Der Mann von La Mancha

I'll keep it short. The message of this story is infinitely more important than any perceived flaws in casting, makeup, music, singing, etc. The emotions are there in this movie, and quite moving. The message is also there, and as fresh as it was when Cervantes wrote his famous book centuries ago. Don Quixote was a madman, yes, but his "quest" is one we should all embrace. Knight errantry, chivalry, compassion, and treating women with kindness and respect may be considered terribly out of sync with todays values, but when I read stories about a 16 year-old boy lured, by the promise of sex, to a savage beating death at the hands of his peers, I seriously question the soundness of those values. In many ways, today's world is every bit as "base and debauched" as it was during the Spanish Inquisition. Frankly, I would much rather live in Quixote's "mad" version of the world than I would in the reality of this one.

Squash the movie critic in you for a couple of hours and just enjoy the movie for it's wonderful message!

PS: I've been waiting years for Man of La Mancha to come out on DVD. Anybody know when?

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It saddens me that there are those out there who think this movie was horrible. How can you watch O'Toole give his speech: "Maddest of all: to see life as it is and not as it should be!" and not be brought to emotion? This movie is not exactly like the theater version. However, if you note who made the screenplay changes, the song changes, etc., it's the same men who worked on the play. There are some good songs cut out. And Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren are not the world's best singers. But this movie is brilliant. Coco is a wonderful Sancho, I love his voice and his expression. O'Toole is a fabulous actor and I felt like the prisoners in the end singing "The Impossible Dream." I own this movie. I encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to go get it and watch it. It has inspired me to try to do better in everything I do, and I often watch it and sing the songs to remind me to "see life as it should be." And if this movie needs a defender, I sign up for the job.

There are those who would have you believe that this is a bad movie because it deviates from the stage musical. In the play, for example, Sancho has a grating high-pitched voice whereas in the movie, his voice is warmer and stronger. Another example is the deletion of certain songs such as the completely unnecessary and boring "What Do You Want of Me?" and "To Each His Dulcinea." In addition, Cervantes is jailed on stage for foreclosing a church. In the movie, he is sent before the Inquisition on grounds of heresy. This makes the whole thing that much more significant and important. It also relates to a central theme in the movie, that Cervantes' and indeed Don Quixote's way of fighting back at the world is to imagine a new world. To dream, as it were, the impossible dream.

The stage version was one of the most substantially flawed in Broadway's history. Richard Kiley (the original stage actor) had a strong, powerful voice, that is true, but it didn't sound like Don Quixote. The man who dubs Peter O'Toole's voice in the movie, however, sounds not only like Peter O'Toole, but like Don Quixote.

Indeed, the only thing about the movie that is different from the play is that the actors in the movie are GOOD! And they don't just put on big, fake, funny voices in the traditional idiotic Broadway style. They portray their characters honestly and in keeping with the spirit of the story. And it is a story that everyone should hear. If you are like me, a lifelong chaser of impossible dreams, then the story of one man's quest to slay giants which are actually windmills cannot be ignored.

And don't be such a stuck-up tight ass about film adaptations. Of COURSE they're going to be different, that doesn't make them worse.

I must have a major blind spot because I loved this movie in 1972

when I saw it the first time and the second and the third time. Now

I have become an semi-regularly woeful countenanced man

myself and I love it even more. My heart started to stir watching

O'Toole's speech at the Oscars so I re-rented La Mancha even as

it was being removed from the active shelf at my local Hollywood

video. I took it home and played it for the youngest of my five

daughters, eleven year old Mary. She loves musicals as much as I

do. She got into it. I cried again. Sorry. I love this film. Like I said, I

must have a tin ear or a blind spot or goddamn it, maybe I'm right. Man of La Mancha is a 10 plus and a must for all O'Toole fans

which at this point should be about everybody who loves movies. Let the revisionism begin here. O'Toole and Loren> C'mon

Bringing big Broadway musicals to the screen has always posed tremendous problems for film makers. The results have by and large been unsatisfactory, with few exceptions. The late 60's brought us "Camelot", (67),"Hello Dolly" (69) and "Fiddler on the Roof" (71), all films adhering to the unquestioned rule that bigger is better, be it casts, sets and orchestrations. All three were overblown bores. Arthur Hiller's concept for "Man of La Mancha" is clearly the antithesis of what had become expected of the musical on film. He decided to use the film media not as a device for augmentation in a broad sense, but rather to focus in on the characters and bring them as close to the audience as possible using naturally many close-ups. They are the crux of the film; not massive sets, huge choruses or dazzling choreography. "Man of la Mancha" boasts two fine songs; the rest are pretty mediocre, which justifies Hiller's keeping the music as a device to serve the characters and not the other way around. From the very start with the credits appearing, the audience is geared up for one of those massively orchestrated rousing overtures. Yet, what we are offered is an underscored, almost chamber music style overture setting the tone for the entire film. The message as with chamber music is clear; the focus is on the content, not the trappings.

The critics by and large hated the film. Maltin in particular is uncharacteristically savage in his criticism. They simply were not prepared to accept an unorthodox approach to a huge Broadway success. While "Dolly", "Camelot" and "Fiddler" tend to be almost impossible viewing today, "Man of La Mancha" remains astonishingly fresh, very much vindicating Hiller's concept of this much maligned and misunderstood movie.

Being so focused on character, the films success would lie with its principal players. O'Toole gives a bravura performance, one of his finest, while Loren too, is perfect in her role. Sure the soundtrack is not one to listen to in the way one would a Broadway musical. But both O'Toole's and Loren's shaky vocals are in perfect sync with the fragility of their characters and hence very human and very moving. If more Broadway musicals had been brought to the screen with such a clear concept as was "La Mancha", the movie musical may have enjoyed far greater success.