'FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD'........BINGE-WATCHING THE 19TH CENTURY "BACHELORETTE".......

Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)    In retrospect, it might have gone better for this film if MGM and director John Schlesinger found a way to sculpt it down to a 2 hour running time........letting the first run theaters show it 7 times a day for the general public......

           Presenting it as a bloated, near 3 hour, reserved seat "roadshow" behemoth, complete with overture, intermission and exit music........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

          Moviegoers were starting to turn their noses up at these Roadshow presentations....... they'd just as soon wait a while until these films eventually trickled down to the neighborhood theaters with ads trumpeting  "Now at popular prices! Continuous showings! "

           Despite its luminous cast, stunning photography and the promise of more star-crossed romance than 300 episodes of 'General Hospital' or any ten minutes of 'Dr Zhivago',  American audiences looked upon this movie as a huge spoonful of foul-tasting cough medicine.

            They weren't havin' any......(maybe some had nightmarish flashbacks to plowing through Thomas Hardy novels in high school, with those trusty yellow-and-black--striped Cliff's Notes at their sides......)

            We'll admit it.......the thing's a pain-in-the-ass chore to sit through, despite all its many attributes.  More than once, we felt  ourselves dozing.........when film directors start depending on the scenery to make their dramatic points for them, it signals nap-time for the viewer.......

            As we moved into the film's third hour, we began to think of the experience as a binge of multiple episodes of "The Bachelorette"......except with everybody dressed in hoop  skirts, waistcoats and travelling around in horse drawn carriages.....

            But what a grand romantic quadrangle this was.......Julie Christie (the Alicia Vikander of the mid-1960's) fiercely guarding her heart while pursued by a trio of determined suitors.........the quietly steadfast shepherd (Alan Bates), the dashing, devil-may-care soldier (Terence Stamp) and the painfully lonely rich farmer-next-door (Peter Finch).

            Watching these four world class actors at the very peak of their youth and vast talent compels you to stay with them to the very end........when tragedy, heartbreak and violence finally leaves the last man standing in the lifelong "win a wedding with Julie" contest.

             And there are a few memorable perks to keep you awake along the way........the startling sequence in which Alan Bates' dumber-than-a-rock dog herds his entire flock off a cliff......and the one scene everyone recalls, even 51 years later.......swordsman Stamp showing off his prowess with a blade to Christie by slashing it all around her......and somehow not slicing her up like a deli salami...

             Not the easiest film to sit through (and we're not likely to ever return to it)......but overall, spending time with this unique quartet of actors made it worth our while........3 stars (***).....unlike the comic book movie heroes, here's a group that truly deserves the title of "the Fantastic Four".....