Trivia

This movie wasn't shown in Russia until 1994.

This movie was shot in Spain during the regime of General Francisco Franco. One day, while filming the scene with the crowd chanting the Marxist theme (at 3:00 a.m.), police showed up on set thinking a real revolution was taking place and insisted on staying until the scene was finished. The secret police supposedly surveyed the crowd as the extras sang the Internationale for a protest scene, so many extras pretended they didn't know the words. (Of course, the extras had been rehearsed in singing the Internationale before the scene was shot.) Meanwhile, residents who lived nearby had awoken to the singing of the Internationale and mistakenly concluded that Franco had died (or been overthrown). Some residents even popped champagne bottles at the mistaken rumor.

Critics tore the film apart upon release. Newsweek commented about "hack-job sets" and "pallid photography." Director David Lean was so deeply affected that he swore he would never make another movie. Thanks in part to MGM's marketing campaign and strong word of mouth, this became the second highest-grossing movie of 1965, behind The Sound of Music (1965). It received ten Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture and Director) and won 5 awards, giving Lean the confidence to continue making movies. His next movie, Ryan's Daughter (1970), received a poisonous reception from critics and bombed at the box office. Lean made his next film, A Passage to India (1984), over 14 years later.

Omar Sharif asked director David Lean to consider him for the role of Pavel Antipov (Pasha). He was surprised when Lean offered him the title role.

Omar Sharif had to have his eyes taped back daily and his hair straightened to disguise his Egyptian looks. He also had his hairline shaved up about two to three inches and his skin waxed, a process which had to be repeated every three days.

Tarek Sharif: Omar Sharif's son plays young Yuri Zhivago at his mother's funeral.