Jose Ferrer won an Oscar for his stellar performance as the tragic title character in this first film adaptation of the classic French play. Cyrano is an accomplished swordsman and a veritable wit, but has an absurdly large nose, which inhibits him from wooing his love. So he helps another man do it! The humanity of the story makes this thinking person's comedy good. Add some incredibly witty dialogue and Ferrer's performance, and it becomes great. See it, but beware of the cheap video transfers of this one that are out there -- the Good Times distribution of the video, in particular, is almost unwatchable.