By Gia Kourlas

Sancho Panza (Ray Powell) and the Don (Sir Robert Helpmann).

There is a rumor that during the brief but intense shooting of DON QUIXOTE -- the filming itself lasted only 25 days -- the temperamental Rudolf Nureyev demanded that four tons of fresh fruit and vegetables be provided daily for the opening market scene. That story is all the more shocking when you imagine the setting: an aircraft hangar in the Melbourne, Australia, suburb Essendon, in the middle of an agonizing heat wave. It was also reported that the Russian dancer demanded that Ray Powell, who portrayed the Don's squire, Sancho Panza, shave his head everyday -- for realism. Poor Powell: apparently, it took four months for his hair to grow back normally.

For all his picky ways, the perfectionist Nureyev -- with his strict attention to detail -- created one of the most stylish and astonishingly beautiful dance films ever made. To be honest, Wallace Potts, who served as the film's first assistant director and is currently the film archivist of the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, doesn't remember whether the fruit rumor was true or not. "Like most films, it was just frantic -- we were trying to shoot a film like one big Vincente Minnelli number in three weeks," he recalls. "Barry Kay is a wonderful set designer for the theater. He made this incredible set for the classical Dryad scene. But the columns he designed extended past the rafters of the theater. The irony is when Geoffrey Unsworth, who was the director of photography, saw it, he said, 'Barry, no one's going to see it above 12 feet!' He had designed sets that would look great onstage, but not on film. It was sad."

Kitri's friends (Gaylene Stock and Carolyn Rappel) try to protect Basilio (Rudolf Nureyev).

Potts readily admits that he was awarded his job through his relationship with Nureyev -- they were companions from 1970 to 1977 -- and not actual talent. "My first trip to Europe with him was when Rudolf was shooting I AM A DANCER," he says. "There were many clashes between Rudolf and the director of that film, Pierre Jourdan. When we started living together, he did 'Don Q.' I started out as the second assistant director. The first assistant director left, so through my connections, I was able to [move] up the ladder! I wasn't very good, to tell you the truth! I'm not a very good first assistant director. Peter McDonald [the film's first assistant cameraman] will attest to that."

In the 1973 film, Nureyev stars as Basilio, but shares co-director responsibilities with Sir Robert Helpmann, who portrays the Don. Potts remembers the partnership as a pleasant one. "I didn't think there was much tension between Robert and Rudolf," he says. "If anything, it was a very creative environment. I think they respected each other -- probably one would go off in a huff at one point -- but they remained friends and close -- it was the total opposite of the way I AM A DANCER was shot, where, when it was over, everybody was happy to be done with it. They didn't want to see each other again. But Rudolf respected Helpmann's input. It was a real collaboration between the two of them."

In the role of the street dancer, Marilyn Rowe.

Potts played some part in the restoration of the film; while McDonald was in the process of trying to get the film restored, Potts stumbled upon the fact that the rights of DON QUIXOTE had actually reverted back to Peter Bowen. "And they actually did more than restore it," Potts says. "It looks and sounds better now than it did when it was released. They went back to the original music tracks. It was recorded in stereo, but in 1973 was screened in mono because Dolby stereos weren't available until much later. If you play a stereo track on a mono system it doesn't sound as good as just the regular mono system. It was just a matter of dealing with the technical realities of the time."

The first time Potts watched the newly restored film was in conjunction with a screening at New York's Walter Reade Theater -- and it was a memorable occasion. "I didn't respond to it like, 'Oh, I remember that horrible thing happened during that scene,'" he says. "I responded to it like I was watching a musical. It's so well-shot. I'm so glad PBS is broadcasting it, but to see it on a big screen is so much more impactful. The cuts and the camera movement are thrilling. I love movies, so seeing it with the proper sound system and restored to look just as it did when it was shot was a great rush for me. I didn't feel nostalgic for it; I was just overwhelmed by the film and wowed by the technique."

The sheer size of the set is evident in this scene of the couples dancing the fandango.

For Potts, the actual experience of filming DON QUIXOTE was strangely surreal -- and not just because of the intense heat wave and long hours. "It was just the experience of shooting it in an aircraft hanger at the bottom of the world," he says. "At that time, it seemed like the bottom of the world. I remember driving outside the city, 10 minutes out, and you tried to find a radio station and there was none. You really felt outback! It's not that way anymore, but at that time, you really felt like you were alone."