Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Thomas Hardy (novel)
Frederic Raphael (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 October 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Her romance with three men becomes a bold adventure [UK theatrical]

Plot:

Bathsheba Everdine, a willful, flirtatious, young woman, unexpectedly inherits a large farm and becomes romantically involved with three widely divergent men.

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | Farm | Sheep | Love | 19th Century

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Julie Christie	...	Bathsheba Everdene
Terence Stamp	...	Sgt. Francis 'Frank' Troy
Peter Finch	...	William Boldwood
Alan Bates	...	Gabriel Oak
Fiona Walker	...	Liddy
Prunella Ransome	...	Fanny Robin
Alison Leggatt	...	Mrs. Hurst
Paul Dawkins	...	Henery Fray
Julian Somers	...	Jan Coggan
John Barrett	...	Joseph Poorgrass
Freddie Jones	...	Cainy Ball
Andrew Robertson	...	Andrew Randle
Brian Rawlinson	...	Matthew Moon
Vincent Harding	...	Mark Clark
Victor Stone	...	Billy Smallbury

Runtime:

168 min | Finland:170 min (uncut) | Finland:157 min (cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1988) | Finland:K-16 (heavily cut) (1968) | UK:U (cut) | USA:TV-14 | France:U | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Abbotsbury, Dorset, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Future Fairport Convention band member David Swarbrick can be seen playing a fiddle during the barn dance scene.

Quotes:

Gabriel Oak: At home by the fire, whenever I look up, there you will be. And whenever you look up, there I shall be.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Watching the Alien (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bushes and Briars

Alan Bates is just fantastic

What a treat to see an adaption of this marvellous but hard going book, of course it's always worth the effort to read Hardy, but it takes getting into, you have to be in the right mind frame, so dramatisations of his wonderfully rich characters are always wonderful to watch, and open up his work to a wider audience I should imagine.

This film in particular was pretty true to the script, if a little condensed, in places. I felt Alan Bates was just fantastic on screen, but probably had the right amount of charm and screen magnetism for the box office, but a little too much to be a true Farmer Oak as described by Hardy, what women in her right mind would ever turn him down,being so sweet and looking like that, I must watch more of his films.

Everyone else was just brilliant as well, and it was lovely to see the beautiful Dorset I visit often so on the big screen and note it really hasn't changed that much at all since the filming in the 60's.

An excellent film, don't miss it !!!