The material of Man of La Mancha is so perfect, not even bland direction and poorly staged musical numbers can ruin it. It remains completely watchable and entertaining.
What peeves me is much of Aldonza's songs have been cut. Sophia Loren did well with the songs and she should have been allowed to sing the entire songs.
Overall, this movie musical lacks the charm and sparkle of the big musicals that preceded it. It failed to match the box office success of Fiddler on the Roof (over 80 million dollars in grosses), Hello, Dolly! (38 million) and Camelot (over 35 million).
While three musicals won several Oscar nominations, Man of La Mancha won just a couple. Yet I'm glad there's a film version of Man of Lamancha and this version, while not perfect is quite acceptable and far from the disaster critics say it is.
What peeves me is much of Aldonza's songs have been cut. Sophia Loren did well with the songs and she should have been allowed to sing the entire songs.
Overall, this movie musical lacks the charm and sparkle of the big musicals that preceded it. It failed to match the box office success of Fiddler on the Roof (over 80 million dollars in grosses), Hello, Dolly! (38 million) and Camelot (over 35 million).
While three musicals won several Oscar nominations, Man of La Mancha won just a couple. Yet I'm glad there's a film version of Man of Lamancha and this version, while not perfect is quite acceptable and far from the disaster critics say it is.