Don Quixote (2000 TV film)
Encyclopedia
Don Quixote is a 2000 television film adaptation of the classic novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
, made by Hallmark Entertainment and distributed by Turner Network Television
(TNT) A dubbed-into-Spanish version was distributed by Divisa Home Video (Spain) (DVD). It was shown in three parts in Europe, but in one installment in the U.S. Although the film was made in English, and although it was released on VHS shortly after it was telecast in the U.S., the only DVD ever made of the film is the Divisa Home Video one. Of all the Hallmark adaptations of classic novels which premiered on Turner Network Television
, Don Quixote is the only one still unavailable on a U.S. or British DVD.
The film was directed by Peter Yates
and the teleplay adapted by John Mortimer
from the Cervantes novel, produced by Dyson Lovell
and Robert Halmi Sr. and John Lithgow as executive producers. The original music was by Richard Hartley
and the cinematography by David Connell
.
The film stars John Lithgow
as Don Quixote de La Mancha (whose real name is Alonso Quijano), and Bob Hoskins
as Sancho Panza
with Isabella Rossellini
, Vanessa L. Williams
, Lambert Wilson
, Tony Haygarth
, Peter Eyre
, Lilo Baur, James Purefoy
and Trevor Peacock
.
, and John Lithgow received a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
, made by Hallmark Entertainment and distributed by Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
(TNT) A dubbed-into-Spanish version was distributed by Divisa Home Video (Spain) (DVD). It was shown in three parts in Europe, but in one installment in the U.S. Although the film was made in English, and although it was released on VHS shortly after it was telecast in the U.S., the only DVD ever made of the film is the Divisa Home Video one. Of all the Hallmark adaptations of classic novels which premiered on Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
, Don Quixote is the only one still unavailable on a U.S. or British DVD.
The film was directed by Peter Yates
Peter Yates
Peter James Yates was an English director and producer. He was born in Aldershot, Hampshire.The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked for some years as an actor, director and stage manager...
and the teleplay adapted by John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
from the Cervantes novel, produced by Dyson Lovell
Dyson Lovell
Dyson Lovell is a film producer and actor born on August 28, 1940. He produced amongst others, the Franco Zeffirelli Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson , and Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 box-office flop The Cotton Club, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane.Lovell has played supporting roles in such films...
and Robert Halmi Sr. and John Lithgow as executive producers. The original music was by Richard Hartley
Richard Hartley
Richard Hartley is a British composer.His work is extensive and varied, including musical arrangement for theatre and many scores for television and film. In the 1970s he began a long association with Richard O'Brien. Hartley was originally part of the four-piece band for the Rocky Horror Show. ...
and the cinematography by David Connell
David Connell (cinematographer)
David Connell is an Australian cinematographer, with a career of over 25 years of cinematographic work in films and television to date.-Awards:...
.
The film stars John Lithgow
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
as Don Quixote de La Mancha (whose real name is Alonso Quijano), and Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
as Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
with Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
, Vanessa L. Williams
Vanessa L. Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American pop-R&B recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine...
, Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...
, Tony Haygarth
Tony Haygarth
Tony Haygarth is an English television, film and theatre actor.-Career:At the age of eighteen, Haygarth worked unsuccessfully as a lifeguard in Torquay, and also tried escapology, equally unsuccessfully...
, Peter Eyre
Peter Eyre
Peter Eyre is an American actor.Eyre was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dorothy Pelline and Edward Joseph Eyre, a banker. He was sent to a public school in England at the age of twelve, and has been based in the country ever since. Although offered a place at the Royal Academy of...
, Lilo Baur, James Purefoy
James Purefoy
James Brian Mark Purefoy is an English actor best known for portraying Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome.-Early life and work:...
and Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock is an English stage and television character actor. He was born in Tottenham, London, the son of Alexandria and Victor Edward Peacock.-Television and Film Career:...
.
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for three Primetime EmmysPrimetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
, and John Lithgow received a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.