Man of La Mancha (1973)

Just bad casting maybe?

The Hollywood star system fails badly here: after all it is a musical and Sophia Loren and Peter O'Toole just can't sing a note for all their acting ability.
I would also fault the costumers from making the staging less than it should be, so that the misery is intensified in a less than poetic way?
There is no doubt that the play will survive this bad performance,
but I think that it deserved more. I'm sure it has seen better stage production before and after.
Still some of the beauty and pathos still came through... December 7, 2008

Excellent movie, very enjoyable.

I love the storyline, the acting, and all. It is a wonderful movie for people of all ages. August 30, 2008

Man of La Mancha by Peter O'Toole

It was okay. I was expecting more action. I fell asleep on some parts of the movie. June 19, 2008

A Classic...sort of...

A fine representation of the Broadway musical on film, but not a great film. It's no "Fiddler on the Roof". The sets are obviously on a sound stage, and the choreography is predictable, frequently "Mickey Mousing" the words.

But I think the thing that bothered me most is, since the film was produced in England, the characters (who are supposed to be Spanish) all pronounce the author's name "Sir-VAN-tees" (van like the thing you drive in), instead of even trying to say it with a Spanish pronunciation. It totally defeats the illusion of the acting.

I used this film in conjunction with my class' discussion of "Don Quixote" by Cervantes, and they enjoyed it and said it clarified the tale a bit for them. April 6, 2008

As good today as so many years ago.

I really like being able to get just about anything on DVD. This classic is a good example. Now if they'd just put "No Highway in the Sky" on DVD I'd be a happy camper-but I'm on the wait list.

I highly recommend this DVD. It brings back poignant memories for me of a time in my life when I was dreaming an impossible dream but she said no. I never forgot the song or the lyrics since they seemed so appropos. Thanks Amazon for making this DVD easy to buy and easy to afford. Darn,don't you all just love Amazon.com!

"To be better far than you are....." etc. February 28, 2008

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