"Far from the Madding Crowd"

It's been 34 years since I first and last saw the original adaptation of "Far from the Madding Crowd", but I seem to remember that Baldwood's obsession with Bathsheba took up more of the story than this year's movie did, at the expense of Gabriel. Probably because Peter Finch was a Big Name while Alan Bates wasn't. And Julie Christie's Bathsheba was rather flighty, especially when she pulled that cruel jest on Baldwood. Or is all of that in Hardy's novel? Overall I guess I prefer the modern version.