Man of La Mancha (1972)

Directed by

Arthur Hiller

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, comedy film, adventure film, musical film

Country

Italy, United States

Runtime

2h 12m

Rated

PG

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 73 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A playwright imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition acts out the story of a deluded knight and a kitchen maid he believes is a noble lady. The film blends scenes from Miguel de Cervantes's life with his characters' adventures.

theatricalwhimsicalearnestmelancholicbuoyantearthysentimental

What happens

Man of La Mancha is a 1972 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman, with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion. The musical was suggested by the classic novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, but more directly based on Wasserman's 1959 non-musical television play I, Don Quixote, which combines a semi-fictional episode from the life of Cervantes with scenes from his novel. Though financed by Italian producer Alberto Grimaldi and shot in Rome, the film is in English, with all principal actors either British or American, excepting Sophia Loren. (Gino Conforti, the Barber, is an American of Italian descent.) The film was released by United Artists and is known in Italy as L'Uomo della Mancha. Produced and directed by Arthur Hiller, the film stars Peter O'Toole as both Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote, James Coco as both Cervantes' manservant and Don Quixote's "squire" Sancho Panza, and Sophia Loren as scullery maid and prostitute Aldonza, whom the delusional Don Quixote idolizes as Dulcinea. Gillian Lynne staged the film's choreography and fight scenes. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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