Far from the Madding Crowd is a 1967 British epic period drama film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terence Stamp and Peter Finch. The screenplay was by Frederic Raphael adapted from Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel Far from the Madding Crowd. It was Schlesinger's fourth film. It marked a stylistic shift away from his earlier works exploring contemporary urban mores. The cinematography was by Nicolas Roeg and the music was by Richard Rodney Bennett, who also used traditional folk songs in various scenes throughout the film.