Would David Lean’s epic Russian-revolution romance stir my heart or leave me stone-cold? Well, all the balalaikas set my teeth on edge from the start See the other classic missed films in this seriesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolationDoctor Zhivago barely figured on my radar at a time when I was more interested in
James Bond and the Beatles than romance, and I never caught up with it. A Passage to
India, the first David Lean film I saw on a big screen, featured Alec Guinness in blackface, which was enough to put anyone off. I liked Brief Encounter and Lean’s Dickens adaptations, and a late-1980s screening of Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm was, of course, stunning, but I’d never been chomping at the bit to fill in those Lean gaps in my viewing.
Related: Doctor Zhivago: No 20 best romantic film of all time