''Don Quixote'' is a 2000 television film made by Hallmark Entertainment and distributed by TNT. It was directed by Peter Yates, and the teleplay, by

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, ...

, was adapted from Miguel de Cervantes' classic novel '' Don Quixote''. The film was shown in three parts in Europe but in one installment in the U.S. The film was produced by Dyson Lovell, with

Robert Halmi Sr. Robert Halmi (Sr.) ( hu, Halmi Róbert; January 22, 1924 – July 30, 2014) was a Hungarian-born producer of movies and mini-series for television. Early life Robert Halmi was born in Budapest on January 22, 1924. His father, Béla Halmi, was a ...

and

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...

as executive producers, and cinematography by David Connell. The original music is by Richard Hartley. The film stars Lithgow as Don Quixote de La Mancha (Quixote's real name is Alonso Quijano), and

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...

as Sancho Panza, and features Isabella Rossellini, Vanessa Williams, Lambert Wilson, Amelia Warner, Tony Haygarth,

Peter Eyre Peter Gervaise Joseph Eyre (born 11 March 1942) is an American-born English actor. Eyre was born in New York City, the son of Dorothy Pelline (née Acton) and Edward Joseph Eyre, a banker. He was sent to a public school in England at the age of ...

, Lilo Baur, James Purefoy, and Trevor Peacock.

Production

Yates had not worked in television since the 1960s but was persuaded to try it by his friend John Frankenheimer. "He said I should do some TV, that it could be fun as long as you take the same care as you do with feature films--get good actors, do something that's going to be special. It was good advice." He discovered a friend of his, John Mortimer, had just written a script of ''Don Quixote'' and offered it to Yates to read. "I did, and I really liked it," said Yates. "When my agent established no director was attached, I went to see roducerRobert Halmi and said I'd like to make 'Quixote'." By coincidence, Yates had been attached in the 1970s to direct a film version of ''Don Quixote'', based on a screenplay by Waldo Salt, which would have starred Richard Burton in the lead and

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

as Sancho Panza; the film was never produced.

Home media

Of all the Hallmark adaptations of classic novels which premiered on Turner Network Television, only ''Don Quixote'' is still unavailable on a U.S. DVD. The film was made in English and released on VHS shortly after it was telecast in the U.S. and a region 2 DVD (PAL) was released by Hallmark in 2002, there are also a dubbed-into- Spanish version distributed by

Divisa Home Video Divisa may refer to: * Divisa, Panama, a town in Azuero Peninsula * Divisa Alegre, a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais * Divisa Nova Divisa Nova is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the S ...

(Spain), and a DVD available with English or Russian-dubbed voices, with subtitles in Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Russian.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for three

Primetime Emmys The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...

, and John Lithgow was nominated for a

Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

References

External links

* 2000 television films 2000 films TNT Network original films Films set in Spain Works by John Mortimer Films based on Don Quixote Films directed by Peter Yates Films set in the 1600s {{US-tv-film-stub