All Creatures Great and Small

(NBC, 2/4/1975, 120 mins). A gentle, episodic account of author James Herriot’s apprenticeship in the mid-1930s to an eccentric rural English veterinarian and his awkward courtship of a farmer’s daughter. Based on Herriott’s novels “If Only hey Could Talk” and “And It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet.” The film was tested briefly following its TV premiere in theatrical release in the U.S. after a semi-successful New York engagement.

Production Companies Talent Associates, EMI Television. Director Claude Whatham. Producers David Susskind, Duane C Bogie. Teleplay Hugh Whitemore. Based on Novels by James Harriot. Photography Peter Suschitzky. Music Wilfred Josephs. Editor Ralph Sheldon. Production Designer Geoffrey Drake.

Cast Simon Ward (James Herriot), Anthony Hopkins (Siegfried Farnon), Lisa Harrow (Helen Anderson), Brian Stirner (Tristan Farnon), Freddie Jones (Cranford), T.P. McKenna (Soames), Brenda Bruce (Miss Harbottle), John Collin (Mr. Alderson), Christine Buckley (Mrs. Hall), Jane Collins (Connie), Fred Feast (Farmer in cinema), Glynne Geldart (Joyce), Harold Goodwin (Dinsdale’s uncle), Doreen Mantle (Mrs. Seaton), John Nettleton (Headwaiter), Daphne Oxenford (Mrs. Pumphrey), Bert Palmer (Mr. Dean), John Rees (Geoff Mallock), Jenny Runacre (Pamela), Jane Solo (Brenda).