2009/17

Far From the Madding Crowd,

This poster was created for the 1967 MGM/EMI film production of 'Far From the Madding Crown', based on Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel. A strip sellotaped along the top of the poster reads 'Gaumont Weston Super Mare Thursday June 20th', which dates this poster to 1968.

Unbacked colour poster, foldmarks, with strip sellotaped on at top reading 'Gaumont Weston Super Mare Thursday June 20th for seven days'.

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'Original poster for the 1967 film based on Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel. // Strip sellotaped along the top reads 'Gaumont Westom Super Mare Thursday June 20th' which dates it to 1968. // Purchased for £101 // ... Purchased as part of the Collecting Twentieth Century Rural Culture project.' // References // David Shipman 'The Story of Cinema' (1982).', MERL OLIB database note – 'The reference to Thursday June 20th dates the poster to 1968. At the time this was the most authentic big screen adaptation of a Hardy novel. It was directed by John Schlesinger, scripted by Frederic Raphael, photography was by Nicolas Roeg and the folk-based musical score by Richard Rodney Bennett. Julie Christie starred as Bathsheba Everdene, Alan Bates as Gabriel Oak, Peter Finch as William Boldwood and Terence Stamp as Sergeant Troy. Shot on location around Dorset, one of the film's strong points is its portrayal of Hardy's Wessex. Cinematically, Schlesinger subsequently regretted that the filmed [sic] followed the novel too closely. Doubts were expressed at the time about Julie Christie in the main role and the implied addition of a 1960s style feminist agenda. David Shipman in his two volume 'The Story of Cinema' (1982) declared that there has never been a better film about the British countryside.'

1967 - 1968