This is one of the best musicals ever written! But did they cast ANYONE who could. Carry a tune? No! The Impossible Dream , a fabulous song , spoken? Really? Aldonza/Dulcineas songs . All but destroyed. The closest thing to a singer they had was James Coco? Really? They 'looked' the part ,so Dub them if you won't hire singers! They did it for Natalie Wood ,Deborah Kerr and Audrey Hepburn , so do it again . I hate when they destroy a musical, hello, Little Night Music, and it is then doomed forever? Man of La Mancha is a very difficult musical vocally. This is no easy operetta. This requires some true vocal chops to perform. But this movie decides that beautiful voices should take a back seat to Hollywood image. This needs to be redone, and done well. For the sake of the music and Cervantes. DO OVER,PLEASE.

I recently viewed this film again, not having seen it since it was first released. Sadly, the disappointment I felt at first viewing hasn't changed much with the passing of time. I saw this show on stage many years ago and was charmed and captivated by it. I eagerly looked forward to the film version like many others no doubt. How can a film with such an enviable cast go so oddly wrong? I want to lay the blame at the director's feet but it's hard to be sure where the majority of blame lies. I suppose the concept perhaps was the director's but maybe it was the writers'. The film wants to open up and take us out of the stagy dungeon set but it only does so half heartedly so that we spend most of our time in a studio set of the inn. The cinematography is oddly dull and gritty even though it's the work of the justly famous Rotunno. And then there is the hideous make-up Peter O'Toole is obliged to wear throughout most of the film. And to get back to the cast again, although enviable the casting is far from ideal. Each actor seems to be in a different movie and acting in his or her own separate style so that in the end you don't get an ensemble you get a stew, and not a very tasty one. It would be a treat to see this musical done again set in a real Spain not just in Spanish clichés and with a really good cast of singer/actors. Perhaps, however, it is best to leave some stage pieces on stage.

Many decry the dubbing of voices but this is not Oklahoma or the Sound of Music. This is Don Quixote. The presentation has been changed and though shortened, the story is the same. An aged man of some means, who believes in honor, courage and love. He has lived this way in the hope others would emulate him. Near the end of his time his studies show him he will only find the life he desires in fiction. He determines to become part of that fiction, so much does reality depress him. Astride a magnificent stallion, resplendent in armor; he seeks the monsters that inhabit the universe. He must do something to make a change. To find the core of evil and destroy it, so life will be more humane for all. This is his quest. I don't think anybody can do desperate better than Peter O'Toole. I don't think I've seen Sophia Loren earthier. Their lack of singing skills should have no matter. This is a story punctuated with the emotion of song; not reliant on it. Check it out.

Interesting structure here as Cervantes, in a dungeon, relates the tale of Don Quixote to his fellow prisoners as his defence in their kangaroo court. Within that story, we find that Don Quixote is the delusion of an ordinary man whose madness is sustained by well-meaning people who humour him as a deliberate outlet for the harsh realities of life. Is that a level deeper than the book? I can't recall. Despite the ardent endeavours of two of my favourite actors though it doesn't really work. It takes a long time - the whole film really - for the meaning of it all to creep out and everyone has to struggle quite hard as if simply to keep the audience's attention. There's one great song (The Impossible Dream) and some so-so ones, and, for a musical, little choreography at all. O'Toole was presumably even worse a singer than the person who dubbed him - on reflection this was a brave and appropriate decision. Loren more than holds her own with the songs - she is no singer, but she makes an agreeable noise. A big problem is O'Toole's startling make up, plastered on so heavily it looks like a mask - it's too much of a distraction and it forces him to excess. They might at least have made his nose the same colour as his the rest of his face. He makes good use of that voice of his, but the overall effect - when you throw in all the ruffians - is raucous. Loren is required to scowl through most of the film - what a waste. The sight of the great woman being manhandled by Brian Blessed is distressing - she gets crudely groped several times and later gang-raped, but she takes it like a pro. Both stars looked like they believed in what they were doing, which helps. The deathbed scene is tedious and the ending degenerates into gallons of eye wash but there is one redeeming moment midway when O'Toole (as Cervantes) makes a terrific, show-stopping speech about 'life as it is' - one of the finest speeches you'll see on film. All in all, a curiosity, and just about worth enduring.