Nikolai Cherkasov, the Russian actor who has played such heroic roles as Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, performs the lanky Don Quixote, and does so with a simple dignity that bridges the inner nobility and the surface absurdity of this poignant man.

His addle-brained knight-errant, self appointed to the ridiculous position in an age when armor had already been relegated to museums and the chivalrous code of knight-errantry had become a joke, is, as Cervantes no doubt intended, a gaunt but gracious symbol of good, moving soberly and sincerely in a world of cynics, hypocrites and rogues.

Cherkasov does not caricature him, as some actors have been inclined to do. He treats this deep-eyed, bearded, bony crackpot with tangible affection and respect. Directed by Grigory Kozintsev in a tempo that is studiously slow, he develops a sense of a high tradition shining brightly and passing gravely through an impious world.

The complexities of communication have been considerably abetted in this case by appropriately stilted English language that has been excellently dubbed in place of the Russian dialogue. The voices of all the characters, including that of Cherkasov, have richness, roughness or color to conform with the personalities. And the subtleties of the dialogue are most helpfully conveyed. Since Russian was being spoken instead of Spanish, there is no violation of artistry or logic here.