Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 film)

Last updated

Far from the Madding Crowd
Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 film) poster.jpg
Directed by John Schlesinger
Screenplay by Frederic Raphael
Based on Far from the Madding Crowd
1874 novel
by Thomas Hardy
Produced by Joseph Janni
Starring
Cinematography Nicolas Roeg
Edited byMalcolm Cooke
Music by Richard Rodney Bennett
Production
companies
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • 16 October 1967 (1967-10-16)(United Kingdom)
  • 17 October 1967 (1967-10-17)(United States)
Running time
170 minutes [1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.75 million [2]
Box office$3.5 million (US/Canada) [3]

Far from the Madding Crowd is a 1967 British epic period drama film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terence Stamp and Peter Finch. [4] The screenplay was by Frederic Raphael adapted from Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel Far from the Madding Crowd. It was Schlesinger's fourth film (and his third collaboration with Christie). It marked a stylistic shift away from his earlier works exploring contemporary urban mores. The cinematography was by Nicolas Roeg and the soundtrack was by Richard Rodney Bennett, who also used traditional folk songs in various scenes throughout the film.

Contents

Plot

Set in the rural West Country in Victorian England in the mid 1860s, [5] the story features Bathsheba Everdene, a headstrong, independently minded woman who inherits her uncle's farm and decides to manage it herself. This engenders some disapproval from the local farming community. She employs a former neighbour, Gabriel Oak, as a shepherd. Rejected by Bathsheba earlier as a suitor for lack of wealth, Gabriel lost his own flock after one of his dogs drove them off a cliff.

Bathsheba impulsively sends a valentine to William Boldwood, a nearby gentleman farmer. Boldwood, a middle-aged bachelor, falls passionately in love with her and proposes; Bathsheba promises to consider his offer. However, she soon meets and becomes enamoured of Frank Troy, a handsome sergeant, dashing in red uniform.

Troy was to marry young Fanny Robin, a maidservant pregnant with his child, but she went to the wrong church on their wedding day; a humiliated Troy petulantly refused to set another date for the ceremony and was then posted to a different town. Jealous at seeing Bathsheba become besotted with the handsome Troy, Boldwood offers him money to leave Bathsheba alone. Troy plays with Boldwood, rejecting increasing amounts before humiliating him by announcing that he and Bathsheba are already married. Troy proves a selfish and irresponsible husband while Bathsheba at first continues to adore him. At the Harvest Home Troy sends Bathsheba off to bed alone, while he gets drunk with all the farmhands except Gabriel; when a storm threatens their harvested haystacks, Gabriel, with Bathsheba’s help, covers the ricks to avert disaster. Troy gambles away much of Bathsheba's money and creates disharmony among the farmhands. When Fanny comes to Troy, in an advanced state of pregnancy, to ask for his help, Troy says he will help her later. Upon learning that Fanny has died in childbirth, Bathsheba confronts Troy, who feels remorse over Fanny’s death and swears cruelly that he loved only Fanny, not her. His clothes are later found by the sea, and he is presumed drowned.

Boldwood badgers Bathsheba to marry him. She will not commit to an engagement but promises she will not get engaged to anyone else until the end of the 7-year period before Troy can be declared legally dead. If Boldwood still wishes it, she will then marry him at that time. It is then revealed that Troy has become the star attraction in a troupe of actors, enacting the dramatic role of the highwayman Dick Turpin with a horse that performs tricks on cue. When the troupe comes to Weatherbury, Troy spots Boldwood and Bathsheba in the crowd and enhances his theatrical makeup to avoid recognition. Troy then reappears to reclaim his wife at a party which Boldwood is giving to impress Bathsheba. Boldwood shoots Troy dead. Still besotted by Troy, Bathsheba throws herself on his body and loudly repeats his name in despair while Boldwood looks on in horror.

Boldwood is last seen in a prison cell, awaiting execution. Gabriel tells Bathsheba that he is emigrating to the United States. Realising how much she needs his quiet strength and unselfish devotion, Bathsheba persuades Gabriel to remain in Weatherbury, which he agrees to do only on the condition that they marry. The last scene shows Gabriel, in gentleman's attire in the drawing room of their manorial home, with Bathsheba quietly reading the newspaper in his company. Above the fireplace is the elaborate automaton clock Troy had given Bathsheba as a wedding present: a castle with a soldier in red uniform on the tower playing his trumpet to announce the hour.

Cast

Production

The film keeps close to the book.[ citation needed ]

The budget was $3 million, 80% of which was provided by MGM, 20% by Anglo-Amalgamated. [6]

The film was shot largely on location in Dorset and Wiltshire. [7]

Release

The film premiered on 16 October 1967 at the Odeon Marble Arch attended by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. [8]

Reception

Box office

The film performed well at the box office in the UK but was a commercial failure in the U.S. [2]

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Despite the exquisite beauty and accuracy of Richard MacDonald's reconstructions of nineteenth century England, and despite the misty loveliness of Nicolas Roeg's colour photography, Far From The Madding Crowd fails (with the exception of Peter Finch's Boldwood, brilliantly suggesting all the barely suppressed violence that can lurk beneath a civilised exterior) to elevate its characters to the level of their surroundings. We are used, in the theatre if not in the cinema, to the sight of imposing characters acting out their passions against cardboard décors. But here the conventional theatrical effect is reversed, as cardboard characters appear dwarfed by the imposing reality of the natural scenery through which they move. Schlesinger's characters fail to grow, as Hardy's do, with experience: Alan Bates' Gabriel is endowed from the start with an uncanny self-confidence, while Bathsheba, as portrayed by Julie Christie, remains extroverted throughout." [9]

Roger Ebert found the scenes of the rural area and rural life to be "splendid". His strongest criticism is that the film missed the point of the small society of rural life:

Thomas Hardy's novel told of a 19th-century rural England in which class distinctions and unyielding social codes surrounded his characters. They were far from the madding crowd whether they liked it or not, and got tangled in each other's problems because there was nowhere else to turn. It's not simply that Bathsheba (Julie Christie) was courted by the three men in her life, but that she was courted by ALL three men in her life. [10]

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics; the film holds a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 reviews. [11]

Awards

It was nominated for one Oscar for Best Original Music Score and two BAFTAs, Best British Cinematography (Colour) and Best British Costume (Colour) (Alan Barrett).

Won:

Nominated:

Music

The Kinks song "Waterloo Sunset" allegedly alluded to the film's star pairing, Terence Stamp and Julie Christie ("Terry and Julie").However this was denied by the song writer Ray Davies stating "“I think the characters have to do with the aspirations of my elder sisters, who grew up during the Second World War and missed out on the 60s. I was thinking of the world I wanted them to have.” [12]

Books

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Darling</i> (1965 film) 1965 British film by John Schlesinger

Darling is a 1965 British romantic drama film directed by John Schlesinger from a screenplay written by Frederic Raphael. It stars Julie Christie as Diana Scott, a young successful model and actress in Swinging London, toying with the affections of two older men, played by Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey. The film was shot on location in London, Paris and Rome and at Shepperton Studios by cinematographer Kenneth Higgins, with a musical score composed by Sir John Dankworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Bates</span> English actor (1934–2003)

Sir Alan Arthur Bates was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Christie</span> British actress (born 1940)

Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Christie's accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has appeared in six films ranked in the British Film Institute's BFI Top 100 British films of the 20th century, and in 1997, she received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terence Stamp</span> British actor (born 1938)

Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by Empire as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades including a Golden Globe Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and a Silver Bear as well as nominations for an Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Schlesinger</span> English film and stage director (1926–2003)

John Richard Schlesinger was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood, often directing films dealing frankly in provocative subject matter, combined with his status as one of the rare openly gay directors working in mainstream films.

<i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i> 1874 novel by Thomas Hardy

Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth published novel and his first major literary success. It was published on 23 November 1874. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederic Raphael</span> American-British writer (born 1931)

Frederic Michael Raphael FRSL is an American-born British novelist, biographer, journalist and Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for Darling, Far from the Madding Crowd,Two for the Road, and Stanley Kubrick's last film Eyes Wide Shut. Raphael rose to prominence in the early 1960s with the publication of several acclaimed novels, but most notably with the release of the John Schlesinger film Darling, starring Julie Christie and Dirk Bogarde, a romantic drama set in Swinging London, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1966. Two years later he was nominated again in the same category, this time for his work on Stanley Donen’s Two for the Road, starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. Since the death of screenwriter D. M. Marshman Jr. in 2015, he is the earliest surviving recipient of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the sole surviving recipient of the now retired BAFTA category of Best British Screenplay.

<i>Sunday Bloody Sunday</i> (film) 1971 British drama film by John Schlesinger

Sunday Bloody Sunday is a 1971 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, written by Penelope Gilliatt, and starring Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Murray Head and Peggy Ashcroft. It tells the story of a free-spirited young bisexual artist and his simultaneous relationships with a divorced recruitment consultant (Jackson) and a gay Jewish doctor (Finch).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Terry</span> English actor (1945–2015)

Peter Nigel Terry was an English stage, film, and television actor, typically in historical and period roles. He played Prince John in Anthony Harvey's film The Lion in Winter (1968) and King Arthur in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981).

<i>The Taming of the Shrew</i> (1967 film) 1967 film by Franco Zeffirelli

The Taming of the Shrew is a 1967 period romantic comedy film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, based on William Shakespeare's play about a courtship between two strong-willed people in 16th-century Italy. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor as Kate and Richard Burton as Petruchio, who were both nominated for BAFTA Awards for their acting. It features Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern, Michael York, and Victor Spinetti in supporting roles.

The 39th National Board of Review Awards were announced on December 31, 1967.

Paloma Baeza is a British actress and director. Her 2017 film Poles Apart won the BAFTA for best animated short film in 2018.

Far from the Madding Crowd is a novel by Thomas Hardy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Lacey</span> British actress (1911–1988)

Margaret Brackenbury Lacey was a British character actress and ballet teacher. She appeared in over 30 films between 1957 and 1985, usually playing a sweet old lady or motherly figure in minor roles.

<i>In Search of Gregory</i> 1969 film by Peter Wood

In Search of Gregory is a 1969 British-Italian drama film directed by Peter Wood and starring Julie Christie.

<i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i> (1915 film) 1915 British film

Far from the Madding Crowd is a 1915 British silent drama film produced and directed by Laurence Trimble and starring Florence Turner, Henry Edwards and Malcolm Cherry. Trimble also adapted Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel for the screen. Far from the Madding Crowd is a lost film. The film was the first adaptation on screen of the novel.

<i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i> (2015 film) British romantic drama film

Far from the Madding Crowd is a 2015 British romantic drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Tom Sturridge, Michael Sheen, and Juno Temple. An adaptation by David Nicholls of the 1874 novel Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, it is the fourth film adaptation of the novel.

Richard John Gregson was a British talent agent, film producer and screenwriter.

Bathsheba, in the Hebrew Bible, was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David.

Curigwen Lewis was a Welsh actress of stage and screen.

References

  1. "Far from the Madding Crowd (U)". British Board of Film Classification . 15 September 1967. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 Alexander Walker, Hollywood, England, Stein and Day, 1974, p. 362.
  3. "Big Rental Films of 1968", Variety, 8 January 1969 p 15. Please note this figure is a rental accruing to distributors.
  4. "Far from the Madding Crowd". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  5. 1866 is shown on Fanny Robin's tombstone later in the film; the events of the novel are compressed into a year or two in the film
  6. Marks, Sally K. (8 January 1967). "Film Company a Hardy Lot: Film Company a Hardy Lot". Los Angeles Times. p. n11.
  7. IMDB.com, retrieved 25 January 2018
  8. "International Sound Track". Variety . 9 August 1967. p. 24.
  9. "Far from the Madding Crowd". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 34 (396): 185. 1 January 1967. ProQuest   1305826376 via ProQuest.
  10. Roger Ebert (23 January 1968). "Far from the Madding Crowd". Ebert Reviews. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  11. Far from the Madding Crowd at Rotten Tomatoes
  12. "The story of the all-time Kinks classic that came to Ray Davies in a dream". 3 November 2022.

Further reading