Here is a rarity for this blog: a film that is universally regarded as “pretty good.” Yes, multiple Oscars, including one for costume design and one of the highest-grossing films in history (adjusting for inflation, of course), make Doctor Zhivago stand out a little from the usual crop of Fur Glamor inductees, multiple of which have ended up on “worst movie ever” lists.

Doctor Zhivago – The Film

In theory, finding fur in this film should be like shooting fish in a barrel: it is set in winter in Russia. A married doctor named… uh… something… falls in love with another woman. Because the movie is over three hours long, there are a bunch of other characters doing other things.

Doctor Zhivago – The Furs

Note that I said it “should be” like shooting fish in a barrel, but the film is surprisingly lacking in fur fashion for its three-plus-hour runtime. So, to pad this update slightly, we will include some “additional content” that some will appreciate, starting with this rather thick black knit ensemble worn by Julie Christie’s character Lara.

While Lara is Doc’s fling, he is married to Geraldine Chaplin’s character Tonya. Tonya gets to wear the more visually appealing outfits in the film, though first, we have the standard “it’s down” disclaimer. It’s nice looking down, and if I squint, it kind of looks like a very big fox hat, which it is not.

Lara straps up in this outfit, which I believe is mouton fur, but may be a very sheared fur. This coat is around for a while on screen, though much of it is on the street at night, rendering it mostly invisible. 

That same night, Tonya is not shooting people and is wearing the best outfit in the film: a white fox-trimmed and hooded piece of outerwear. It may be a cape, a cloak, or something else without sleeves, but since she is only seen wearing it while seated in this three-horse open sleigh, it is difficult to say. Sadly, it is only around for a short conversation, and I have never seen it again.

Finally, Lara rounds things out with this hat and coat combo while shaking up with the Doc in a very cold cottage. Of them all, this gets the most screen time across a few scenes in the cottage and one later on a train. 

I admit, this was on my list of “films I should probably cover” only because they are somewhat well-known for having fur in them. However, I think my window on that was missed by a decade or more at this point. It has a couple of choice outfits, and images of Chaplin’s character in the white fox or down are routinely used when talking about the film, contributing to the general notoriety. While 11 minutes of content isn’t anything to scoff at, it only ends up barely over 5%, thanks to the enormous runtime.

• Fur/Down/Knit Runtime: 11:32 minutes
• Film Runtime:  200 minutes
• On-Screen Ratio: 5.77%

Find-a-Fur: Doctor Zhivago, 1965

(All times are approximate and are affected by the cut of the film.)

• 20:49 – 25:00 – black knit
• 39:00 – 41:00 – feather hat / collar / muff
• 1:03:10 – 08:00 – brown muff/ collar
• 1:11:15 – white fox hood / trim, mink bookends
• 2:54:45 – raccoon hat and coat
• 3:02:20 – ”
• 3:08:00 – ”
• 3:10:00 – ”

Fur Fashion Gallery – Doctor Zhivago, 1965