Sammi Davis stars as Ursula, a sheltered young pupil, then schoolteacher, who is taken under the wing (sexually and otherwise) by the more sophisticated Winifred (Amanda Donohoe).

Since the age of 3, Ursula has had a fascination with rainbows, and after one rainstorm, she runs off with a suitcase hoping to look for a pot of gold at the end of it.

During her teenage years, Ursula falls into a same-sex romance with her older swimming and gym teacher Winifred Inger, while at the same time, Ursula also begins having romantic feelings for Anton Skrebensky, a student at the nearby boys' high school who plans to enlist in the Army after graduation.

Feeling abandoned and alone after Winifred leaves her to marry Uncle Henry, and Anton goes off to fight in the Second Boer War in South Africa, Ursula decides to restart her life by becoming a schoolteacher.

She also fends off sexual advances by the lecherous headmaster of the school, who uses physical discipline to settle unruly students.

However, after being provoked a few too many times by one belligerent boy who uses a slingshot to pelt her with small stones, Ursula finally loses her temper and violently beats the child with a cane in full view of the class and school staff.

Returning to her family farm a year-and-a-half later in the spring of 1901, Ursula is reunited with Anton who is back from war and wants to rekindle a romance with her.

After having a casual reunion with Winifred, who is married to Uncle Henry and now has a baby, Ursula decides to consummate her romance with Anton.

At the same time, Ursula also begins working with a local miners' union to help out unprivileged workers with salary and securities.

There she finds a telegram from Anton, who informs her he married another woman and has left the country with her for a military post in India.

"[12] In April 1987, Russell said he "had no luck with" raising funding for The Rainbow, though he was hopeful to make a movie of a Lawrence novella, St Mawr.

He signed a three-picture deal with Vestron that included Salome's Last Dance, Lair of the White Worm and The Rainbow.

[15] Vestron wanted names: they hoped Glenda Jackson would play the mother of one of the characters in Women in Love but she was on Broadway at the time.

Charles Dance and Jeremy Irons turned down the role of Davis' father, enabling Russell to cast Christopher Gable.

[16] Russell said Davis "has exactly the same characteristics as the young Glenda Jackson: a totally instinctive ability to identify with the character she is playing, an emotional directness and that undefinable quality that makes the camera love her.

"[1] Russell later said the character of Ursula was "a bit of a problem to bring off because she's a young woman who is fighting hard for her identity and she could be seen as grumbling all the time...but Sammi transcends all that.

[19] Russell offered the role to Alan Bates and Oliver Reed, who both turned it down before David Hemmings accepted.