The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man is a cult 1973 British film containing thriller, horror and musical elements, directed by Robin Hardy, written by Anthony Shaffer and starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Britt Ekland. Cilento subsequently married Shaffer.

Problematic release

The film was produced at a time of crisis in the British film industry. The studio in charge of production, 'British Lion films' was in financial trouble and was bought out by millionaire businessman John Bentley. In order to convince the unions that he wasn't about to asset-strip the company, Bentley needed to get a film into production quickly. This meant that The Wicker Man, a film set during early summer, was actually filmed in October; in order to look convincing, artificial leaves and blossom had to be glued to trees in many scenes.

Related Topics:
John Bentley - Unions - Asset-strip - October

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Christopher Lee was extremely keen to get the film made; he and others worked on the production without pay. By the time of the film's completion the studio had been bought out by Michael Deeley. At a private screening, he described the film as one of the worst 10 films he'd ever seen. Cuts were made and a copy of the film was sent to American film producer Roger Corman in Hollywood to make a judgement of how to market the film in the USA. In Britain, the film was cut again and eventually released as part of a double bill. Despite Lee's claims that the cuts had butchered the film's continuity, the film met with critical acclaim and won first prize in the 1974 Festival of Fantastic Films in Paris. Sometime thereafter, the original negatives and the only print of the first cut of the film were 'lost'.

Related Topics:
Michael Deeley - American - Producer - Roger Corman - Hollywood - Continuity - 1974 - Paris

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The two-disc edition of the DVD includes two versions. The film as it was originally released is an 87-minute cut. A partially restored version (which contains scenes recovered from a videotape of the version sent to Roger Corman) runs 99 minutes.

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