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
Owen Berry	...	Old Smallbury
Lawrence Carter	...	Laban Tall
Pauline Melville	...	Mrs. Tall
Harriet Harper	...	Temperence
Denise Coffey	...	Soberness
Margaret Lacey	...	Maryann Money
Marie Hopps	...	Mrs. Coggan
Peter Stone	...	Teddy Coggan
Walter Gale	...	Jacob Smallbury
Leslie Anderson	...	Boldwood's Labourer
Keith Hooper	...	Boldwood's Labourer
Jonathan Newth	...	Gentleman at Cockfight
Derek Ware	...	Corporal
John Donegal	...	Sailor
Peggy Ann Clifford	...	Fat Lady at Circus (as Peggyanne Clifford)
Noel Henkel	...	Circus Manager
Bryan Mosley	...	Barker
David Swarbrick	...	Fiddler at Barn Dance
Alba	...	Gentleman at Party
Frank Duncan	...	Farmer at Corn Exchange
Hugh Walker	...	Farmer at Corn Exchange
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Maxwell	...	Doctor (uncredited)

Directed by
John Schlesinger

Writing credits
Thomas Hardy		(novel)
Frederic Raphael		(screenplay)

Produced by
Joseph Janni	....	producer
Edward Joseph	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Richard Rodney Bennett

Cinematography by
Nicolas Roeg

Film Editing by
Malcolm Cooke

Casting by
Miriam Brickman

Production Design by
Richard Macdonald

Art Direction by
Roy Forge Smith		(as Roy Smith)

Set Decoration by
Peter James

Costume Design by
Alan Barrett

Makeup Department
Ivy Emmerton	....	hairdresser
Bob Lawrance	....	makeup artist
Philip Leakey	....	makeup artist (as Phillip Leakey)

Production Management
Frank Ernst	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kip Gowans	....	assistant director
David Bracknell	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Nigel Wooll	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Aldred	....	sound recordist
Alfred Cox	....	sound editor
Gordon Daniel	....	sound editor
Robin Gregory	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Martin Gutteridge	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Harris	....	special effects (uncredited)
Brian Humphrey	....	special effects (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)
Malcolm King	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Harris	....	camera operator
Anthony B. Richmond	....	camera focus (as Tony Richmond)
Edward Tucker	....	camera grips
Alex Thomson	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Isla Cameron	....	advisor: folk songs
Marcus Dods	....	conductor
Marcus Dods	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Max Faulkner	....	horse master
Ann Skinner	....	continuity (as Anne Skinner)
Derek Ware	....	sword master
Catherine O'Brien	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)
• Vic Films Productions

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Pathé Distributors (1967) (UK) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1971) (USA) (TV)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Trading Post

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  DVD package design

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

Under-rated version of the Hardy classic.

For many the casting of sixties beauty Julie Christie as the vulnerable heartbreaker Bathsheba Everdene was erroneous, but Christie does a fine job, and makes the role her own. Schlesinger remains faithful to the romantic spirit of Hardy, drenching the magnificent cinematography in the exquisite pastoral music of Richard Rodney Bennett, who clearly wrote under the influence of Vaughan Williams and Delius, while interpreting the story for the cinema very much in his own way. The film is long; but craftmanlike, and characterised by superb performances, with Peter Finch as the tormented Boldwood, and Alan Bates as Gabriel, who is the moral force within the story, particularly excellent. The film's climax is one of the most hauntingly poignant in sixties cinema.

I like to see it as an oblique commentary on the essentially tragical (and doomed) nature of selfish or sensual or possessive love; and the innate nobility of the marriage state buttressed by genuine mutual respect, with Gabriel as the agent of reason and decency amid so much unbridled passionateness....