 When Richard Burton (I) (qv) became a superstar, he insisted on  casting his friends from his days at the Old Vic and West End  (Londons equivalent of Broadway). That is why  Claire Bloom (I) (qv), who is clearly too old to be a teenager,  was cast as Nan Perry. Other friends of Burtons cast in the film  included the great stage actor Sir Michael Hordern (qv) and  Robert Hardy (I) (qv).