(L'Uomo della Mancha)
US-Italy (1972): Comedy/Drama/Musical
Dale Wasserman's long-running Broadway smash comes to the screen in this musical based on Miguel de Cervantes' classic satire Don Quixote de la Mancha. Cervantes (Peter O'Toole) is arrested and put in prison by the soldiers of the Spanish Inquisition after staging a comic performance which mocked the Spanish government. Cervantes' fellow inmates are eager to divvy up his belongings, but the author is desperate to save a manuscript of his latest work; in order to win the prisoners over, he stages, with their assistance, his latest comedy about the delusional knight Don Quixote (O'Toole). Don Quixote, with the help of his loyal manservant Sancho Panza (James Coco), is determined to battle evil, though he most often finds himself combating windmills. Don Quixote encounters the beautiful virgin Dulcinea -- personified by a jailed prostitute, Aldonza (Sophia Loren) -- and is certain he has found the love of his life. However, tragedy befalls Don Quixote when a band of savages rape Dulcinea as he sleeps, and he must decide where his greatest loyalty lies when his niece Antonia (Julie Gregg) arrives, asking Quixote to please return home to his family. Arthur Hiller directs a cast that also features Harry Andrews, John Castle, Brian Blessed and Ian Richardson. In a move which was widely criticized at the time of the film's release, Peter O'Toole's singing voice was dubbed for most of his musical numbers by Simon Gilbert (who was uncredited), while Sophia Loren did all of her own vocal tracks. (United Artists) (Mark Deming, All Movie Guide)
View a clip from this film on YouTube.com.
· Music Scoring Awards (Adaptation and Original Song Score) 1972: Laurence Rosenthal
1 nomination