The Wicked Lady ** (1983, Faye Dunaway, Alan Bates, John Gielgud, Denholm Elliott, Prunella Scales, Oliver Tobias, Glynis Barber, Joan Hickson) – Classic Movie Review 7773

In 1983, director Michael Winner remakes the old 1945 Gainsborough Studios bodice-ripper The Wicked Lady, with all the excesses he was famed for. It is an old-fashioned costume romp spiced up with sex and nudity.

Faye Dunaway is well cast as Lady Barbara Skelton, the 17th-century highwayman wicked lady, and she goes at it wholeheartedly and with straight-faced conviction. Barbara seduces and weds rich Sir Ralph Skelton (Denholm Elliott), whom she despises, and is a lady by day but takes to the roads by night, and is joined by roguish robber Jerry Jackson (Alan Bates), an infamous highwayman, forming a dastardly team. Glynis Barber plays Caroline, who is to wed Sir Ralph until Barbara snatches him away from her, in her first theft of the movie.

Much of the playing entertains, as expected from this rather grand collection of mainly English performers, and, especially, the John Gielgud star cameo as a retainer called Hogarth is fun as usual. But The Wicked Lady fails to get into its stride as an easy-going Tom Jones-style period spoof. And Winner overplays his hand as director and co-writer, working with Leslie Arliss, the writer-director of the original. However, the cinematography by Jack Cardiff, production designs by John Blezard and costume designs by John Bloomfield are lovely and impeccable, and it is filmed on beautiful locations, including North Mymms House, Hertfordshire, England, and Hever Castle, Hever, Kent, England.

It is based on the book Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton by Magdalen King-Hall.

Also in the cast are Prunella Scales, Oliver Tobias, Joan Hickson, Marina Sirtis, Derek Francis, Nicholas Gecks, John Savident, Dermot Walsh, Mark Sinden, Celia Imrie, Helena McCarthy, Mollie Maureen, Hugh Millais, Ewen Solon, David Gant, Marianne Stone, Mark Burns, and Teresa Codling.

The Wicked Lady is directed by Michael Winner, runs 99 minutes, is made by Golan-Globus Productions and London-Cannon Films, is released by Columbia-EMI-Warner (UK) and Cannon Film Distributors through MGM/UA (US), is written by Leslie Arliss and Michael Winner, based on the book Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton by Magdalen King-Hall, is shot by Jack Cardiff, is produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, is scored by Tony Banks, and is designed by John Blezard.

It cost $8,000,000 and took an ignominious $724,912 in the US, adding to Cannon Films’s cash worries.

Michael Winner recalled: ‘To me Faye Dunaway was the most professional, wonderful person. But then she did say in her autobiography that the film with me [The Wicked Lady] was the only one she ever enjoyed. I called her Fayzie.’

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7773

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