like to wait to see it on the big screen to get the full effect.

by Anonymousreply 26January 13, 2022 12:58 AM

Love this film!

Favorire Scene:

"Lickspittle!"

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by Anonymousreply 27January 13, 2022 1:01 AM

The greatest drama occurred off screen.

Carlo Ponti: I want my wife to star in this movie!

David Lean: No, Carlo, no, no, no!

Carlo Ponti: I want my wife to star in a cameo role as Madam Sventitsky.

David Lean: No, Carlo, no, no, no!

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by Anonymousreply 28January 13, 2022 1:03 AM

"Lickspittle!"

An ugly word provided by a master wordsmith.

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by Anonymousreply 29January 13, 2022 1:05 AM

R28 Ponti got his revenge by making this two-hour Russian weepie imitation.

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by Anonymousreply 30January 13, 2022 1:09 AM

Opening burial/funeral scene always gets me.

Dr. Zhivago film at least was good in that it did convey the vastness of Russia, and focused on ordinary people both in waning days of Tsarist Russia, and afterwards. This instead of making it a glorified film about the Romanovs...

British television did a Dr. Zhivago series that fleshed out bit more of characters, including poor Lara Antipova who was pimped out by her mother to Victor Ippolitovich Komarovsky as a young girl when he got tired of the former. In film Rod Steiger rapes Julie Christie. In BBC treatment Lara long was being abused by Komarovsky, often with her mother in next room pretending nothing was going on as her daughter was being pounded in next room.

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by Anonymousreply 31January 13, 2022 1:31 AM

R3, I'm curious whether you've read the novel. I haven't read the whole thing, but I read the first few and last few chapters. (Someday I'll go back and try again, but it was a little bit of a slog.) I particularly wanted to see the treatment of the daughter's interview, since I felt the same about the casting of Rita Tushingham.

Turns out it was pretty appropriate. I don't recall these themes being so prominent in the movie, but the novel brings out the contrast of his character, intellect, and spirit against the enormous changes being wrought in Russian society. To me, the daughter exemplifies the strength of the new Soviet spirit, as she's very pedestrian and fits in very well as a part of the proletariat. Zhivago's friends find her to have little in common with her parents. It would seem that their genes produced a kind of peasant throwback.

Also, a spoiler:

In the end, the movie Zhivago sees Lara in the street from a tram and rushes down to find, then suffers a massive heart attack and dies. In the book, he's on the tram and sees his old landlady, doesn't rush down to the street, but does suffer a massive heart attack and die after he does alight. The change to that scene in the film shifts the meaning, in my opinion, from a motif underlining the changes Zhivago and Russia have been through and the things they have lost, to a tragic coda to a romance.

by Anonymousreply 32January 13, 2022 1:32 AM

Dr. Zhivago (2002) trailer.

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by Anonymousreply 33January 13, 2022 1:35 AM

Correction: "rushes down to find her"

by Anonymousreply 34January 13, 2022 1:35 AM

R33 I couldn't bear to watch that TV version with Miss Spade Face pretending to be Lara.

by Anonymousreply 35January 13, 2022 1:40 AM

Reading Dr. Zhivago is rather like Proust, War and Peace along with good number of equally famous books. It's a long tough slog at start, but if you stick with things it does get better.

Happily pour Moi and others Cliff Notes were readily available for Proust so was spared that agony. My French friends tell me something similar exists in France and other French speaking countries as students dread the assignment.

by Anonymousreply 36January 13, 2022 1:40 AM

OP, you credit Richardson with a knighthood but not Guinness.

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by Anonymousreply 37January 13, 2022 1:44 AM

Omar Sharif was hot as fuck in Dr. Zhivago...

Young Yuri in opening funeral scene was Mr. Sharif's son Tarek Sharif....

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by Anonymousreply 38January 13, 2022 1:47 AM

Omar Sharif's grandson, Omar Sharif, Jr. is an out Jewish gay man.

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by Anonymousreply 39January 13, 2022 1:48 AM

R31 Lara grew to hate Komarovsky and with reason but their relationship was, according to the book and both miniseriess, "consensual" or at least as consensual as it could be between a 17 year old and a 40 something man in a much higher position in power. In the 1965 film she does give in to him in the end but his attitude towards her is so apalling after she shoots him. I believe in the 2002 series its the same

Komarovsky just was not a type that had to rape women...His crimes against them were more subtle but as much if not more harmful.

by Anonymousreply 40January 13, 2022 1:50 AM

Komarovsky reminds me of Scarpia in opera Tosca.

Contrary to what many believe Scarpia does not want to take Tosca by force (that would be too easy), but believes she will give herself to him willingly in heat of passion. In short Scarpia fancies himself Jack the Lad who cannot be resisted by women. He also knows ways to manipulate them into giving into his desires regardless of whatever it does to their conscious.

by Anonymousreply 41January 13, 2022 1:56 AM

[quote] Omar Sharif was hot as fuck in Dr. Zhivago..

Well, he lost his looks within a decade.

This role of poet and voice of Russia needed to be enacted by a man of intelligence.

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by Anonymousreply 42January 13, 2022 1:57 AM

R41 He does say "Don't delude yourself this was rape. That would flatter us both" after he and Lara have sex. Which, is both extremely cruel and probably true. No wonder she shoots his ass.

by Anonymousreply 43January 13, 2022 2:01 AM

Omar Sharif still had it three years later in Funny Girl.

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by Anonymousreply 44January 13, 2022 2:04 AM

Komarovski: You, my dear, are a slut. Lara: I am not! Komarovski: We'll see.

Well, she does go on to commit against adultery against her weakling husband that Komarovski warned her about.

by Anonymousreply 45January 13, 2022 2:05 AM

R3: "Except that Julie Christie's daughter would never look like Rita Tushingham......"

Tushingham has almost disturbingly penetrating eyes like Sharif, so I buy it. And as someone mentioned upthread, there's a symbolic aspect to it: the stripping of every last bit of beauty and luxury from Russia.

by Anonymousreply 46January 13, 2022 2:06 AM

[quote] the stripping of every last bit of beauty and luxury from Russia.

That's what Socialists do. They are 'levellers'.

by Anonymousreply 47January 13, 2022 2:07 AM

My poor 1st true love would sigh dramatically when he saw me dragging out the vcr tape of this divine movie . He knew he was in for a long,boring (to him) movie and a cuddle fest. I liked to do that on rainy days,along with some good weed,snacks and assuredly hot sex after. Id be all seething with emotion after it ended !

by Anonymousreply 48January 13, 2022 2:08 AM

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

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by Anonymousreply 49January 13, 2022 2:11 AM

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: Tonya! Can you play the balalaika?

David: Can she play? She's an artist!

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: Who taught you?

David: Nobody taught her!

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: Ah... then it's a gift.

Alec Guinness' hopeful last words give us a sliver of optimism after the three hours of chaos, sadness, and displacement.

by Anonymousreply 50January 13, 2022 2:16 AM

Balalaika, word has always made me giggle since heard it in a Daffy Duck cartoon.

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by Anonymousreply 51January 13, 2022 2:25 AM

Ah Baron Scarpia. If ever a villain character in fiction got what was coming to him......

He's wicked on so many levels, and of course because you know Tosca wasn't the first, nor would be last victim if Scarpia wasn't stopped. Good, bad or whatever Tosca solves that problem...

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by Anonymousreply 52January 13, 2022 2:31 AM

DR. ZHIVAGO

or

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES

by Anonymousreply 53January 13, 2022 2:31 AM

R45 Komarovsky was a piece of shit but he always spoke the truth.

by Anonymousreply 54January 13, 2022 2:40 AM

Komarovsky was an opportunist turncoat.

And Strelnikov was a chinless weakling made powerful by the mob.

Boris Pasternak paints a poor picture of those Socialists who messed up his country.

by Anonymousreply 55January 13, 2022 3:00 AM

I think we can assume that Sir David Lean was a monarchist so he would have been down on the Bolsheviks not to mention the Mensheviks.

by Anonymousreply 56January 13, 2022 3:19 AM

R55

I am easily assimilated. These days you have to be in the majority!

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by Anonymousreply 57January 13, 2022 6:39 AM

[quote] Julie Christie's daughter would never look like Rita Tushingham.

But Lara (played Julie Christie) foolishly fornicated with that google-eyed, empty-headed chinless fool named Pasha Antipov (played by google-eyed, chinless Tom Courtenay) and may or may not have produced google-eyed Rita Tushingham at the dam.

by Anonymousreply 58January 13, 2022 7:26 AM

The novel is an indictment of the suppression of the individual by the Stalinist state and its betrayal of the Revolution. You can glimpse what Pasternak meant by the Revolution's promise in the scenes where Yuri is caught stealing wood by his half-brother and their later conversation.

The novel is better at underscoring the tension in Yuri over his love for Tanya and his love for Lara. There is a third woman too that the film cut.

by Anonymousreply 59January 13, 2022 2:20 PM

R48, you sound like me 😆. Except my boyfriends usually ended up liking the movie after me making sit down for 3 hours of it.

by Anonymousreply 60January 13, 2022 2:33 PM

What ever happened to the other daughter - not Rita tushingham. They never explained her fate.

by Anonymousreply 61January 13, 2022 3:11 PM

[quote]Except that Julie Christie's daughter would never look like Rita Tushingham

I LOVE RITA TUSHINGHAM!

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by Anonymousreply 62January 13, 2022 3:19 PM

R49, that article is bullshit. Sharif was a very content and gregarious man who lived the life he wanted until his health started to fail. His best movies were in the 1960s, he didn't get good roles as he got older and cinema styles had changed drastically. From the NYT, 1990s:

He says he is not bitter about his career. "Look, I had good and bad," he says. "I did three films that are classics, which is very rare in itself, and they were all made within five years. At the same time, I worked with very good directors -- Fred Zinnemann, Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer -- in what turned out to be very bad films.

And at the end of the 60's, this cultural revolution happened with the youth movement, and the major studios ceased to have the same influence. There was a rise of young, talented directors, but they were making films about their own societies. There was no more room for a foreigner, so suddenly there were no more parts. Now if these other films had worked, it might have been different. But this plus that was too much."

"I have a bit from here, a bit from there," he says. "I'm doing fine. What I really want is to have friends. I missed that, being like a nomad all the time. The difficulty about my kind of life is I meet mostly actors and socialites instead of normal people. The choice is more limited."

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by Anonymousreply 63January 13, 2022 3:48 PM

Omar Sharif's stache in this film is fucking HOT.

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by Anonymousreply 64January 13, 2022 4:12 PM

Oh yes op, those warm liquid brown eyes and that cleft chin. Omar Sharif was gorgeous. Did he have any sons I wonder.

And any film with Rid Steiger is a must in my book.

by Anonymousreply 65January 13, 2022 4:12 PM

Yum. Just look at that bad boy.

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by Anonymousreply 66January 13, 2022 4:14 PM

Odd fact: Omar Sharif went to high school in Alexandria with the famous literary scholar Edward Said, whom Sharif bullied mercilessly.

by Anonymousreply 67January 13, 2022 4:20 PM

The movie is terrible in depicting Russia accurately. The visuals and the setting are all wrong. The actors do not look or act like Russians. None of the recent series have been much better, it is shocking to me that the Brits couldn't do it right. They have plenty of experts to consult. They all seem to feel like shooting exteriors in central European cities with spired churches with no domes.

by Anonymousreply 68January 13, 2022 4:27 PM

Yes his son is in the opening scenes of Zhivago. Sharif expressed regret he did not spend more time with him as a child as he was too busy making movies. It seems he was for the most part content until the end when he was suffering from dementia and physically attacked a female fan. What is the third film he considers a classic withing that five year period because that would be '62 to '67 unless he is stretching it a bit and including Funny Girl? Though I kind of doubt it because though I think it's great and his gorgeous presence is practically iconic(he almost steals People from Babs just by the way he looks at her while she's singing) he probably wouldn't consider a musical a great film.

by Anonymousreply 69January 13, 2022 4:28 PM

R67 🤣🤣 who said that, Sharif or Said?

by Anonymousreply 70January 13, 2022 4:32 PM

[quote]What is the third film he considers a classic withing that five year period because that would be '62 to '67 unless he is stretching it a bit and including Funny Girl?

Yes, it's Funny Girl. I'd say because people always asked him about it - interviewers and regular people. It is a classic in popularity and it being Streisand's first film. A classic film doesn't have to be a GREAT film, R69.

by Anonymousreply 71January 13, 2022 4:39 PM

R61 pretty sure she stays with Komarovsky....its probably his kid anyway

by Anonymousreply 72January 13, 2022 4:42 PM

Omar and Babs at the Royal Premiere of Funny Girl

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by Anonymousreply 73January 13, 2022 4:43 PM

The love story? Yeesh, that's the weakest part of the film. The critics had it right in the 60s

by Anonymousreply 74January 13, 2022 4:43 PM

It's not a great film but a great movie.

by Anonymousreply 75January 13, 2022 4:46 PM

[quote][R67] 🤣🤣 who said that, Sharif or Said?

Classmates of theirs.

Why are you laughing at the idea of merciless bullying?

by Anonymousreply 76January 13, 2022 4:49 PM

Yet another bloated, overrated, overlong, non-edgy 1960s film like Lawrence of Arabia. Meh.

by Anonymousreply 77January 13, 2022 4:52 PM

Lawrence of Arabia is far superior to this slog.

Who cares what Omar Sharif did in high school? Most people aren’t nice when they’re teenagers, they grow out of it.

by Anonymousreply 78January 13, 2022 4:56 PM

Why did they straighten Omar's hair so mercilessly as Zhivago? Do Russians not have curly hair? For me, that took away a lot of his sexual appeal.

by Anonymousreply 79January 13, 2022 5:27 PM

Omar Sharif in medium shot at the train window looking out at the full moon in passing Russian night... A beauty in every way.

by Anonymousreply 80January 13, 2022 5:37 PM

R80, yes Freddie Young, who replaced Nicolas Roeg after he had creative differences with Lean.

by Anonymousreply 81January 13, 2022 5:39 PM

R79, I think it's a hair piece. He had plenty of hair, but they wanted straight.

Fun Fact about Sharif: He said that when he was making Funny Girl, they used light make-up on him so he looked "white."

by Anonymousreply 82January 13, 2022 5:57 PM

R81 thanks. And now I've learned that Roeg was a cameraman.

by Anonymousreply 83January 13, 2022 6:23 PM

Donald Wolfit gives the best performance in this too.

by Anonymousreply 84January 13, 2022 9:17 PM

[quote] now I've learned that Roeg was a cameraman

We already knew he was a pretentious charlatan.

by Anonymousreply 85January 13, 2022 9:42 PM

[quote] Never want to hear "Lara's Theme" again.

It was a simple slow waltz tune with sugary orchestration.nSo simplistic that we soon got bored with it.

It was sugary and inappropriate as those irritating waltz tune for 'Ryan's Daughter' and 'Murder On the Orient Express'.

This scene 'Arriving At Varykino' has a more jaunty tune.

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by Anonymousreply 86January 13, 2022 9:51 PM

It's better than that shitty Godfather theme song. Whoever wrote that, I mercifully have forgotten, deserved the death penalty. Oh was it Rota? Still it ruined everything else he wrote.

by Anonymousreply 87January 13, 2022 10:06 PM

I love this movie. There was some documentary made about the making of movie - it was on PBS, so god knows how old it was. It was very interesting & it talked about how the costumers were styled to make the movie ageless...but they definitely failed on the bouffant hairdos all the women sported. They also talked about what a tyrant Lean was & how after an extra actually lost a leg in the train scene, he made them all keep shooting even though everyone was very upset.

I still think it's a timeless movie. My favorite character is Alex Guinness as the chilly half brother who tries to rescue Yuri time & again.

by Anonymousreply 88January 13, 2022 10:09 PM

The 'Lara's Theme' was repeated ad nauseam because millions saw this epic romance.

Carlo Ponti and MGM made $111,000,000 from David Lean's craftsmanship..

We've already talked in another thread about the (at least) three women who wore Tonya-style wedding dresses.

by Anonymousreply 89January 13, 2022 10:10 PM

R86. Murder On The Orient Express, Ryan’s Daughter and Zhivago are three of my favorite scores! Lol. I guess I have schmaltzy taste and proud of it

by Anonymousreply 90January 13, 2022 10:11 PM

[quote] Alex Guinness

Alec Guinness

by Anonymousreply 91January 13, 2022 10:12 PM

Oh, sorry - my bad: Alex Guinness! It's the perils of drinking & typing!

Side note: because I loved him in this movie & several other things, I was rather disappointed to learn what a humorless old grump Alec was about the Star Wars movies, even though he made a shit ton of money off of them.

by Anonymousreply 92January 13, 2022 10:16 PM

^ I sympathise with Sir Alec's grumpiness. He was trained in English theatre and untrained in being a Hollywood celebrity and to wear the mask of insincerity constantly in public.

by Anonymousreply 93January 13, 2022 10:30 PM

Omar was offered the musical La Cage countless times for broadway and London but always turned them down. Too bad because he would have been wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 94January 13, 2022 10:35 PM

^ I wonder if that was because he liked to keep far away from homosexuals.

by Anonymousreply 95January 13, 2022 10:40 PM

Sir Alec was very agreeable about Star Wars until he realized it was what he was to be known by the majority of people forever. After years of a very distinguished career to be known for a Saturday morning comic book movie made him unhappy. Yes it made him very rich but I'm sure without it he was comfortable enough for his needs not needing a mansion in Malibu.

A very big blunder I made on my one trip to London a very long time ago was shortly before the release of Star Wars he was appearing on the West End in a one man play about Jonathan Swift which I did not go to see. I also passed up seeing Albert Finney in Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great at the National. Can you imagine? I did see Judi Dench in Much Ado at Stratford and I had no idea who she was, John Mills in Separate Tables, and Nureyev in the Royal Ballet's Romeo and Juliet at Covent Garden. That was a glamorous exciting night. Waited at the stage door to see him exit grandly in his full length mink coat and big mink hat exulting in the cheering of the crowd and then stepping into his limo. A hilarious and fun moment.

by Anonymousreply 96January 13, 2022 11:02 PM

^ Most of us envy you, R96.

by Anonymousreply 97January 13, 2022 11:20 PM

So many non-Russian Laras were born in 1966...

by Anonymousreply 98January 13, 2022 11:23 PM

And a few Tonyas.

by Anonymousreply 99January 13, 2022 11:24 PM

[quote] humorless old grump

At least he didn't treat American autograph-seekers like this person—

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by Anonymousreply 100January 13, 2022 11:36 PM

Not defending the bouffants of DR. ZHIVAGO but the 1960s were particularly bad at getting period hairstyles right.

I imagine at the time they thought Lara's and Tonya's hairstyles were very much like the enormous Gibson Girl hairdos of the early1900s.

I think contemporary tastes were also what made them wig or straighten Omar Sharif's luscious curls. In the mid-60s curly hair was considered reprehensible. It all had to be straightened, teased and blown dry, even men's hair.

by Anonymousreply 101January 14, 2022 12:45 AM

[quote] wig or straighten

That Irishman had to go blond and straighten to portray T.E Lawrence.

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by Anonymousreply 102January 14, 2022 12:51 AM

"Lara's Theme" played on music boxes as well. My aunt had one.

by Anonymousreply 103January 14, 2022 1:15 AM

[quote]but they definitely failed on the bouffant hairdos all the women sported.

What about Sharif's?

by Anonymousreply 104January 14, 2022 1:17 AM

[quote] the 1960s were particularly bad at getting period hairstyles right.

I'd go further and say that movies of every decade were bad at getting period hair and clothing right.

Downton Abbey and other recent productions are strict in their accuracy.

by Anonymousreply 105January 14, 2022 1:22 AM

"One Million Years B.C." was strictly 1966 A.D.

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by Anonymousreply 106January 14, 2022 1:44 AM

In 1900 the only women who wore mark-up were prostitutes and stage actors. Julie Christie was TOO OLD to wear her hair down like that - it looked silly. The clothes were not correct either. The Moscow restaurant did not look anything like a real one - it's too pretty like the Harmonia Gardens set in Hello Dolly. The snow castle looked like a church or a mosque - nothing like a summer dacha.

by Anonymousreply 107January 14, 2022 4:13 AM

[quote] Julie Christie was TOO OLD to wear her hair down like that - it looked silly.

I think that every time I see England's 40 year old princess with brown rags hanging down over her chest.

Markles and almost every other woman today follows this extremely messy fad for dangling tendrils. The worst example was the wrinkled woman who obscured her vision in order to follow he fad.

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by Anonymousreply 108January 14, 2022 4:39 AM

I didn’t realize The Year of Living Dangerously STOLE its tagline.

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by Anonymousreply 109January 14, 2022 4:46 AM

[quote] Who cares what Omar Sharif did in high school? Most people aren’t nice when they’re teenagers, they grow out of it.

That's what we say!

by Anonymousreply 110January 14, 2022 4:59 AM

[quote] Omar was offered the musical La Cage countless times for broadway and London but always turned them down. Too bad because he would have been wonderful.

Yes, he displayed such a magnificent singing voice in "Funny Girl"!

by Anonymousreply 111January 14, 2022 5:25 AM

True, during Victorian period make-up was frowned upon in polite society. Much of that attitude came from the top (Queen Victoria), but never the less (less obvious) use of cosmetics did happen among ladies in highest circles. QV called out some of her ladies and other females at court for their use of make-up (no matter how discreet), while her grand-daughters and even daughters got away with far more.

By Edwardian period attitudes had changed about cosmetics. True not everyone was on board, and going out looking like a painted harlot simply wasn't done. But never the less women from all ranks of society bought and used cosmetics/make-up.

This was spurred on by two forces, the industrial revolution which brought cosmetics to mass markets, and arrival of what we now call department stores (Selfridges, Galleries Layfette, etc...). High born ladies not wanting to be seen buying cosmetics sent their maids or someone else. This and or stores had "will call" areas where someone could call for things on the sly.

How safe these products were was another matter. It wouldn't be until governments began passing laws regulating cosmetics (including what went in them), and demanding that packaging list ingredients.

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by Anonymousreply 112January 14, 2022 6:41 AM

None of the women in Dr. Zhivago wore bouffant hair styles. Rather they wore hairstyles common through out the Edwardian period, masses of hair piled on top of their heads in various up do fashions. It would not be until the Roaring 20's when women began cutting off all that hair and wearing bob hairstyles.

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by Anonymousreply 113January 14, 2022 6:45 AM

More:

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by Anonymousreply 114January 14, 2022 6:45 AM

Omar Sharif had quite a nice voice....

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by Anonymousreply 115January 14, 2022 6:46 AM

To R57

Leonard Bernstein's family was from Rivne/Rovna Gubernia ( My father came from Rovno Gubernya ...), they emigrated to USA before he was born in 1918. This was a good thing for the Bernstein family because twenty years later when Nazis invaded during WWII....

"On 28 June 1941 Rivne was invaded by the 6th army of Nazi Germany, which later established the city as the administrative centre of Reichskommissariat Ukraine on 20 August. A prison for the Gestapo was created on Belaia Street.[6] At the time, roughly half of Rivne's inhabitants were Jewish; of these, about 23,000 were taken to a pine grove in Sosenki and killed between 6-8 November. At the same period the well known German actor Olaf Bach was flown over to the city to perform for the German forces, for morale and to support the troops. He remained in Rivne from 8-13 November. A ghetto was established for the remaining 5,000 Jews. In July 1942, its population was sent 70 km (43 mi) north to Kostopil where they were killed; the ghetto was subsequently liquidated."

Leonard Bernstein would have been in his early twenties while these horrors were going on in hometown of his parents.

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by Anonymousreply 116January 14, 2022 9:33 AM

But why Geraldine Chaplin, I always wonder when I see her.

by Anonymousreply 117January 14, 2022 10:11 AM

Nice bit of backstory....

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by Anonymousreply 118January 14, 2022 12:09 PM

I don't know why some of you are so concerned over period hair and costumes. The 1960s was modern, "mod," almost to obsession. Audiences wanted that, and they wanted STARS! It may look weird today, but when it came out is a large part of this movie's history. Note that Doctor Zhivago was one of those rare films that was re-released several times in big movie palaces before it eventually appeared on TV.

by Anonymousreply 119January 14, 2022 12:16 PM

IIRC, it was, "I was not born in Rovna Gubernya/My father spoke a High Middle Polish." I had no idea that was a real place, so thank you!

by Anonymousreply 120January 15, 2022 3:18 AM

Nope, you were right, of course! I confused two verses.

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by Anonymousreply 121January 15, 2022 3:20 AM

I’ve never worked out whether it was Lara Yuri saw from the tram or not.

by Anonymousreply 122January 15, 2022 3:37 AM

[quote]I don't know why some of you are so concerned over period hair and costumes.

Not obsessed with it, but Lean set out to make timeless movie and mostly achieved it, other than the hair.

This thread makes me want to re-watch Zhivago. In modern times, some idealistic like Zhivago would've been cancelled for his sympathies & effete poetry while the Rod Steiger character would be the king of Fox News

by Anonymousreply 123January 15, 2022 10:33 AM

Boris Pasternak was the Russian author most popular in the West during the Cold War.

by Anonymousreply 124January 15, 2022 11:41 AM

[quote] Lean set out to make timeless movie and mostly achieved it, other than the hair.

It's important to note that 1965 was long before home video, which I'm sure David Lean didn't foresee. The only place his movies were going to be seen was in a movie theaters, perhaps for several years on and off, then TV. No one could imagine people discussing Dr Zhivago hair styles in 2022.

by Anonymousreply 125January 15, 2022 2:13 PM

R123 Komarovsky was an opportunist who went with whatever side was winning and was able to get in good with the communists as he had been with the zarists. It is how he was able to save Lara and Yuri from certain death. He had no ideals...that is the opposite of Yuri, not belonging to one political side or the other.

There is something interesting said about that juxposition between the 2 though. Or 3 if you want to add Strelnikov. Both Zhivago and Strelnikov had ideals but either they weren't able to do anything about them other than write poetry, like in Zhivago's case, or like Strelnikox, took it to an extreme and lost their mind and soul over them.

Komarovsky, lacking any real principles or ideals was the one that eventually "got" Lara and her children albeit through coercion. Say what you will about him but he got shit done. Pasternak certainly questions Komarovsky morally , but he also questions Yuri and Strelnikov's idealism as well.

by Anonymousreply 126January 15, 2022 2:21 PM

Well said, 126; I take back what I said; he'd be a member of the Lincoln Project

by Anonymousreply 127January 15, 2022 8:10 PM

R126

[quote] Komarovsky … Say what you will about him but he got shit done.

Two different people could read that sentence and interpret it to mean two different things.

by Anonymousreply 128January 15, 2022 9:06 PM

I believe home video was being thought about at least since the early 60s. Though probably not by Lean. A few people had the sense that if you could bring recordings into your home to play at will why not movies. Disney was already experimenting with TV in stereo.

by Anonymousreply 129January 15, 2022 11:36 PM

R129 = born in 1999

by Anonymousreply 130January 16, 2022 12:14 AM

I wish!!!

by Anonymousreply 131January 16, 2022 12:51 AM

[quote] No one could imagine people discussing Dr Zhivago hair styles in 2022.

R125 I'm sure David Lean was well aware of his status and his extreme talent. He knew he was the best film director in Britain after Hitchcock jumped ship and Carol Reed's career was killed by Marlon Brando.

'Lawrence' brought in $70 mill and 'Zhivago' would bring in $111mill. He knew that films needed to be released then re-released to bring in extra revenue. ('Gone with the Wind' was released in 1939 and then re-released in 1942, 1947, 1954, 1961, 1967 , 1971, 1974, 1989 etc etc.)

by Anonymousreply 132January 16, 2022 4:19 AM

The very end of the movie is brilliant. It rivals the end of 'Barry Lyndon' for pathos and intensity and the futility of life and hope.

by Anonymousreply 133January 16, 2022 4:50 AM

It's up to Alec Guinness acting as a part-time narrator to give coherence to this sprawling epic.

Robert Bolt's script is so concise. And I think Alec Guinness is the most interesting voice-actor of the 20th century.

by Anonymousreply 134January 16, 2022 5:51 AM

R132 meet R119

"Doctor Zhivago was one of those rare films that was re-released several times in big movie palaces before it eventually appeared on TV."

by Anonymousreply 135January 16, 2022 1:40 PM

By the early 1960s, Saturday and Sunday nights had become prominent events on network television for the more recent truly big films to be seen again by millions of old and new fans. It was a different showcase than the ever-present Late Late Show and Million Dollar Movie programs local stations had run for years., truly must-see TV. And just a few years later most college campuses had weekly film festivals featuring old films and foreign films. I can't imagine any director by then didn't see that their work would be seen by new generations.

by Anonymousreply 136January 16, 2022 2:15 PM

Yeah, R136. People would see Dr Zhivago in 1985 and describe it as a 1960s movie, hair and all.

by Anonymousreply 137January 16, 2022 2:24 PM

R132 Reed rebounded and won the 1968 directing Oscar, so Brando didn’t exactly kill it.

by Anonymousreply 138January 16, 2022 2:53 PM

R132 R138 To be fair, both men's career died in the late 1970's.

by Anonymousreply 139January 16, 2022 3:43 PM

Carol Reed and David Lean both attained equally great success and status making tightly-controlled small British black and white movies throughout the 1940s.

Carol Reed attempted an ambitious international epic movie with British stars in 'Outcast of the Islands' in 1951. He had black and white cameras and nsufficient money. It was an artistic and financial failure with silly miscasting, some hopeless and botched camera work done in Malaya which had to be abandoned and reshot in Ceylon.

Carol Reed's career lost impetus and he was obliged to revert to smaller black and white films and offer himself out as a 'director for hire' to others such as Burt Lancaster's American production company to make the Technicolor schlock 'Trapeze'.

David Lean learned from Reed's failure and held back from attempting an international colour movie until 1955 when he could secure a bankable international star in Katharine Hepburn to make a more manageable story called 'Summertime' in a much safer location of Venice.

David Lean's career went upwards making international colour epics while Carol Reed's reputation foundered. Reed offered himself out as a 'director for hire' to MGM with international colour epic but the insane star Marlon Brando wanted to play Englishman Fletcher Christian as a effeminate fop. Englishman Carol Reed objected but he was an MGM employee and he was sacked.

Reed continued as a 'director for hire' on other people's projects when he asked to do the remake of David Lean's 'Oliver Twist'. He was given an Oscar as a consolation prize when sensible people knew he should have got it for 'The Third Man' 20 years previously.

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by Anonymousreply 140January 16, 2022 8:10 PM

Despite the failure of Mutiny he was given the big budget prestige picture The Agony and the Ecstasy starring two big stars of the period so his career was not exactly in the toilet.

by Anonymousreply 141January 17, 2022 3:51 AM

It's on TCM now, bitches.

by Anonymousreply 142January 23, 2022 12:06 AM

EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

by Anonymousreply 143January 23, 2022 12:09 AM

Rod Steiger is quite fuckable in this.

by Anonymousreply 144January 23, 2022 12:32 AM

Funny that it received warm and somewhat mixed reviews when it opened. I think it can is a great film and Julie Christie despite the 60s “look” is ravishing- her sense of intelligence and beauty are the essence of a leading woman. And the sweep of the revolution and story is grand- as is the live story. Guinness as usual is unrecognizable and brilliant in another Lean film. He’s truly one of the great actors predating Streep and Day Lewis in an ability to disappear in characters as different as night and day. Paul Muni had it too even earlier.

by Anonymousreply 145January 23, 2022 12:41 AM

Love not live

by Anonymousreply 146January 23, 2022 12:42 AM

Geraldine Chaplin’s pink and grey ensemble is gorgeous.

by Anonymousreply 147January 23, 2022 12:45 AM

1965 was Julie’s year, with this film and Darling being released the same year.

by Anonymousreply 148January 23, 2022 12:53 AM

R144 Komarovsky was supposed to be a great seducter man about town. And though Steiger wasnt much to look at he was a good actor and could act the part. I find that scene where he wraps Lara's face in the black lace as disturbingly sexy.

by Anonymousreply 149January 23, 2022 1:17 AM

[R147]: When my mother, who was born in 1909, and fully acquainted with train travel, saw Chaplin’s pink outfit, she had a fit. No one, she insisted, would ever travel by train in such a color; it would so easily show the dirt and soot abounding on trains and in stations. Totally inaccurate.

To this day, I hear her protests when I see that scene.

by Anonymousreply 150January 23, 2022 1:58 AM

R150 she wasnt wrong, Zarist Russia or America, that is not a traveling outfit. Women had dark/grey outfits specifically made for traveling back then.

by Anonymousreply 151January 23, 2022 2:10 AM

R150, R151 Vivien wears more sensible travelling clothes.

by Anonymousreply 152January 23, 2022 2:44 AM

Yes, she wears more sensible clothes here.

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by Anonymousreply 153January 23, 2022 2:58 AM

Lean was forced by MGM to rush the editing to get it in theaters by the end of the year for the Oscars. It was very foolish because if he had more time it would have been a better film and would have won the Oscar for '66. It could have had an Easter premiere as Music had. '65 was the year of SOM and the next year would have been the year of Zhivago. They threw the Oscars away. It had its world premiere in New York's Capitol theater on December 22, 1965. They stupidly got it in just under the wire. Maybe they thought it was a Lean prestige picture and it would trounce Music. I think Spielberg said no musical should have won over Zhivago.

by Anonymousreply 154January 23, 2022 3:30 AM

Famous "Phoebe Snow" train touted in advertisements people could travel in white or light colours because their locomotives burned clean coal, thus exhaust wasn't sooty and messy.

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by Anonymousreply 155January 23, 2022 3:34 AM

Burning coal for steam, heating or whatever was a nasty business, but those who knew what they were doing could minimize much of bother.

First and foremost thick smoke means coal isn't being burned properly, if you control fire well smoke and soot should be minimal.

For record it wasn't just when traveling people could get covered in soot. Before natural gas, oil or electricity main source for heating, cooking, steam production, etc... was coal, wood or some other solid fuel. Large cities like London, Paris, New York, etc.. were filthy from all that smoke and soot from burning coal.

Indoors wasn't much better either. Be it from fireplaces, stoves, furnaces or boilers burning all that coal created indoor air fouled with soot and traces of whatever else from emissions. You brushed up against a wall, touched a surface... and came away with black soiling marks.

Whole idea behind "spring cleaning" was when fireplaces, boilers, furnaces or whatever else were finally shut down with arrival of warm weather; windows were opened and an orgy of cleaning that went on for several days began. All that soot and smoke which had fouled surfaces wanted washing or otherwise cleaning off.

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by Anonymousreply 156January 23, 2022 3:47 AM

Ah, R156, you sound like the railway enthusiast who was advising us the quickest way to travel from Hawaii to London.

by Anonymousreply 157January 23, 2022 4:55 AM

[quote] Maybe they thought it was a Lean prestige picture and it would trounce Music.

MGM was right about the first part. It IS a prestige picture and they did bring in $111.7 million on their investment.

by Anonymousreply 158January 23, 2022 5:01 AM

Had they opened it a couple of months later they would have gotten a slew of Oscars as well.

by Anonymousreply 159January 23, 2022 6:24 AM

[quote] Lean was forced by MGM to rush the editing to get it in theaters by the end of the year for the Oscars.

I don't think that delay could have solved those few problems that detract from this great movie.

Problem 1; being unable to photograph in the actual Russian locations.

Problem 2; having a main actor who seems too dumb to write poetry

by Anonymousreply 160January 23, 2022 6:43 AM

One of my favorite scenes is when the poorly equipped, starving, freezing soldiers fleeing the front, encounter a couple of officers who scream at them to turn around and fight for their country, only to be beaten to death or shot by the men. Even though what comes next is just as bad/worse for Russia, it goes to show what happens when you push people too far

by Anonymousreply 161January 23, 2022 10:10 AM

Best scenes were at the frozen dacha, I think.

Really beautiful cinematography.

by Anonymousreply 162January 23, 2022 10:12 AM

[quote]gives me a rage boner

Pics please.

by Anonymousreply 163January 23, 2022 10:14 AM

R150. Oh I agree 100% but the pink is just sooooo pretty especially in that drab background.

by Anonymousreply 164January 23, 2022 3:24 PM

I would, R150. In fact I usually wear white.

by Anonymousreply 165January 23, 2022 5:09 PM

[quote]Oh I agree 100% but the pink is just sooooo pretty especially in that drab background.

And that pink fur hat! She looks like an ice cream cone

by Anonymousreply 166January 23, 2022 5:13 PM

Lara's original train outfit was darker -- Dalton changed it to the pink.

by Anonymousreply 167January 23, 2022 5:29 PM

R102, my mother had a music box that played “Lara’s Theme”. It wasn’t a box, though. It was a wooden spinning wheel on a round pedestal that revolved slowly as it played. I totally forgot about it until this thread. I thought it was magical.

by Anonymousreply 168January 23, 2022 6:09 PM

Random House published Robert Bolt’s screenplay, complete with color photos, one of which depicts the aftermath of young Yuri’s father’s suicide. Despondent, he jumps from a moving train, not far from where where Yuri and his adoptive family, the Gromykos, are staying. This scene was omitted from the final release print of the film.

I always enjoy seeing deleted scenes. But I’m not aware of any from “Doctor Zhivago” ever being shown.

by Anonymousreply 169January 23, 2022 6:13 PM

[quote] I always enjoy seeing deleted scenes.

Me too.

Wiki says the initial release was 193 minutes and the 1992 re-release was 200 minutes.

by Anonymousreply 170January 23, 2022 10:08 PM

r8 the vocal version was worse. My mother played the beautiful-music-easy-listening station out of Manhatten (WPAT) and it seems like everyone had a version with words. ugh.

by Anonymousreply 171January 23, 2022 10:32 PM

I found one!

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by Anonymousreply 172January 23, 2022 10:35 PM

Connie Francis' version was sublime:

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by Anonymousreply 173January 23, 2022 11:29 PM

R173..as was Connie's Italian version which went to #1 in Italy.

by Anonymousreply 174January 24, 2022 2:44 AM

Zhivago remake:

Timothee Chalamet as Dr Zhivago

Margot Robbie as Lara

Kristen Stewart as Tonya Gromeko

Alden Ehrenreich as Viktor

Eddie Redmayne as Pasha

Joseph Fiennes as Alexander Gromeko

Annabeth Gish as Anna Gromeko

Kiernan Shipka as Tanya

and

Liam Hemsworth as Lt Gen Zhivago

by Anonymousreply 175January 24, 2022 3:01 AM

R175, that's excellent casting, although I can't see Kristen Stewart, Alden Ehrenreich and Liam Hemsworth filing the shoes of their counterparts.

Wasn't there a mini-series made about a decade ago?

by Anonymousreply 176January 24, 2022 3:09 AM

Keira Knightly played Lara in the tv remake.

by Anonymousreply 177January 24, 2022 3:17 AM

Zendaya as Lara Michael B Jordan as Yuri Sara Ramirez as Lt Gen Chrissy Metz as Tonya

by Anonymousreply 178January 24, 2022 3:20 AM

R175 Your suggestions would fail at the BBC .

All new BBC shows must meet a 20% diversity target.

One fifth of on-screen talent and production teams must be Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, have lived experience of a disability, or are from a low-income background.

by Anonymousreply 179January 24, 2022 3:22 AM

[quote] Chrissy Metz as Tonya

She could play the Siberian steppe or, with some ruffles, the Urals.

by Anonymousreply 180January 24, 2022 3:30 AM

[quote] One fifth of on-screen talent and production teams must be Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, have lived experience of a disability, or are from a low-income background.

Omar Sharif was Egyptian. He could have counted toward the 1/5th quota.

by Anonymousreply 181January 24, 2022 3:31 AM

Chalamet as Yuri? Hahahaha…only if they remake it as a comedy.

by Anonymousreply 182January 24, 2022 10:27 AM

Sharif's hair in this is a wig. His real hair was too curly. He liked the wig look so much, he did it again in Funny Girl.

by Anonymousreply 183January 24, 2022 11:04 AM

If Funny Girl, R183, Sharif's hair was straightened and in some scenes, lightened. His skin was also lightened with make-up. Boy Columbia was nervous about this movie.

by Anonymousreply 184January 24, 2022 12:12 PM

Why did he throw his career away like that? Spend all of his money and stuff?

by Anonymousreply 185January 24, 2022 12:36 PM

A 32 year old playing Victor, R175? Seriously? And Tonya is supposed to be warm and endearing, not dull and deppressed? Dear god this is why I hate recasting wish lists.

by Anonymousreply 186January 24, 2022 1:01 PM

R186 Javier Bardem for Komarovsky. That is an actor fit for the part and the right age.

by Anonymousreply 187January 24, 2022 1:09 PM

R185 see R63.

by Anonymousreply 188January 24, 2022 1:15 PM

I'm available and do my own makeup!

by Anonymousreply 189January 24, 2022 4:56 PM

Helen would make a good Komarovsky.

by Anonymousreply 190January 24, 2022 5:05 PM

And doesn't she have her own wigs, too?

by Anonymousreply 191January 24, 2022 5:07 PM

In 2004, Julie Christie played Bad Pitt's mother in Troy. The years have been very kind. I thought she looked wonderful. Very natural, too. Forty fucking years.

by Anonymousreply 192January 24, 2022 5:09 PM

Julie Christie may look wonderful, but don't kid yourself, she's had plastic surgery.

by Anonymousreply 193January 24, 2022 5:40 PM

[quote] Why did they straighten Omar's hair so mercilessly as Zhivago?

My film group has a hypothesis that David Lean wanted this new man to replicate Anton Walbrook.

Walbrook was a star when David Lean entered the business. Walbrook and Sharif spoke an exaggeratedly clear English which is especially noticeable when speak a word with the vowel 'O'.

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by Anonymousreply 194January 24, 2022 9:48 PM

R173 Lara's Theme had no words until Connie Francis commissioned them, However, when delivered to her, she did not like the words. She eventually recorded the song on her Movies Great of the 60s LP. She, however, released the song as a single in Italian with different lyrics and it went to 31 there.

by Anonymousreply 195January 25, 2022 2:46 AM

Julie has no fucks left to give. She’s retired.

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by Anonymousreply 196January 25, 2022 3:04 AM

Hope I look that good when I'm 80.

by Anonymousreply 197January 25, 2022 4:59 AM

I liked her because she always seemed to have fun, and she looked so warm and friendly.

by Anonymousreply 198January 25, 2022 5:00 AM

R195: But was it a hit in Urdu or Hebrew?

by Anonymousreply 199January 25, 2022 1:11 PM

I respect Julie Christie for living her life and doing her craft on her terms. Plus, she’s child-free and proud of it.

by Anonymousreply 200January 25, 2022 1:23 PM

People who act like being child-free is some sort of achievement are annoying as hell. I like Julie, but come on.

by Anonymousreply 201January 25, 2022 3:33 PM

To me, the most powerful moment in the movie is when we see Julie Christie walking away at a distance past a huge poster of Stalin and the narrator states that she disappeared soon thereafter and probably perished in one of the Soviet prison camps.

by Anonymousreply 202January 25, 2022 4:15 PM

Why, R201? I'm far more bugged by those who constantly brag about their brats.

by Anonymousreply 203January 25, 2022 9:00 PM

I am a bit young to remember Julie Christie in her prime, but considering how Jennifer Anniston has been shamed over the years for not having children, I can only imagine the pressure on a young, beautiful actress in the 60's/early 70's that took a pass on the traditional female role.

But back to the movie - I wonder what ever happened to Lara's creepy daugther Katya - did she end up in a prison camp too or was she too busy turning other kids into the secret police?

by Anonymousreply 204January 25, 2022 9:25 PM

R203 It must be a location thing, I live in NYC and so many people around my age (early 30s) thinks they're some kind of subversive hero for not settling down or having a family, when really they're just immature and jobless. I suppose if I still lived in my suburban hometown I'd feel the way you do, a lot of my high school classmates have a ton of kids.

by Anonymousreply 205January 25, 2022 9:37 PM

My dream home is in the clip at r38: a little cabin with lots of land and breezy, sunny days with tons of flowers.

by Anonymousreply 206January 25, 2022 9:49 PM

R204 the film seems to subtly imply Katia is Victor's. If so I would think she stayed with him.

by Anonymousreply 207January 25, 2022 10:42 PM

R37 That picture reveals Mrs Alec Guinness as no beauty.

by Anonymousreply 208January 25, 2022 10:52 PM

[quote]the film seems to subtly imply Katia is Victor's. If so I would think she stayed with him.

Really, I never got that; granted, Pasha doesn't look sorry to leave either one of them when he enlists ("the personal life is dead!" and all that), but I didn't get that the kid was Victor's

by Anonymousreply 209January 26, 2022 9:41 AM

R206

Have you seen the film? That little cottage in R38 was infested with rats.

Lara in note she leaves for Yuri warns him to keep food she left for him well covered and out of reach or "the rats will get it...".

by Anonymousreply 210January 26, 2022 10:16 AM

R201 most of today’s parents (and wannabe parents) are far worse.

by Anonymousreply 211January 26, 2022 1:04 PM

R209 its subtle and could not even be intentional but the way they have the narrator say something along the lines of "men doubting their manhood"to explain why men went to war as they show a shot of Pasha and Lara with the baby looking very ubhappy and uncomfortable.. This was directly after Lara told the truth about her and Victor to Pasha and they ran off to get married.

Also Victor's desperation in saving not only Lara but her child, like when he brings her sugar as a gift after being away for so long. Sure you can chalk it up to him just wanting to get Lara but his desperation to rescue both could imply he knows she is his.

Finally Katya's hair is considerably darker than Lara or Pasha's..closer to Victor's.

Its all very up for interpretation and YMMV but many people think the clues are there to at least be hinting at the possibility.

by Anonymousreply 212January 26, 2022 1:34 PM

R212 correcting myself slightly, the actual narration where they show an awkward Pasha and Lara with the baby states" unhappy men, unhappy with their wives, doubting themselves..."

by Anonymousreply 213January 26, 2022 1:45 PM

Starting on TCM in an hour insomniacs.

by Anonymousreply 214February 15, 2022 5:04 AM

It's not a fantastic movie. However it provokes great nostalgia and warm feelings about the glamour and pageantry of BIG CLASSY movies of that era, how they were events, and how they were wonderful rich cinematic experiences up on the huge screens in the big movie theaters of the time, be they old palaces or the modern swanky ones. We went often to a swanky international style theatre.

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by Anonymousreply 215February 15, 2022 5:18 AM
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by Anonymousreply 216February 15, 2022 5:20 AM

And a few times a year my parents or grand parents would take us to Radio City to see a movie. Those were evenings of very high glamour for this boy.

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by Anonymousreply 217February 15, 2022 5:23 AM

[quote]Walbrook was a star when David Lean entered the business. Walbrook and Sharif spoke an exaggeratedly clear English which is especially noticeable when speak a word with the vowel 'O'.

Walbrook had an English governess when he was a child in his native Vienna. I wonder if that accounts for his accent.

by Anonymousreply 218February 15, 2022 7:11 AM

^

Ah! I think Anton Walbrook's an interesting performer.

He had one shirtless scene in 'Michael Strogoff' in 1936 but his best roles came afterwards. Some people insist that his homosexuality was floridly on display in 'The Red Shoes' but that's just there opinion.

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by Anonymousreply 219February 15, 2022 9:39 AM

I love Anton, who is always worth watching. He has a unique presence and amazing authority on screen. I remember watching The Red Shoes with someone who had never seen it before and when Anton came on he said 'Who is THAT? I can't take my eyes off him!'

I've read that Boris Lermontov, Anton's character in The Red Shoes, was inspired by Diaghilev, Alexander Korda, and by Walbrook himself. On the commentary track for Criterion Moira Shearer describes Walbrook as a remote figure, not socializing with the other cast members.

by Anonymousreply 220February 15, 2022 10:46 AM

(I was going to sign my post as 'DL's resident Anton Walbrook Troll' but hit send too soon)

by Anonymousreply 221February 15, 2022 10:48 AM

The movie had its world premiere here right across from the Winter Garden.

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by Anonymousreply 222February 15, 2022 7:41 PM

Why is the i in ZHiVAGO in lower case?

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by Anonymousreply 223February 15, 2022 7:47 PM

[quote] The musical composition by Maurice Jarre is one that will be taught in the history books.

Mary!

by Anonymousreply 224February 15, 2022 7:50 PM

When moviegoing was an event like going to a Broadway show.

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by Anonymousreply 225February 15, 2022 7:55 PM

[quote] I was going to sign my post as 'DL's resident Anton Walbrook Troll'

In that case I must be 'DL's resident Assistant Anton Walbrook Troll".

He was fascinating from the 30s to the 50s as well as in the three great showpieces proved by Michael Powell. I'm sure his speech here persuaded the Americans to give this film an Oscar—

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by Anonymousreply 226February 16, 2022 7:34 AM

May I be the “Assistant to the Assistant Anton Walbrook Troll”?

The speech in Colonel Blimp made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

by Anonymousreply 227February 16, 2022 1:34 PM

[quote] Sir Ralph Richardson gives a good performance.

This is the film in which we noticed the onset of Parkinson's.

by Anonymousreply 228July 23, 2022 9:45 AM

"Now, for the sixth time! You MUST stress the first word in the sentence. And don't pause between your words!

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by Anonymousreply 229July 23, 2022 1:40 PM

[quote] Omar Sharif acts with his eyes.

That because he was unable to act with his intellect or his voice.

Anyway, OP, I'm sure you've heard the anecdote about David Lean trying get Sharif to emote while the proletariate were being massacred in the street underneath the Zhivago household balcony.

He told Sharif to imagine sex.

by Anonymousreply 230September 27, 2022 11:53 AM

Andre Rieu does Lara’s Theme

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by Anonymousreply 231September 27, 2022 12:16 PM

The New Yorker Pauline Kael Neither the contemplative Zhivago nor the flux of events is intelligible, and what is worse, they seem unrelated to each other...It's stately, respectable, and dead.

The New York Times Bosley Crowther And this is the weakness of the film. Mr. Bolt has reduced the vast upheaval of the Russian Revolution to the banalities of a doomed romance.

The Guardian Richard Round Even granting the enormous difficulty of adapting such a long and complex book, I do not see how a worse job could have been done. Jack–rabbiting along in fits and starts, it gives one the feeling that the book has been arbitrarily chopped up into an irrelevant series of scenes, attempting an unsuccessful compromise between intimacy and the epic.

I found it tedious and way too long. The sets look fake and the English, Irish and American actors speak with different accents and hardly seem Russian.

by Anonymousreply 232September 27, 2022 12:21 PM

^bla bla bla

by Anonymousreply 233September 27, 2022 12:30 PM

Zhivago, A Thousand Clowns, Ship of Fools, Darling and The Sound of Music were 1965s Best Picture nominees but none of them are as good as The Collector. William Wyler's tour de force with only 4 speaking parts. Wyler was nominated for Best Direction and Sammantha Eager for Best Actress

Martin Carr retrospective review 2019:

With The Collector, Wyler proved his mastery of character pieces and adapted his skills to accommodate a smaller visual canvas. There are no wasted frames here and both actors display a restrained chemistry despite the circumstances. As a social commentary piece The Collector speaks of class division, unobtainable opportunities and lives unlived. In part, issues of idolisation are examined where observation can be misconstrued as participation. Then fatality, the idea that a perceived inferiority somehow insulates and condones wrongdoing. Boldly brave and quietly uncompromising . . .

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by Anonymousreply 234September 27, 2022 12:41 PM

[Quote]bla bla bla

Describes Doctor Zhivago to a ZZZZZZZZZZ R233

by Anonymousreply 235September 27, 2022 6:58 PM

[quote] bla bla bla

Thirty years of trauma, bloodshed and Soviet ruthlessness.

by Anonymousreply 236September 27, 2022 11:16 PM

R234 I used to adore this movie's fascinating musical score. It's capricious and quixotic and creepy.

But now I just don't don't understand why a screen master like Wyler —who was capable of handling mega-movies— chose to this not-very-interesting, tiny, two-hand story.

One of the characters is an unsympathetic psychopath and the other is an ordinary female.

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by Anonymousreply 237September 27, 2022 11:24 PM

[Quote]Thirty years of trauma, bloodshed and Soviet ruthlessness.

all wrapped up in a pretty package with the emphasis on romance. Not recommended for educational purposes

by Anonymousreply 238September 28, 2022 12:17 AM

Roger Ebert 1995 review⭐⭐⭐out of 4⭐⭐⭐⭐

When David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago" was released in 1965, it was pounced upon by the critics, who found it a picture-postcard view of revolution, a love story balanced uneasily atop a painstaking reconstruction of Russia. Lean was known for his elaborate sets, his infinite patience with nature and climates, and his meticulous art direction, but for Pauline Kael, his "method is basically primitive, admired by the same sort of people who are delighted when a stage set has running water or a painted horse looks real enough to ride." Sometimes one must admit one is precisely that sort of person. I agree that the plot of "Doctor Zhivago" lumbers noisily from nowhere to nowhere. That the characters undergo inexplicable changes of heart and personality. That it is not easy to care much about Zhivago himself, in Omar Sharif's soulful but bewildered performance. That the life of the movie is in its corners (the wickedness of Rod Steiger's voluptuary, the solemn pomposity of Tom Courtenay's revolutionary). That "Lara's Theme," by Maurice Jarre, goes on the same shelf as "Waltzing Matilda" as tunes that threaten to drive me mad.

by Anonymousreply 239September 28, 2022 12:21 AM

[Quote]Thirty years of trauma, bloodshed and Soviet ruthlessness

to the movie's credit it felt like 30 years

by Anonymousreply 240September 28, 2022 12:25 AM

[quote] Not recommended for educational purposes

R238 Can you name any movie that you would recommended "for educational purposes"?

Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will", perhaps?

by Anonymousreply 241September 28, 2022 12:26 AM

[Quote]One of the characters is an unsympathetic psychopath and the other is an ordinary female.

R237 Frankly I can't think of a film with a sympathetic psychopath. And the female like many protagonists may be ordinary but the situation they are in is extraordinary.

by Anonymousreply 242September 28, 2022 12:29 AM

^ the situation she is in is extraordinary that's what makes her interesting R237

by Anonymousreply 243September 28, 2022 12:30 AM

She is not interesting per se. The psychopath could just as well trapped a faun or some non-sentient animal.

by Anonymousreply 244September 28, 2022 12:32 AM

But Clegg doesn't want an animal to fall in love with him R244 He collects butterflies and now he's collected a girl. You should read the novel. Ever see or read Misery?

by Anonymousreply 245September 28, 2022 12:44 AM

Here's a movie you might like R244

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by Anonymousreply 246September 28, 2022 12:49 AM

[quote] You should read the novel

Perhaps I should. It seems a very slim story.

by Anonymousreply 247September 28, 2022 1:12 AM

It's lean R247 not bloated like Lean's movie.

by Anonymousreply 248September 28, 2022 1:17 AM

British Film Institute‘s Top 100 British Films

David Lean is the most represented director, while Julie Christie is the most represented actress on this list.

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by Anonymousreply 249September 28, 2022 1:41 AM

John Fowles' tour de force novel The Collector has been turned with considerably more force in the film version directed by William Wyler. Wyler has directed with such skillful concentration on the interplay that we're never conscious that the film is sustained by two actors. Wyler takes every moment for what it is as it comes along and makes the most of it. It is only retrospectively that we see it is a bravura accomplishment

Stanley Kauffmann The New Republic (June 19, 1965)

by Anonymousreply 250September 28, 2022 1:42 AM

R245 I haven't read Fowles' 'The Collector'; it's one of those bifurcated stories and the Wiki page suggests it's heavy going and covers lots of themes that Wyler couldn't attempt on screen.

[quote] But Clegg doesn't want an animal to fall in love with him

Do you think Clegg wanted a reciprocated 'love'? I thought he was merely a 'collector'.

(I note Terence Stamp's character has the ugly name of 'Clegg' which is similar to the ugly name 'Claggart' which appeared in Terence Stamp's previous film called 'Billy Budd').

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by Anonymousreply 251September 28, 2022 2:59 AM

Even as a kid, I never wanted to hear Lara's theme ever again.

The film did seem to appeal to people whom you'd expect to be a bit more sophisticated. The photography is gorgeous and few directors can do as much with winter as Lean did here, but much of the acting seems stilted or vacant.

by Anonymousreply 252September 28, 2022 3:47 AM

Is Julie Christie a bad actress?

by Anonymousreply 253September 28, 2022 3:50 AM

I didn't know people were still looking at this thread. At the beginning of the year I wrote about being in London as a teen and seeing Judy Dench, John Mills and Nureyev in performance. What I appallingly left out on this of all threads was that I also saw Tom Courtenay in Otherwise Engaged! I wrote that at that time I didn't know who Dench was. Well I didn't know who he was either. It was only later that I was like oh my god I saw these people in great performances!

And not only did I miss seeing Sir Alec and Albert Finney but also Robert Morley in a comedy I believe was called Banana Republic after which he would give a post performance performance being drole and charming in his classic manner. I remember that because I went British Airways and he was shilling for them at the time. I think I had a ticket for it with my tour package but I went to see John Mills or Nureyev instead. Oh to have a time machine.

by Anonymousreply 254September 28, 2022 3:52 AM

This, Sound of Music, Cleopatra, etc. were the end of the era of "spectaculars". Like today's franchise schlock, they had to bring in tons of money to turn a profit. One can only hope the franchise will finally come crashing down with some glossy overbudget bloat like Cleopatra doing the trick.

by Anonymousreply 255September 28, 2022 3:54 AM

[Quote]The film did seem to appeal to people whom you'd expect to be a bit more sophisticated

R252 I wonder if those sophisticated people actually ever read the novel. Critics who did said the film reduced and trivialized the novel, 1 critic referred to the film as 'kitsch' and another indicated that it reduced the revolution to a sideshow.

from Wikipedia

-Upon its initial release, Doctor Zhivago was criticized for its romanticization of the revolution. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times felt that the film's focus on the love story between Zhivago and Lara trivialized the events of the Russian Revolution and the resulting Russian Civil War, but was impressed by the film's visuals.

-Also critical of the film was The Guardian's Richard Roud, who wrote: "In the film the revolution is reduced to a series of rather annoying occurrences; getting firewood, finding a seat on a train, and a lot of nasty proles being tiresome. Whatever one thinks of the Russian Revolution it was certainly more than a series of consumer problems. At least it was to Zhivago himself. The whole point of the book was that even though Zhivago disapproved of the course the revolution took, he had approved of it in principle. Had he not, there would have been no tragedy"

-Brendan Gill of The New Yorker called the film "a grievous disappointment ... these able actors have been given almost nothing to do except wear costumes and engage in banal small talk. Doctor Zhivago is one of the stillest motion pictures of all time, and an occasional bumpy train ride or crudely inserted cavalry charge only points up its essential immobility."

-The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The best one can say of Doctor Zhivago is that it is an honest failure. Boris Pasternak's sprawling, complex, elusive novel is held together by its unity of style, by the driving force of its narrative, by the passionate voice of a poet who weaves a mass of diverse characters into a single tapestry. And this is precisely what David Lean's film lacks. Somewhere in the two years of the film's making the spirit of the novel has been lost.

-Reviewing it for its 30th anniversary, film critic Roger Ebert regarded it as "an example of superb old-style craftsmanship at the service of a soppy romantic vision", and wrote that "the story, especially as it has been simplified by Lean and his screenwriter, Robert Bolt, seems political in the same sense Gone with the Wind is political, as spectacle and backdrop, without ideology", concluding that the political content is treated mostly as a "sideshow"

-Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent reviewed the film for its 50th anniversary and noted director David Lean's "extraordinary artistry" but found the film bordering on "kitsch". Macnab also felt that the musical score by Maurice Jarre still stood up but criticised the English accents.

R251 some critics felt like me that The Collector improved upon the source material. See R250 btw have you read Doctor Zhivago

by Anonymousreply 256September 28, 2022 4:27 AM

[quote] btw have you read Doctor Zhivago

I'm too young. I'll leave it to my years in retirement when I have the time to read it and hopefully the wisdom to appreciate it with all complex plot.

by Anonymousreply 257September 28, 2022 4:32 AM

I thought the film Doctor Zhivago was reductive

by Anonymousreply 258September 28, 2022 4:32 AM

Do Russians have blue eyes?

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by Anonymousreply 259September 28, 2022 4:35 AM

[Quote]I'm too young. I'll leave it to my years in retirement when I have the time to read it and hopefully the wisdom to appreciate it with all complex plot.

R257 you have 50 posts on this thread alone. Maybe if you stopped reading and responding to other posters you'd have time to read a novel.

BTW What's that I smell?

by Anonymousreply 260September 28, 2022 4:43 AM

[quote] "The movie is terrible in depicting Russia accurately. The visuals and the setting are all wrong. "

It was largely filmed in Spain, with parts of it shot in Finland and Canada., R68.

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by Anonymousreply 261September 28, 2022 6:37 AM

In his Private Screenings talk Rod Steiger mentions this film and how David Lean stopped speaking to him after Rod made a suggestion. Rod claims it was his idea to stick his tongue in Julie Christie's mouth when he had to kiss her in a carriage ride. Christie was genuinely shocked and repulsed by him doing this.

by Anonymousreply 262September 28, 2022 7:53 AM

^ Steiger was a 'method actor' and Christie wasn't an actress at all.

by Anonymousreply 263September 28, 2022 8:15 AM

Would anyone in the world want Rod Steiger's tongue in their mouth? As the only American in the film he really seems out of place. As if a younger Jimmy Stewart were Dr. Zhivago.

by Anonymousreply 264September 28, 2022 1:13 PM

R264, see R144.

by Anonymousreply 265September 28, 2022 10:41 PM

They could have at least curled Julie Christie's hair into ringlets.

by Anonymousreply 266September 28, 2022 11:01 PM

Rod also does a funny impression of David Lean's voice.

by Anonymousreply 267September 28, 2022 11:03 PM

R267 I can't find it on Youtube.

by Anonymousreply 268September 28, 2022 11:06 PM

Here's Rod.

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by Anonymousreply 269September 28, 2022 11:06 PM

Rod's impression of Lean from 6.33.

by Anonymousreply 270September 28, 2022 11:12 PM

Very amusing! Steiger admits he was a little slimmer at the time.

by Anonymousreply 271September 28, 2022 11:18 PM

I love Omar Sharif - gorgeous (although more so on film than in pictures).

[quote] Can you name any movie that you would recommended "for educational purposes"?

The Lives of Others

by Anonymousreply 272September 28, 2022 11:24 PM
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