Tag Archives: Omar Sharif

#31 Favorite Film, 1965 Films, Alec Guinness, David Lean, Drama, Epic, Geraldine Chaplin, Julie Christie, Noel Willman, Omar Sharif, Rod Steiger, Romantic Drama, Tom Courtenay, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films, Top 50 Films

Doctor Zhivago-1965

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Doctor Zhivago-1965

Director David Lean

Starring Julie Christie, Omar Sharif, Rod Steiger

Top 250 Films #31

Scott’s Review #42

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Reviewed June 18, 2014

Grade: A

Doctor Zhivago (1965) is a great film to watch on a cold night or throughout the crisp winter or holiday season.

The film is a classic masterpiece directed by the talented David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, 1962, A Passage to India, 1986), whose perfectionism is evident in his epic films.

Nearly every scene could be a painting, so the cinematography alone is reason enough to become enchanted with art.

Of course, the story is also a goldmine as a sprawling decades-long love story unfolds amid the ravages of the bloody Bolshevik Revolution.

The film is set in the bitter cold of Russia (although all scenes were actually shot in Spain), and the harshness of the climate and the war combine with a doomed love story set against the backdrop of numerous battles and wartime effects.

Nearly all sequences are set in the winter, and the blustery and icy effects are nestled against numerous scenes of cozy, candlelit cabins or more extravagant, glowing surroundings.

Viewers must be surrounded by fire, flaming candles, or another form of warmth as a snowstorm or blizzard besets the outdoors for a perfect viewing experience.

A large-screen television or a cinema is simply a must to watch this film, as it is epic on the grandest scale.

Omar Sharif and Julie Christie (a gorgeous star in her day) are cast perfectly as Uri and Lara, young forbidden lovers enthralled with one another but involved with significant others.

The film dissects their initial meeting and their story over the years, experiencing marriages, births, and deaths throughout the ravages of Russia in the early twentieth century.

Despite their affairs, neither is deemed unsympathetic—quite the contrary.

Audiences will fall in love with the pair and become enchanted as they watch their love-tortured adventures unfold.

Sharif and Christie are just magnificent and utterly believable as a couple.

The set pieces are magnificent and flawless in design and detail (my favorite is the Ice Palace).

The cinematography is breathtaking, and the content is remarkably close to the superior novel by Boris Pasternak, evoking a sense of “really being there” in the viewer.

Doctor Zhivago (1965) is a brilliant film, perfect for a snowy winter evening.

Oscar Nominations: 5 wins-Best Picture, Best Director-David Lean, Best Supporting Actor-Tom Courtenay, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (won), Best Music Score-Substantially Original (won), Best Art Direction, Color (won), Best Cinematography, Color (won), Best Costume Design, Color (won), Best Film Editing

#139 Favorite Film, 1962 Films, Adventure, Alec Guinness, Andre de Toth, Anthony Quayle, Anthony Quinn, Arthur Kennedy, Best Picture Oscar Winners, Biography, Claude Rains, David Lean, Drama, Epic, Jack Hawkins, Jack Hedley, Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole, Top 250 Films

Lawrence of Arabia-1962

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Lawrence of Arabia-1962

Director David Lean

Starring Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif 

Top 250 Films #139

Scott’s Review #355

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Reviewed January 9, 2016

Grade: A

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is quite a grand film that must be seen on a large screen. This will ensure full appreciation of the enormous scale of the production.

Numerous shots of objects in the distance are featured, and the small screen dulls the experience.

An excellent film from top to bottom and groundbreaking at the time, due to the scope and vast proportions of the production, Lawrence of Arabia achieves its place in cinematic history.

It’s a treat to revisit from time to time.

The film is divided into two parts with an intermission, as with epics that last nearly four hours.

Peter O’Toole stars as T.E. Lawrence, a bored British Army Lieutenant who talks his way into a transfer to the Arabian desert.

As the film opens, it is 1935, and Lawrence has just been killed in a motorcycle accident. While this concept of revealing the ending and working backward is common in current films, it was novel in 1962 when the film was made.

While in Arabia, Lawrence successfully bonded bitter rival tribes to unite against Turkish oppression during World War I. He meets two young guides and other central characters there: Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness) and Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif).

Much of the film features the battles between the rival tribes and Lawrence’s struggle to achieve peace.

Many location sequences of Lawrence and company traveling miles and miles of hot desert are featured.

Some complain that Lawrence of Arabia is too slow-moving a film, but that is its selling point. I find the scenes of the group languishing across the desert incredibly lush and rich in meaning.

The intense heat and beating sun are fantastic in their cinematic grandeur. The film is meant to take its time—precisely what an experience in the Arabian desert would be like—and the mountainous dunes and swirling winds are brilliantly filmed.

David Lean is the king of the sprawling epic, and Lawrence of Arabia is his crowning achievement.

Lawrence is a well-written, layered, and complex character. He is not easy to describe or understand, which is also to the film’s credit.

The sheer weight loss that O’Toole underwent over the two years it took to film Lawrence of Arabia is impressive enough, but he was also a tortured soul emotionally.

The epic film Lawrence of Arabia (1962) requires a half-day of dedicated viewing, but it is worth every minute.

For a reminder of what an actual, breathtaking film looks like sans the oversaturated CGI and quick edits, one should take a deep breath and appreciate this work of art for its majestic look.

Oscar Nominations: 7 wins-Best Picture (won), Best Director-David Lean (won), Best Actor-Peter O’Toole, Best Supporting Actor-Omar Sharif, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Music Score-Substantially Original (won), Best Sound (won), Best Art Direction, Color (won), Best Cinematography, Color (won), Best Film Editing (won)

1968 Films, Anne Francis, Barbra Streisand, Biography, Herbert Ross, Kay Medford, Musical, Omar Sharif, Walter Pidgeon, William Wyler

Funny Girl-1968

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Funny Girl-1968

Director William Wyler

Starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif

Scott’s Review #1,022

Reviewed May 11, 2020

Grade: B+

Barbra Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her outstanding portrayal of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1968). She reprises a role that she made famous on the Broadway stage, bringing her to the big screen.

The role is vitally important and sends a powerful message, teaching viewers that an unconventional woman with extraordinary talent can succeed in showbiz, leaving prim and proper starlets salivating with jealousy.

Features the classic tunes “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade” as well as the title track.

Fanny (Streisand) is an unhappy Jewish New Yorker, living in semi-poverty and dreaming of the big time. Her mother (Kay Medford) and others in the community try to persuade Fanny to live an everyday life far from the hot, judgmental glare of the stage, but she will have none of it.

Finding success on her terms in Ziegfeld Follies throughout World War I, she also finds love and passion with the suave Nick Arnstein (Sharif) following her debut performance.

The story is loosely based on the life and career of the honest Fanny and her stormy relationship with the entrepreneur and gambler, Nick.

Taking nothing away from Sharif, who is more than adequate, the film belongs to Streisand. Despite being a novice, producers wanted no one but Streisand in the role, since she had hit a home run in the stage version.

A brief consideration to have Shirley MacLaine star in hindsight seems laughable and unimaginable.

Sharif’s suave, dangerous, swarthy characterization balances perfectly with Streisand’s naivety and innocence. The Jewish woman and the Muslim man must also have raised an eyebrow or two at the time.

Streisand is a breath of fresh air in a role that could be said to mimic real life and reflects film in 1968 and beyond. Glamour girls were the height of fashion throughout the 1950s and 1960s, where looks sometimes usurped talent.

With the lifting of the Hollywood Code, grittier and dirtier roles were to be found for women. Streisand, as Fanny, proves that a self-proclaimed ugly duckling can rise to the top of the cream.

Refusing to get a nose job or otherwise alter her appearance or name, she mirrors Fanny in many ways, inspiring both women and men to be themselves to achieve truth.

Director William Wyler, no stranger to Hollywood success with pictures such as Mrs. Miniver (1942) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), knows how to pace and balance a film, and to present a cheery, splendid offering, careful not to make the movie too lightweight.

Comic scenes, such as when Fanny upstages everyone and prances around the stage as a pregnant newlywed, becoming the talk of the town, are the best ones.

The film succeeds when it is fun.

Sharif does his best with a small role, surprising given the character’s importance, but the dramatic moments are not the best scenes. They are okay and certainly not overacted by the stars, but do not work as well as when Streisand belts out “People” on a lonely sidewalk.

The issue is that Streisand is Funny Girl, and even prominent actors like Sharif never had a chance. The one exception is Medford, who goes toe to toe with Streisand in every scene with gusto and humor.

Funny Girl (1968) may suffer from a few overly melodramatic moments that slow it down, especially in the central romance, but its central message is to stay true to one’s colors.

Refusing to be influenced by elders or even her beau, Fanny is an inspiration to all viewers. With delightful musical numbers and zesty wardrobe pieces, the film has a cheery and fun veneer, but more lies beneath the surface.

Whether the intention is a sing-along experience or a deeper meaning, the film has something for everyone.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Actress-Barbra Streisand (won), Best Supporting Actress-Kay Medford, Best Score of a Musical Picture-Original or Adaptation, Best Song Original for the Picture-“Funny Girl”, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing