Dec. 14, 1964 - MGM is swinging into action this season with preparations for a film of one of the most widely read novels of recent years, “Dr. Zhivago.”
“Dr. Zhivago,” an adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s epic Russian chronicle, is shaping up as the company’s most ambitious production since “Mutiny on the Bounty,” which cost $19 million and showed a loss of almost half that amount.
Major casting was completed today with the signing of Sir Ralph Richardson to play “Gromeko,” the adopted father of the poet protagonist.
David Lean’s film version of the novel, which won a Nobel Prize for its author, goes before the color cameras in Madrid immediately after Christmas. It is the first project since “Lawrence of Arabia” for the British director (pictured right with Julie Christie), who won Academy Awards for his last two films.
A seven‐month shooting schedule is planned, alternating between studio interiors in Madrid and locations in the Spanish mountain region near Soria. The schedule is flexible enough to provide operating freedom for Mr. Lean, who works slowly and carefully and took five years after “The Bridge on the River Kwai” to prepare and complete his elaborate “Lawrence.”
In the screenplay by Robert Bolt — author of “A Man for All Seasons” and also the scenarist for “Lawrence” — the action centers on the love story between the idealistic Russian doctor, played by Omar Sharif, and the lower‐class girl, Lara, to be portrayed by Julie Christie.
Mr. Sharif is the young Egyptian actor who attracted Hollywood’s attention in a featured role in “Lawrence.” He recently played opposite Ingrid Bergman in “The Yellow Rolls Royce.”
Miss Christie, a member of Paul Scofield’s Royal Shakespeare Company at Lincoln Center last spring, had a notable success as the “dream girl” in the British comedy, “Billy Liar.” Subsequently, she played leads in the Sean O’Casey biography,” Young Cassidy,” and “Darling,” now being completed in Italy with Dirk Bogarde.
Most of the other principal roles in the panoramic drama, covering the doctor‐poet’s lifetime before and during the Russian Revolution, are being played by British actors. In addition to Sir Ralph, the cast includes Tom Courtenay as the revolutionary General Strelnikov, Rita Tushingham as Zhivago’s illegitimate daughter, and Siobhán McKenna as Miss Christie’s mother.
Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charles Chaplin, will make her English language film debut as Zhivago’s unhappy wife. Rod Steiger, the only American among the principals, plays the sinister, well-connected man who becomes Miss Christie’s lover.
The director, whose notable films also include “Brief Encounter,” “Great Expectations” and “Summertime,” has surrounded himself with technicians from “Lawrence” for the lengthy production in Spain. Carlo Ponti is producing the drama for MGM, at an estimated total cost of more than $5 million.
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