All Creatures Great and Small (1975) (TV)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Claude Whatham

Writers:

James Herriot (book)
Hugh Whitemore (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 July 1975 (UK)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

The story of a young veterinarian's apprenticeship to a somewhat eccentric older vet in the English countryside, and the young man's hesitating courtship of the daughter of a local farmer. |

Plot Keywords:

Veterinarian | Rural | Britain | Yorkshire England | Slice Of Life

Cast

Brenda Bruce	...	Miss Harbottle
Christine Buckley	...	Mrs.Hall
John Collin	...	Mr. Alderson
Jane Collins	...	Connie
Fred Feast	...	Farmer in Cinema
Glynne Geldart	...	Joyce
Harold Goodwin	...	Dinsdale's uncle
Lisa Harrow	...	Helen Alderson
Anthony Hopkins	...	Siegfried Farnon
Freddie Jones	...	Cranford
Doreen Mantle	...	Mrs. Seaton
T.P. McKenna	...	Soames
John Nettleton	...	Head Waiter
Daphne Oxenford	...	Mrs. Pumphrey
Bert Palmer	...	Mr. Dean (as Burt Palmer)

Also Known As:

All Things Great and Small

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2001)

Filming Locations:

Empire Cinema, Station Square, Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

Although born in Sunderland, Herriot spent the first twenty-three years of his life in Glasgow, and never lost the accent, as can be heard in television interviews. Simon Ward however, plays him as a Londoner.

Quotes:

[first lines]
James Herriot: [rings doorbell]
Mrs.Hall: [opening door] Yes?
James Herriot: [removing his hat] Good afternoon, my name's Herriot
[pause]
James Herriot: ... well, I belive Mr. Farnon is expecting me.
Mrs.Hall: Surgery is from six to seven.
James Herriot: Oh no, no, he asked me for tea.
Mrs.Hall: Did he now?
James Herriot: Well, I'm applying for the job you see, Mr. Farnon's new assistant.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Remade as "All Creatures Great and Small" (1978)

Not As Good As The TV Show

This film version of James Herriot`s series of novels isn`t much cop compared to the television show of the same . This movie is the prior piece but there`s nothing very memorable about . The plot is more or less composed of " Will young James get married to his girlfriend or not ? " , hardly the most original or compelling premise for a movie , and we`re treated to little in the way of these blackly comical scenes of animals and their owners having mishaps that made the TV show enjoyable . Perhaps the worst problem is that Tristan ( Played by boyish mischief in the show by Peter Davison ) is more or less a peripheral character in this movie

The cast are passable ( Simon West was rather famous when this was produced while Anthony Hopkins was almost totally unknown ) but they seem to lack the flair that Christopher Timothy , Robert Hardy and Peter Davison brought to the long running series