Halfway through filming Lawrence of Arabia in Jordan, producer Sam Spiegel ordered David Lean to move the production to Spain. Costs were mounting as the crew battled sandstorms and other challenges of filming in the remote desert. Spain, which had already hosted several large Hollywood productions, had some key advantages – plenty of sunlight, inexpensive skilled labor (free of pesky labor unions), and cooperation from the dictatorship.
Lean was disappointed: “You can’t beat Aqaba for Aqaba,” he told Spiegel. But the second half of the film (beginning with the attack on Aqaba) was all shot in Spain. The film ended up being a tremendous success, of course, and by then Lean was sold on Spain.
For his next film, Dr. Zhivago, with scenes set in Russian winter, Spain might have seemed even more of a stretch. The crew made up the Canillas neighborhood of Madrid to look like Moscow, adding Russian signs and architectural details. And lots of artificial snow. As principal shooting began December 28, 1964, the country was experiencing its warmest winter in 50 years. And when production dragged on through the following summer, the cast suffered under large overcoats in Madrid’s August heat.
The massive production had a memorable impact on the residents of Madrid. Hundreds of locals were employed as drivers, caterers, costume makers, laborers, and extras. At the Delicias train station, where the chaotic station scene was filmed, the cast and crew worked through the night to avoid disrupting the daytime train schedule.
This year, to mark the 60th anniversary of the film’s release in December 1965, the Museo del Ferrocarril, located within the old Delicias train station, mounted an exhibit with costumes, props and photographs from the production. Oversized photographic prints mounted along the platform provided a fascinating look behind the scenes from this brief time when the streets of Madrid stood in for wintery Moscow.