this simple village woman cannot be bought off or cajoled. To top it all, she is able to cure his rheumatic shoulder with simple manipulation. He decides to preserve the village and use the more expensive and difficult method of construction instead. Rob is furious and decides to open the dam's spillway valves to flood the valley. He is unable to do so and instead decides to set fire to Merri's cottage. He is confronted by Gareth and a fight ensues. Rob is knocked down by Gareth and falls into the fire he himself set. Gareth tries to beat out the flames but Rob dies. Merri has witnessed the events: determined that the killing shall not be discovered, she conceals the body, then makes her way to the dam's valve room and opens the valves. The villagers watch sadly from nearby safe ground as their beloved village is slowly drowned. One young shepherd has refused to flee the flood and his defiant, lilting tenor voice is suddenly silenced as the tide consumes him. Thus is fulfilled the message of a short prelude to the film showing a plaque marking the flood and the deaths of two people, only one of whose bodies was recovered. Cast Edith Evans – Merri Emlyn Williams – Rob Richard Burton – Gareth Anthony James – Dafydd Allan Aynesworth – Lord Lancashire Barbara Couper – Lady Dolwyn Andrea Lea – Margaret Hugh Griffith – The Minister Maurice Browning – Huw Rita Crailey – Hen Ann Eileen Dale – Mrs. Ellis David Davies – Septimus Frank Dunlop – Ephrain Kenneth Evans – Jabbez Patricia Glyn – Dorcas Joan Griffiths – Eira Sam Hinton – Idris Dafydd Havard – Will Roddy Hughes – Caradoc Madoline Thomas – Mrs. Thomas Sybil Williams Tom Jones – John Henry Linda Hughes - little girl Historical parallels The film's setting parallels the drowning in the 1880s of the village of Llanwddyn in Lake Vyrnwy to provide water for Liverpool. The emotive content may also be based on Welsh reaction to the construction of the Elan Valley Reservoirs, designed to supply water to Birmingham, and the tragic flooding of the beautiful neighbourhood of Nantgwyllt, beloved of the poet Shelley. In the 1960s, real life mirrored fiction when Llyn Celyn was built to provide further water to Liverpool, flooding the village of Capel Celyn. Reception The film performed disappointingly at the box office despite