There are two reasons why I chose to watch this film. First, it was in the public domain, so it was free to watch (a definite plus) and second it was directed by the famous German director, G. W. Pabst. Well, despite this, I just did not enjoy the film. One of the main problems was the casting of the main character. Feodor Chaliapin Sr. was an excellent operatic type of singer from Russia. And, while I'll freely admit that he had a lovely voice, the guy was all wrong as Quixote. His accent was VERY strong and it sounded as if he really didn't know English but was doing his lines phonetically. It just seemed weird to have have this sort of accent coming out of a guy who was supposed to be Spanish. Second, instead of the normal version of the Cervantes book, this a musical where again and again Chaliapin would break into song for absolutely no reason--and the songs just didn't fit the film. It was as if his performance was important but the plot wasn't--why else would they put this guy in the lead?
So what's the rest of the English language version like? Well, the acting was pretty good--even if the actors were often very English. The sets looked nice and the acting was good. But because of the musical nature of the film, I just can't recommend it to anyone--as who would like this sort of film? It certainly hasn't aged well and I can see why it's a rather obscure public domain film.
So what's the rest of the English language version like? Well, the acting was pretty good--even if the actors were often very English. The sets looked nice and the acting was good. But because of the musical nature of the film, I just can't recommend it to anyone--as who would like this sort of film? It certainly hasn't aged well and I can see why it's a rather obscure public domain film.