Don Quixote
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Grigoriy Kozintsev
Nikolay Cherkasov
Yuriy Tolubeyev
Serafima Birman
L. Kasyanova
T. Agamirova
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In the 17th century, long after the age of knights in shining armor has passed, an elderly Spanish nobleman becomes so inspired by reading novels of heraldry that he resolves to become a knight-errant himself and take up arms in defense of the poor and the oppressed. He chooses Dulcinea del Toboso as the lady of his heart, and, as Don Quixote de la Mancha, he sets out with Sancho Panza, his good-natured if somewhat dimwitted and cowardly peasant squire. Don Quixote's passion for aiding humanity is interpreted as lunacy by all he meets, and he is constantly ridiculed and insulted. He mistakenly attacks wine bags, thinking them to be evil men in disguise, and he jousts with a flock of sheep. A duke summons Don Quixote to his castle to obtain amusement at the old man's expense. Altisidora, a lady-in-waiting, pretends to die of love when he spurns her in deference to his ideal lady, and he leaves, humiliated. Sancho Panza, too, is victimized when the duke makes him governor of an "island" completely surrounded by land. The two adventurers once more journey forth together, but Don Quixote's mind has been taxed by physical exhaustion and the cruelties inflicted upon him. He imagines that he tames a lion and mistakenly attacks a windmill which he believes to be the evil enchanter Freston. Finally, he is beaten in a jousting match by a knight who in reality is an old friend who wants only to bring Don Quixote home. Once back in his own house, Don Quixote loses the will to live and lapses into a sleep of death, although an epilog asserts that his ideals will live on.
Director
Grigoriy Kozintsev
Cast
Nikolay Cherkasov
Yuriy Tolubeyev
Serafima Birman
L. Kasyanova
T. Agamirova
Georgiy Vitsin
B. Freyndlikh
L. Vertinskaya
O. Vikland
A. Beniaminov
S. Grigoryeva
V. Maksimov
V. Kolpakov
G. Volchek
S. Tsomayev
Vladimir Vasilyev
N. Anisimova
S. Batalova
I. Belskiy
V. Kovel
M. Korolyov
Zh. Letskiy
G. Malyshev
G. Osipenko
V. Osipov
A. Rozanov
Arnold Diamond
Howard Marion Crawford
Bettina Dickson
Peter Elliott
Olive Gregg
Robert Rietty
Nikki Vandersil
Marianne Stone
Crew
I. Altman
V. Chebotaryov
William De Lane Lea
Apollinariy Dudko
Ionas Gritsyus
Kara Karayev
Ye. Makhankova
Andrey Moskvin
E. Rozovskiy
Yevgeniy Shvarts
Ilya Volk
Yevgeniy Yeney
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Location scenes filmed in the Crimea. Released in the U.S.S.R. in 1957 as Don-Kikhot.
Miscellaneous Notes
Voted One of the Year's Ten Best Foreign Language FIlms by the 1960 New York Times FIlm Critics.
Released in United States 1961
Released in United States 1995
Shown at New York Film Festival (Special Presentation: Celebrating Grigori Kozintsev) September 30 - October 5, 1995.
also released in a dubbed version
reels 11
Sovscope
Released in United States 1961
Released in United States 1995 (Shown at New York Film Festival (Special Presentation: Celebrating Grigori Kozintsev) September 30 - October 5, 1995.)
