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Show A long time ago David Lean used to make little movies and send them over from England and everyone would say what fine little movies they were Then David Lean sent himself over from Eng land and ten years ago he began making big movies In those ten years he has managed to make three o,f them, you all know their names Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and now Doctor Zhivago This is not to say that Lean's little movies are any better than the big ones on the contrary, there is as much or more in Doctor Zhi vago to praise as thefe was in Great Expectations or Brief Encounter In fact the tight S those ness and economy earner films cart still be seen of . Zhivago and that is one the maor reasons for its success in of may sound incongruous to comment upon the eco nomy of a movie which yoii enter at eight and leave at eleven thirty, but it is there (Contrast it, for example, with another long movie cur rently playing here, The Ten Commandments DeMille's idea of making a long movie is to add one big spectacular scene after another until the audience is completely swal lowed by the great amor It phous, formless mass ) In Doctor Zhivago the story was developed carefully, the scenes fit well and few were unnecessary The result is a long movie that doesn t seem that long The acting, in general, is not one of the reasons why Zhivago is a fine movie The best performances are given by those in supporting roles, far and away the best by Rod Steiger. Omar Sharif spends much of his time peering out windows and focusing his intense eyes He makes for a somewhat wooden Zhivago, a fact that becomes especially clear when you are supposed to imagine he is in the throe of creating beautiful poetry Julie Christie looks great (sometimes she gets a little parched by the cold but then of the story), and thats part Geraldine Chaplin as well But Rod Steiger made the movie every time he came on the screen, which was too seldom Tom Courteny and Alec Guiness also did well in the guide, may 12, 1966 page16 |