Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon biopic has long been considered the greatest film the director never made, but now cinephiles can add “Doctor Zhivago” to that list thanks to a recently discovered letter from six decades ago in which Kubrick wrote to “Zhivago” author Boris Pasternak asking for rights to the epic novel. The discovery was made by British film historian James Fenwick (via The Guardian) during his research for two upcoming books, “Stanley Kubrick Produces” and “Shadow Cinema: The Historical and Production Contexts of Unmade Films.”
According to Fenwick’s research, Kubrick and producer James B. Harris were interested in acquiring the rights to “Doctor Zhivago” as early as December 1958. The two men were in discussions with Kirk Douglas’ production company Bryna Productions to mount the “Zhivago” adaptation as a Hollywood production, years before David Lean started work on his famous adaptation in the U.K. The plan was for...
According to Fenwick’s research, Kubrick and producer James B. Harris were interested in acquiring the rights to “Doctor Zhivago” as early as December 1958. The two men were in discussions with Kirk Douglas’ production company Bryna Productions to mount the “Zhivago” adaptation as a Hollywood production, years before David Lean started work on his famous adaptation in the U.K. The plan was for...
- 11/9/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Director wrote to Boris Pasternak in late 1950s, previously unpublished material reveals
It is one of the greatest British films of all time, directed in 1965 by David Lean with an A-list cast that included Julie Christie, Omar Sharif and Alec Guinness. But the epic adaptation of Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak’s classic love story set against the Russian revolution, might never have happened if a planned US production had got there first.
James Fenwick, a British film historian, has discovered that two of cinema’s most revered film-makers – Hollywood star Kirk Douglas and director Stanley Kubrick – had tried in vain to acquire the movie rights earlier, in the late 1950s.
It is one of the greatest British films of all time, directed in 1965 by David Lean with an A-list cast that included Julie Christie, Omar Sharif and Alec Guinness. But the epic adaptation of Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak’s classic love story set against the Russian revolution, might never have happened if a planned US production had got there first.
James Fenwick, a British film historian, has discovered that two of cinema’s most revered film-makers – Hollywood star Kirk Douglas and director Stanley Kubrick – had tried in vain to acquire the movie rights earlier, in the late 1950s.
- 11/9/2020
- by Dalya Alberge
- The Guardian - Film News
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