Man of La Mancha * (1972, Peter O’Toole, Sophia Loren, James Coco, Harry Andrews, John Castle, Brian Blessed, Ian Richardson, Julie Gregg, Rosalie Crutchley) – Classic Movie Review 8,766

The all-time great hit Broadway musical play about Don Quixote becomes an unhappy film musical in the 1972 Man of La Mancha because it is miscast and misconceived and has the wrong director.

The all-time great hit Broadway musical play by Dale Wasserman about Don Quixote becomes an unhappy film musical in producer-director Arthur Hiller’s 1972 Italian-American co-production Man of La Mancha because it is miscast and misconceived and the wrong director is at the helm.

Laurence Rosenthal was Oscar nominated for Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation, and Peter O’Toole and James Coco were Golden Globe nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.

The Spanish Inquisition has jailed author Miguel de Cervantes, who enacts much of the tale here in his cell. Peter O’Toole plays both Quixote and Cervantes rather well, although he hasn’t a singing voice (he is dubbed by Simon Gilbert), but nobody else makes much of an impression. Leading lady Sophia Loren (as the lady Dulcinea, aka the prostitute Aldonza) and comic relief James Coco (as Sancho Panza and Cervantes’s manservant) aren’t singers either — didn’t they think casting three non-singing stars was pushing their luck? Plus, they are joined by other non-singing actors Harry Andrews as The Innkeeper / The Governor and Rosalie Crutchley as The Housekeeper.

Even the showstopper ‘The Impossible Dream’ (music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion) goes for remarkably little, though it is reprised twice, twice sung by Simon Gilbert and the third time spoken by Sophia Loren and Peter O’Toole. ‘Man of La Mancha’ (music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion) is also reprised twice, which also takes in Peter O’Toole speaking. Plus, two songs from the stage show are cut (‘What Does He Want of Me?’ and ‘To Each His Dulcinea’).

However, the costly Italian production certainly looks good through cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno’s lens, with the allure of set designer and costume designer Luciano Damiani’s art designs and set dresser Arrigo Breschi’s set dressings. Indeed, noted stage designer Luciano Damiani’s superb sets and costumes are the film’s main highlight and attraction. It is the only cinema movie for which Damiani designed the sets and costumes.

Also in the cast are Harry Andrews, John Castle, Brian Blessed, Ian Richardson, Julie Gregg, Rosalie Crutchley, Gino Conforti, Marne Maitland, Dorothy Sinclair, Miriam Acevedo, Teddy Green, Dominic Barto, Peter Johnston, Roy Jones, and Connel Miles.

Financed by Italian producer Alberto Grimaldi and shot in Rome at the Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, it is filmed in English, with all principal actors British or American, except of course for Sophia Loren.

English dancer and director Gillian Lynne choreographs the dancing and fight scenes.

On a $12 million, it took $11.5 million at the box office. Dale Wasserman recalled it did well in its first week of release, but ultimately did poorly. He praised the performances of O’Toole and Loren but strongly disliked the film, calling it ‘exaggerated’ and ‘phony’.

Release dates: December 11, 1972 (New York City) and September 8, 1973 (Italy).

The 1965 musical Man of La Mancha, with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion, is adapted from Wasserman’s non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes and his 17th-century novel Don Quixote. 

United Artists paid more than $2.25 million for film rights in 1967, the second-highest paid for the rights to a show, behind Warner Bros’ s $5.5 million for the rights to My Fair Lady.

Previous director Peter Glenville, who was fired by United Artists for planning to eliminate the songs and create the film as a non-musical, is likely to have been responsible for casting the non-singing actors. The sacking of his friend Glenville and the dumping of his idea of non-musical drama infuriated Peter O’Toole.

Brian Blessed claimed to have dubbed the singing voice of Harry Andrews, as well as appearing as Pedro.

And before Glenville, Albert Marre, who had won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical for directing the original show, but had never before directed a film, was hired to make the movie. Original stage stars Richard Kiley and Joan Diener were screen tested in anticipation of re-creating their roles on film. But UA executives dumped them, apparently concerned over Marre’s inexperience with moviemaking.

Man of La Mancha is directed by Arthur Hiller, runs 132 minutes, is made by United Artists and Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA), is released by United Artists, is written by Dale Wasserman, is shot by Giuseppe Rotunno, is produced by Alberto, Grimaldi (executive producer), Arthur Hiller and Saul Chaplin (associate producer), is scored by Laurence Rosenthal (conductor / music adaptor/ composer incidental music), with music by Mitch Leigh (composer: musical play) and lyrics by Joe Darion (lyricist: musical play), is designed by Luciano Damiani, and is choreographed by Gillian Lynne.

Italian film producer Alberto Grimaldi (28 March 1925 – 23 January 2021).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,766

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