Official PoCo Muse Film Critic Jeff Schultz revisits Doctor Zhivago for his December 2021 Review.
Children near and far dream of seeing that man dressed in red as he flies through the air in the last half of December. This year it is Spider-Man but for kids fifty years ago it was the figure of Santa Claus. Like Spidey, Santa got to greet his fans at the movie house. Traditionally during the week before Christmas, Mr. Claus would take his morning break from getting his sleigh ready at the North Pole and transport to downtown Valparaiso, Ind., to grant the wishes of a thousand cherubs at the Premier Theatre. Kids nine years and under each got bags of candy and popcorn and if you were one of the few select winners, not only would you get to take home the prized bicycle, wagon or dolly, but you also got your picture with Santa and Murph Shauer in The Vidette-Messenger. It may have been the magic of Christmas responsible for a room for of joy and wonder, or it may have been the big-hearted executives of First National Bank who sponsored the event for over 30 years. Families would have to visit the FNB branch to snag tickets. What thrilled the young partiers even more was the “no grownups allowed” rule. The children were supervised by Valparaiso’s finest including police, firefighters, nurses and the local PTA, on call in case a miniature brawl were to break out over who got the bike. Attendees were also treated to Disney cartoons. If you were ever one of those “1,000 lucky kiddies,” childhood was never better.
Meanwhile in 1971, the yuletide spirit was sparser in the weeks leading up to the annual party. Looking at the list of films shown at the Premier during that December and choosing one to review makes me feel like I am at white elephant gift exchange where my choices are a deck of Uno cards, an electronic whoopee cushion, a Pennywise Chia Pet or one of those toy reindeer that poops candy. The movies are “Doctor Zhivago,” “Joy in the Morning,” “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death," and a Disney documentary double-feature of “The Living Desert” and “The Vanishing Prairie.” I want my last movie review of the year to be special but nothing that stands out. I don’t want to spend my time talking about buffalo so that nixes the Disney option, I had already mentioned “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” in my October Horror-thon review (but tempting since it was director John Hancock’s first film who would later film the holiday movie “Prancer” no more than a stone’s throw away from here), “Joy in the Morning” advertised as a fitting follow-up to “Love Story” (my June review) has never been released on video, and I ask who has time to watch the three-and-a-half hour “Doctor Zhivago” with only a few shopping days left until December 24? Logic dictates Zhivago as my pick since it is the only choice with a Christmas scene.
Like “Gone with the Wind” last month, “Doctor Zhivago” was a reissue for the Premier, having first been released in 1965. Both were major successes for MGM. “Gone with the Wind,” as you remember, is the biggest moneymaker not only for the studio, but for all time if you adjust for inflation. “Doctor Zhivago” is MGM’s second biggest box office hit in terms of ticket sales and ranks eighth on the all-time list, sandwiched between “Jaws” and “The Exorcist.” Apart from their success, GWTW and Zhivago have further things in common. Both are epic love stories set against the backdrop of a civil war. The difference here is trading bonnets for ushankas. They both drummed up considerable controversy. Some people were not happy with the way GWTW portrayed the antebellum south and the Russian government was not amused by the Zhivago story and had banned the book completed in 1956 by Boris Pasternak. Officials considered certain things about the novel to be “anti-Soviet,” details they purported to be critical of Stalinism, and refused to let the movie be filmed in the Soviet Union. Director David Lean decided to film most of the movie in Spain. Despite the Russian characters, the film features hardly any actors or actresses of Russian descent. Playing the title character Yuri Zhivago is Egyptian-born actor Omar Sharif and playing his half-brother Yevgraf is revered English actor Sir Alec Guinness.
The film opens with Yevgraf, a lieutenant in the KGB, looking for his lost niece, the supposed daughter of Yuri and his lover Larissa (“Lara”) Antipova. He questions a young woman he suspects is her but she says she has little recollection of her parents. Attempting any way to jolt her memory, Yevgraf tells her Yuri’s story which unfolds into the movie we’re seeing. Yuri lost his mother at a young age years before the Russian Revolution of 1917. He is taken in by friends of hers and is betrothed to their daughter Tonya. Yuri grows up to become a doctor and one night accompanies his mentor to see a woman who has attempted suicide after finding out her lover’s preying upon her 17 year-old daughter Lara, played by Julie Christie. Shortly afterwards, Lara shoots her abuser in front of several people at a Christmas party and later marries reformer Pavel “Pasha” Antipov. Yuri marries Tonya (played by Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin). Fate crosses Yuri and Lara during the outbreak of World War I. She works as a nurse to search for Pasha after he is wounded in battle. She and Yuri serve at a field hospital for several months and begin a love affair though still being devoted to their spouses. Returning home, Yuri is informed by Yevgraf that the Cheka have noted him as an antagonist to Communism and sees that Yuri flees Moscow to the Ural Mountains, only to be met with a Bolshevek armored train under the command of Strelnikov, the name Pasha has given himself after switching sides.
That’s only Part 1 of the story and telling you Part 2 will take me past my word limit so you'll have to see the movie to find out what happens to Yuri and Lara as they dodge the communists and if the young woman Yevgraf is questioning is their daughter. The movie is currently streaming on HBO Max. Obviously it is a classic movie romance but despite the fact it has sold more tickets than any Jurassic Park movie, Marvel superhero movie and all but one Star Wars movie, I’m guessing not many people today have seen “Doctor Zhivago.” Is it worth seeing? Yes, for grand scale moviemaking. It’s an example of craftsmanship for Lean. This was his follow-up to 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia” which won Best Picture at the Academy Awards as did his other film “The Bridge over the River Kwai” in 1958. However, I found “Doctor Zhivago” to be much drier than those and other epics. The characters Yuri and Lara are less fiery than say Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara. It’s Lean’s vision and set pieces that move the picture while the characters slow it down. “Doctor Zhivago” won five Oscars for the elements that impressed me – screenplay, cinematography, art direction, costume design, and musical score. Composer Maurice Jarre’s “Lara’s Theme” aka “Somewhere, My Love” or better yet the dancing Goomba song from 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” movie, is one of the top selling songs of all time.
My favorite thing about “Doctor Zhivago” is probably what most people under age 50 would be, the ice-palace at Varykino that Yuri and Lara visit made entirely of frozen beeswax. It’s a true Winter Wonderland better than any I’ve seen in a Christmas movie and would have been cool to see (no pun attended) on the big screen at the Premier. It can’t hold a candle though to thrill of seeing Santa at the Kiddie’s Christmas Party. Therefore, I give St. Nick four stars and three I give to be shared among “Doctor Zhivago” and the candy-pooping reindeer.
To you the reader, I give you infinity stars. Thank you for Going Back to the Movies with me these past 12 months reliving the golden anniversary of Shauer’s Premier Theater in 1971. Thank you to Kevin and everyone at the Porter County Museum for allowing me to share the love of movies with the community. I hope there will be another chance in the near future and you can learn more about the Premier and the history of movie-going in Porter County by listening to the third episode of the Poco Muse Podcast. I wish everyone a safe and happy 2022.