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Very well executed

best movie i've ever seen.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is unusual to see scrappy direction from Pabst, but I was disappointed with this film. What is interesting about this film is Shalyapin.In opera, and folksong, Shalyapin took the art of acting seriously. He would jump into the skin of the character he was playing or of the narrator of a song. He was almost like Lon Chaney, when it came to costume.Here the great man sings in English, and seems to be ideal as the pathetic character who sells all he has, to buy books of knightly romances; then, with his servant, Sancho Panza, sets out to do good deeds.Shalyapin's English is excellent, and he speaks and sings with a heavy accent that is Russian, tinged with the accent of the country in which he lived in exile - France.George Robey, with his music hall accent, who was beginning to shake off his "coward" image (He was a conscientious objector during the first world war) plays Sancho Panza. Shalyapin does sing some songs in this scrappy production; but, unlike, Pabst, he does not leave us disappointed.

Any excuse to hear Chaliapin sing is worth the listen and the watch. Also, it was great pleasure to see Pabst take on such a task in English. His camera never missed a beat and the scenery was magnificent. There are the things to object about as brought up by sever reviewers. It's true that Chaliapin's English was not good. He probably learned his lines phonetically. I've coached several singers in my time and it does sound like that. The music, by Jacques Ibert. was really quite good throughout and the players around Quixote himself were truly fine. This is a film for the history books - Pabst meets Chaliapin meets Ibert meet Cervantes meet the English language. They all win, but we do have to listen very carefully to the English. It is on the border of comprehension at times.

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.

Having only once attempted unsuccessfully to slog my way through the Peter O'Toole version of "Man of la Mancha," I was unfamiliar the plot of Don Quixote. I discovered this film at movieflix.com, a nice resource of free films. Even with the poor visual and sound quality of that site, this movie shines. Chaliapin and Robey are wonderful. (BTW, when another commenter refers to "Sancho caressing his ass in tears," he means his donkey.) Chaliapin's beautifully rich voice is matched by his acting, and he brings the full range of emotion to his role. It's a shame that this is the only film he sings in. There is much comedy and pathos here and it's beautifully directed. Highly recommended!