Don Quixote (1973 film)

1973 Australian ballet film

Don Quixote

Directed by|

* Rudolf Nureyev
* Robert Helpmann

Written by| Rudolf Nureyev
Based on| the ballet Don Quixote by Marius Petipa
Produced by| John L. Hargreaves
Starring|

* Robert Helpman
* Rudolf Nureyev

Cinematography| Geoffrey Unsworth
Edited by| Anthony Buckley
Music by| Ludwig Minkus

Production
companies

* International Arts
* Australian International Finance Corporation
* The Australian Ballet Foundation

Distributed by| The Walter Reade Organisation

Release date

* 19 July 1973 (1973-07-19)

Running time

| 111 minutes[1]
Country| Australia
Language| English
Budget| $750,000[2]

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.

## Cast

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

The ballet had been added to the repertoire of the Australian Ballet in a 1970 production designed and costumed by Barry Kay, 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 near Melbourne. They used a music soundtrack arranged and conducted by John Lanchbery, which had been pre-recorded by The Elizabethan Trust Melbourne Orchestra a month earlier at Armstrong Studios.[2]

## Release

[edit]

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

[edit]

1. ^ "Don Quixote (U)". British Board of Film Classification. 20 December 1973. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
2. ^ a b c 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 Archived 9 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessed 27 Sept 2012
5. ^ 'Don Quixote' at ABC

## External links

[edit]

* Don Quixote at The New York Times
* Don Quixote at IMDb
* Don Quixote at Oz Movies

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