‘Doctor Zhivago’ Catches Up With the Digital Revolution

David Lean’s classic 1965 epic “Doctor Zhivago” has finally made its DVD debut (Warner Bros., $30), and the two-disc set won’t disappoint fans of this romantic adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s novel, set during the turbulent years of the Russian Revolution. Omar Sharif stars as the poet-doctor Yuri Zhivago, who finds himself in love with two women: his sweet-natured wife (Geraldine Chaplin) and the beautiful but fiery Lara (Julie Christie). Rod Steiger and Tom Courtenay also star.

The DVD features a lovely new wide-screen digital transfer from refurbished elements, an introduction by Sharif from the 30th-anniversary edition, and interesting and often funny commentary from Sharif, Steiger and the director’s widow, Sandra Lean.

“Zhivago” reunited Sharif with Lean, who had directed the Egyptian-born actor to an Oscar nomination in 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia.”

Eager to work with Lean again, Sharif bought a copy of the novel and read it in one night, hoping he could find a role in the project. Sharif called his agent the next day and told him to tell Lean he would be interested in playing Pasha, the revolutionary husband of Lara (the role Courtenay eventually took).

Sharif was on location filming “Genghis Khan” when he got a call from his agent saying that Lean didn’t want him for Pasha, but for the lead. Sharif remembers he was playing chess with fellow actor Telly Savalas when he got the good news.

The second disc includes the comprehensive 1995 documentary “Doctor Zhivago: The Making of a Russian Epic,” a music-only audio track showcasing Maurice Jarre’s Oscar-winning score, and very funny press interviews with Christie and Sharif, in which the reporters seem more interested in their love lives than their roles.

Rounding out the set are clips from the New York premiere, trailers, and cast and director highlights.

On Dec. 16, 1973, Katharine Hepburn made her TV movie debut in ABC’s beautiful adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ classic memory play, “The Glass Menagerie.” The award-winning production is now available on video from Broadway Theatre Archive ($30).

Tastefully produced by David Susskind, this haunting drama was directed by Anthony Harvey, who had guided Hepburn to her third Oscar in 1968’s “The Lion in Winter.” Hepburn received an Emmy nomination for her illuminating turn as Amanda Wingfield, the faded Southern belle who clings to her colorful past. Joanna Miles won an Emmy for her touching turn as Amanda’s shy, crippled daughter, Laura, as did Michael Moriarty for his warm performance as the Gentleman Caller. Sam Waterston is also very effective as the play’s narrator, Laura’s restless brother, Tom. John Barry composed the evocative score. The video is available at www.broadwayarchive.com or by calling (800) 422-2827.

One of the greatest American films of the 1950s, “On the Waterfront” (Columbia Tristar, $25), is now out on DVD. Elia Kazan directed this hard-hitting, superlatively acted drama about corruption on the New York docks.

Shot in a semi-documentary style in Hoboken, N.J., the 1954 multi-Oscar-winner stars Marlon Brando in his Academy Award-winning, gut-wrenching portrayal of a former boxer turned longshoreman who decides to rat on his crooked boss (a powerful Lee J. Cobb). Eva Marie Saint, in her film debut, won the supporting actress Oscar as the convent-educated sister of a man Brando set up for murder.

The DVD includes a lovely new transfer of the film (which was written by Budd Schulberg and features a film score by Leonard Bernstein), production notes, trailers, talent files, a photo gallery, a vintage interview with Kazan and a wonderful featurette that explores the famous scene in the taxi cab in which Brando tells his brother (Rod Steiger), “I coulda been a contender. I coulda been a somebody.”

The thought-provoking commentary is provided by film critic Richard Schickel and Kazan biographer Jeff Young.

Mickey Mouse and every popular animated Disney character star in the entertaining, unassuming made-for-video family film “Mickey’s Magical Christmas--Snowed in at the House of Mouse” (Disney, $23 for VHS; $30 for DVD). An offshoot of the popular ABC Saturday-morning cartoon series “The House of Mouse,” the comedy finds a snowstorm stranding everyone at Mickey’s nightclub. They recount their favorite holiday tales, including a wacky version of “The Nutcracker,” narrated by John Cleese, and the popular “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.” The DVD includes the premiere episode of “The House of Mouse” and Christmas sing-alongs.

New this week from Kino are two classics of early German cinema: “The Blue Angel” ($25 for VHS; $35 for DVD, which has been delayed until Nov. 27) and “Diary of a Lost Girl” ($30 for VHS, $35 for DVD).

Josef von Sternberg directed 1930’s “Blue Angel,” which has recently been restored from the original German-language negative. The film is best known for making a star of Marlene Dietrich, who is truly remarkable as the sexy nightclub singer Lola-Lola. Her performance of “Falling in Love Again” is still a knockout. But the real scene stealer is Emil Jannings, who gives yet another extraordinary performance as the sexually repressed college professor who falls for Lola-Lola and ends up sliding down a path of degradation and madness.

“Diary of a Lost Girl,” from 1929, marked the second and last collaboration between director G.W. Pabst and American actress Louise Brooks, who had scored a huge hit in 1928 with “Pandora’s Box.” The bobbed-haired Brooks gives a touching, quiet performance in this exceptional drama as a naive daughter of a pharmacist who is impregnated by her father’s young, sleazy assistant. After the birth of her child, she is sent by her family to a repressive reform school. Eventually, she and a friend escape from the school and end up working in a brothel. The Kino version has been mastered from a new restoration of the film, which also adds seven minutes of footage that had been censored in the United States. The DVD includes a rare 1931 Brooks comedy short called “Windy Riley Goes Hollywood,” which was directed by William Goodrich, a.k.a. Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle.