All Creatures Great and Small (film)

All Creatures Great and Small
British 1975 quad format poster
Directed by Claude Whatham
Produced by David Susskind
Duane Bogie
executive
Ronald Gilbert
Screenplay by Hugh Whitemore
Based on If Only They Could Talk & It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
by James Herriot
Starring Simon Ward
Anthony Hopkins
Brian Stirner
Lisa Harrow
Music by Wilfred Josephs
Cinematography Peter Suschitzky
Edited by Ralph Sheldon
Production
company
Venedon Limited
EMI Films
Talent Associates
Distributed by EMI Films (UK)
NBC (US)
Release date
  • 9 May 1975 (1975-05-09) (UK[1])

February 1975 (US TV)
Running time
 87 minutes (US version)
120 mins (theatrical version)
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget $1.2 million[2] or $1 million[3]

All Creatures Great and Small is a British film from 1975 (copyrighted in 1974), directed by Claude Whatham and starring Simon Ward and Anthony Hopkins as the Yorkshire vets James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon. It is based on James Herriot's first two novels, If Only They Could Talk (1970) and It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (1972), and was given the same title as the 1972 US compilation volume of these two novels. It is the first of a series of movies and television series based on Herriot's work. A sequel, somewhat confusingly titled It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet although it actually covers the two following novels, Let Sleeping Vets Lie and Vet in Harness, was released in 1976.

Synopsis

It is 1937, and newly qualified veterinarian James Herriot travels to Yorkshire to apply for the post of assistant in Siegfried Farnon’s practice. He soon learns the facts of country life but struggles to overcome the prejudices of the Darrowby locals who are sceptical of the novice vet's ability. In between "cases," Herriot courts pretty farmer’s daughter Helen Alderson and finally marries her.

Main cast

Production

Development

All Creatures Great and Small was a best seller in the US and film rights were optioned.[3][4]

The film was made for NBC's Hallmark Hall of Fame but it was theatrically released outside the US.. The producers were Duane Bogie for FCB Productions and David Susskind for the Talent Associates.

According to one account, the budget was $1.2 million, nearly twice what NBC paid for it..[2] Another account said the budget was $1 million, with $650,000 from NBC, $250,000 from EMI (who distributed), and $100,000 privately raised.[3]

The lead role was given to Simon Ward, who later recalled, "I hadn't known the books and a lot of people hadn't known about them then, so at that time I wasn't taking on a national icon. It's always nerve-wracking playing a real person particularly if that real person is still alive and comes and sits on set watching you. Although Herriot was the most charming wonderful man who I really adored and kept in touch with till he died."[5]

Writing

The script by Hugh Whitemore, focused very much on James, and played down Siegfried's eccentricity; for example, a speech he makes early in the film rebuking James for refusing to attend a call during the middle of the night is delivered straight, while in the book it was highly hypocritical, as Siegfried himself had earlier told James that he was 'spoiling' the farmers by coming out at all hours.

Shooting

Filming started in Yorkshire in May 1974, in the village of Pickering in North Riding. Studio work was done in London.[2]

Ward said "The roughest thing was putting a hand up a pregnant mare... for the film I had to do it again and again."[2]

Music

The film's incidental music was by Wilfred Josephs.

Release

Critical

Having passed the British censors in September 1974,[6] the film wasn't released until 9 May 1975, when it opened in London at the small cinema Studio Two in Oxford Street.[7] The Times' film critic David Robinson didn't like it ('All Creatures Great and Small' is so wholesome and warmhearted it makes you want to scream. not on account of these qualities in themselves, but because of the director's (Claude Whatham) inability to give them any more depth or meaning than a television series), but acknowledged that Anthony Hopkins' and Simon Ward's playing made their characters somewhat believable.[1]

"It works beautifully," said the New York Times.[8]

Home media

The film has been released on DVD for both Region 2 PAL and Region 1 NTSC.

Sequel

A second film, It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet was released in 1976. John Alderton took over the role of James and Colin Blakely that of Siegfried, while Lisa Harrow returned as Helen. The film was directed by Eric Till from a script by Alan Plater.

In 1979 there was a TV series based on the book, which was a huge ratings success in Britain.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 The Times, 9 May 1975, page 13: Film reviews by David Robinson - found via The Times Digital Archive 2014-01-03
  2. 1 2 3 4 WARD AS VET: A Method Actor Down on the Farm Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 11 June 1974: d1.
  3. 1 2 3 'All Creatures': it's the saga of a Yorkshire vet Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 2 Feb 1975: o2.
  4. ↑ BEHIND THE COVER: Herriot finds all things brighter--by $3 million Dudar, Helen. Chicago Tribune 10 May 1981: e2.
  5. ↑ "Interview with Simon Ward". Berksire Life and Buckinghamshire Life. 28 July 2010.
  6. ↑ BBFC: Creatures Great and Small Linked 2014-01-03
  7. ↑ Cinema Treasures: Studio 1, 2, 3, 4 Linked 2014-01-03
  8. ↑ TV: Dialer's Quandary: ABC Pits 'Death Be Not Proud' Against NBC's 'All Creatures Great and Small' By JOHN J. O'CONNOR. New York Times 4 Feb 1975: 67.
  9. ↑ Previews of Two Shows on KCET: 'All Creatures Great and Small' Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 16 June 1979: c3.
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