Though financed by Italian producer Alberto Grimaldi and shot in Rome, the film is in English, with all principal actors either British or American, excepting Sophia Loren
(Gino Conforti, the Barber, is an American of Italian descent.)
The film was released by United Artists and is known in Italy as L'Uomo della Mancha
Produced and directed by Arthur Hiller, the film stars Peter O'Toole as both Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote, James Coco as both Cervantes' manservant and Don Quixote's "squire" Sancho Panza, and Sophia Loren as scullery maid and prostitute Aldonza, whom the delusional Don Quixote idolizes as Dulcinea
Gillian Lynne staged the film's choreography and fight scenes