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
Far from the Madding Crowd Weatherbury, a village some miles off. When next they meet, their circumstances have changed drastically. An inexperienced new sheepdog drives Gabriel's flock over a cliff, ruining him. After selling off everything of value, he manages to settle all his debts but emerges penniless. He seeks employment at a hiring fair in the town of Casterbridge. When he finds none, he heads to another such fair in Shottsford, a town about ten miles from Weatherbury. On the way, he happens upon a dangerous fire on a farm and leads the bystanders in putting it out. When the veiled owner comes to