Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 film) fell off a steep cliff. Ignoring Gabriel's love, Bathsheba impulsively sends a valentine to William Boldwood (Peter Finch), a nearby gentleman farmer. When he misinterprets her capriciousness and proposes to her, Bathsheba promises to consider his offer. But she becomes enamoured of Frank Troy (Terence Stamp), a dashing cavalry sergeant. Troy was supposed to marry young Fanny Robin (Prunella Ransome), a maidservant pregnant with his child, but she went to the wrong church on their wedding day, and Troy was then posted out of town. Bathsheba marries him after his return. Troy gambles away most of Bathsheba's money and creates
Alison Leggatt by Noël Coward. Her first major film credit was as Aunt Sylvia in "This Happy Breed" (1944), Noël Coward's homage to the British working class. She was known for playing a variety of disapproving in-laws, motherly landladies, nosy neighbours and helpful housekeepers. She played opposite Petula Clark three times, in "Here Come the Huggetts" (1948), "The Card" (1952) and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969). In the John Schlesinger film version of "Far from the Madding Crowd" (1967) she played Mrs Hurst while her final screen appearance was in the Sherlock Holmes film "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" (1976). Additional theatre work included appearances