Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 film) unselfish devotion, Bathsheba consents to be his wife and persuades Gabriel to remain in Weatherbury. The film keeps close to the book. The budget was $3 million, 80% of which was provided by MGM, 20% by Anglo-Amalgamated. The film was shot largely on location in Dorset and Wiltshire. The film is memorable for the subtly erotic scene between Sgt. Troy and Bathsheba in which he flaunts his expert skills as a swordsman in a private fencing display in a prehistoric earthwork (actually Maiden Castle). An enthralled Bathsheba stands immobile before him. Roger Ebert found the scenes of the rural area
Uriah the Hittite status as one of David's mighty men, British rabbi Jonathan Magonet observes that Uriah refers to Joab, not David, as 'my lord (or commander)' (2 Samuel 11:11). Joab is, Magonet notes, a kingmaker who dispatches ruthlessly his own military rivals, Abner and Amasa. He is sufficiently powerful that David, on his deathbed, advises Solomon to arrange his death (1 Kings 2:5–6). This prompts Magonet to speculate that David saw some deeper political threat from Joab through his entanglement with Uriah's wife. The prophet Nathan soon after confronted David about this murder, by first telling him a story of a rich