Don Quixote (1973 film)

Don Quixote is a 1973 Australian ballet film directed by and starring Rudolf Nureyev and Robert Helpmann.[3] The film is adapted from Marius Petipa's ballet of the same name, itself based on Miguel de Cervantes' novel El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha.

Don Quixote
Directed by
Written byRudolf Nureyev
Based onthe ballet Don Quixote by Marius Petipa
Produced byJohn Hargreaves
Starring
  • Robert Helpman
  • Rudolf Nureyev
CinematographyGeoffrey Unsworth
Edited byAnthony Buckley
Music byLudwig Minkus
Production
companies
Distributed byThe Walter Reade Organisation
Release date
  • 19 July 1973 (1973-07-19)
Running time
111 minutes[1]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget$750,000[2]

Cast

  • Robert Helpmann as Don Quixote
  • Ray Powell as Sancho Panza
  • Rudolf Nureyev as Basilio
  • Francis Croese as Lorenzo
  • Lucette Aldous as Kitri/Dulcinea
  • Colin Peasley as Gamache
  • Marilyn Rowe as street dancer/queen of the Dryads
  • Kelvin Coe as Espada
  • Gailene Stock
  • Carolyn Rappel
  • Ronald Bekker
  • John Meehan
  • Rex McNeill
  • Rodney Smith
  • Joseph Janusaitis
  • Frederic Werner
  • Alan Alder
  • Paul Saliba
  • Ronald Bekker as gypsy king
  • Susan Dains as gypsy queen
  • Julie da Costa as gypsy girls
  • Leigh Rowley as gypsy girls
  • Patricia Cox as Cupid
  • Janet Vernon
  • Gary Norman

Production

The ballet had been added to the repertoire of the Australian Ballet in 1970 and was one of Nureyev's most popular parts.[4] Finance to film it was raised mostly in the US with most of the crew coming from Australia but a British cinematographer was used. It was shot over four weeks starting 13 November 1972 in a converted airport hangar in Essendon. They used a soundtrack which had been pre-recorded a month earlier.[2]

Release

The film was screened around the world and was well received.[2] However it dropped out of circulation for 25 years and has only recently been revived.[5]

References

  1. "Don Quixote (U)". British Board of Film Classification. 20 December 1973. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p271
  3. Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.
  4. 'Don Quoxote' at Nureyev Foundation accessed 27 Sept 2012
  5. 'Don Quixote' at ABC


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