Over 4000 daffodils were imported from the Netherlands and placed on the outskirts of the mountain town of Soria, where Zhivago's father-in-law's country estate was located.
Producer Carlo Ponti originally bought the rights to the novel so that he could cast his wife, Sophia Loren, in the role of Lara. David Lean, however, did not want to use Loren, claiming that she was 'too tall' for the role.
Ranked #7 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions: America's Greatest Love Stories, #39 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: America's Greatest Movies and received a nomination for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
Screenwriter Robert Bolt recommended Albert Finney for the role of Pasha, and wrote Finney a long letter to convince him to accept. David Lean , however, refused, largely because Finney had turned down the title role in Lawrence of Arabia.
Several producers and studios bid for the rights to the novel, which Carlo Ponti won in 1963. He wanted the film to be as grand as
Lawrence of Arabia, so he recruited the crew of that film, including director David Lean, screenwriter Robert Bolt, cinematographer Freddie Young, production designer John Box and composer Maurice Jarre.
Strelnikov's armored train was a very accurate replica of actual trains that were used during WWI and WWII to patrol areas with heavy snow that were unaccessable to trucks or tanks.
The actor who plays the young Yuri Zhivago at his mother's funeral is Omar Sharif's son Tarek Sharif.
The film was not shown in Russia until 1994.
The film was shot in Spain during the regime of Gen. Francisco Franco. While the scene with the crowd chanting the Marxist theme was being filmed (at 3:00 in the morning), police showed up at the set thinking that a real revolution was taking place and insisted on staying until the scene was finished. Apparently, people who lived near where filming was taking place had awoken to the sound of revolutionary singing and had mistakenly believed that Franco had been overthrown. As the extras sang the revolutionary Internationale for a protest scene, the secret police surveyed the crowd, making many of the extras pretend that they didn't know the words.
The film was torn apart by critics when first released. Newsweek, in particular, made comments about "hack-job sets" and "pallid photography." David Lean was so deeply affected by these criticisms (despite the popularity of the film with the general public) that he swore he would never make another film.
The inside of the ice palace was mostly made up specifically formed wax.
The lady that Zhivago tries to get onto the train after grabbing her baby actually fell under it and was injured. That shot was also used in the film, though we only see her fall down.
The limousine seen at the hydro-electric power plant at the beginning and end of the film is a Czech built Tatra. These cars were favorites of Soviet bureaucrats in the late 1940s and 1950s.
The shooting exceeded the ten month schedule because of David Lean's wish to capture the different seasons during which the story took place. Filming took place during one of the mildest winters in Spain, leading to delays and the need to simulate snow with marble dust and plastic snow in the height of summer. The actors had to have their faces dabbed by make-up artists every few minutes because of their sweating.
The soundtrack sold more than 600,000 copies during the film's initial release.
This film grossed more than every other film David Lean had directed put together.
Thousands of extras were used, including Spanish soldiers and villagers, and Finnish Laplanders (for the scenes in Siberia when Zhivago deserts the Red Army).
Varykino is actually a city to the West of Moscow, not East as the movie portrays in Siberia.
When David Lean told the studio that he wanted Maurice Jarre to provide the score, he was told, "Maurice is very good on sand, but I'm sure we have someone better on snow." Jarre, of course, won the Oscar for best original score for this film.
When asked if he thought Sarah Miles would make a good choice for the part of Lara, screenwriter Robert Bolt said "No, she's just a north country slut". Bolt would later marry Miles.