Faye Dunaway and Paul Huntley During A Wig Fitting For The Wicked Lady

''The Wicked Lady'' is a 1983 British-American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Michael Winner Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...

and starring

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

, Alan Bates,

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (19 ...

, and

Hugh Millais Hugh Geoffroy Millais (23 December 1929 – 4 July 2009) was a British author and actor known for his film collaborations with director Robert Altman. Early years Hugh Millais was the son of Raoul Millais (1901–1999) a painter-illustrator, an ...

. It was screened out of competition at the

1983 Cannes Film Festival The 36th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1983. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Narayama Bushiko'' by Shōhei Imamura. In 1983, the new building for the main events of the festival, the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, was inaug ...

. It is a remake of the 1945 film of the same name, which was one of the popular series of

Gainsborough melodramas The Gainsborough melodramas were a sequence of films produced by the British film studio Gainsborough Pictures between 1943 and 1947 which conformed to a melodramatic style.Brooke, Michael. (2014)Gainsborough Melodrama Screenonline British Film Ins ...

Plot

Caroline is to be wed to Sir Ralph and invites her sister Barbara to be her bridesmaid. Barbara seduces Ralph, and marries him herself, but, despite her new wealthy situation, she gets bored and turns to highway robbery for thrills. While on the road she meets a famous highwayman, Jerry Jackson, and they continue as a team, but some people begin suspecting her identity and she risks death if she continues her nefarious activities.

Cast

as Lady Barbara Skelton * Alan Bates as Jerry Jackson *

as Hogarth *

as Sir Ralph Skelton *

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...

as Lady Kingsclere *

Oliver Tobias Oliver Tobias Freitag (born 6 August 1947), known professionally as Oliver Tobias, is a Swiss-born UK-based film, stage, and television actor and director. Biography Born in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of the Austrian-Swiss actor Robe ...

as Kit Locksby *

Glynis Barber Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama '' Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', DCI Grac ...

as Caroline *

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series ''Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number ...

as Aunt Agatha * Helena McCarthy as Moll Skelton *

Mollie Maureen Mollie Maureen (16 August 1904 – 26 January 1987) was an Irish actress who worked mainly in Britain. Life and career Maureen was born Elizabeth Mary Campfield in 1904 in Ireland. Her acting career began in 1939, wherein she acted in a film ent ...

as Doll Skelton *

Derek Francis Derek Francis (7 November 1923 – 27 March 1984) was an English comedy and character actor. Biography Francis was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in '' The Tomb of Lig ...

as Lord Kingsclere *

Marina Sirtis Marina Sirtis (; born 29 March 1955) is a British actress. She is best known for her role as Counselor Deanna Troi on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and four ''Star Trek'' feature films, as well as other appearances ...

as Jackson's Girl *

Nicholas Gecks Nicholas Gecks is a British actor who appeared in Series Four of ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' as his modernising colleague Charles Hearthstoke. Early life Gecks was born in Penang, Malaysia in 1952. Career Gecks starred as Father Mike in the 1983 ...

as Ned Cotterell *

as Uncle Martin *

John Savident John Savident (born 21 January 1938) is a retired British actor, known for his numerous television roles, including his portrayal of Fred Elliott in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1994-2006. He is also known for his performance as ...

as Squire Thornton *

Marc Sinden Marcus Andrew Sinden (born 9 May 1954) is an English actor and film & theatre director and producer. Sinden has worked in film and theatre (mainly in London's West End) as both actor and producer and directed the documentary series ''Great We ...

as Lord Dolman * Mark Burns as King Charles II

Production

Development

Michael Winner bought the rights from

the Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

and took the film to

, who agreed to star in the leading role. Winner then raised finance from the Cannon Group in February 1982.FAYE DUNAWAY: ENJOYING LIFE ON THE SCREEN AGAIN Mann, Roderick. Los Angeles Times 26 Oct 1982: g1. In March John Gielgud and Alan Bates agreed to star and the budget was set at $15 million. Winner called the film "'' Bonnie and Clyde'' in the 17th century."Meryl Streep to star in 'Sophie's Choice' Chicago Tribune 20 Mar 1982: b14. In May Dunaway also announced she would make a second film for Cannon, ''

Duet for One A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo s ...

'' which would be directed by her then-boyfriend Terry O'Neill along with

Dede Allen Dorothea Corothers "Dede" Allen (December 3, 1923 – April 17, 2010) This obituary incorrectly states that she was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was subsequently acknowledged in an online correction. was an American film editor, well-known " ...

.MOVIES: CANNES FILM FESTIVAL THE GLITTER OF CANNES: OSCARS IN THE MAKING? Los Angeles Times 23 May 1982: l30. Menahem Golan of Cannon said that "stars who would never have worked with us before are now happy to sign. We pay them peanuts - but we give them big percentages. Faye, Alan and John were happy to sign for ''The Wicked Lady'' because they have 50% of the film. And we have small overheads, so they'll get their money." Dunaway said, "I really feel it will be a fun picture. A period romp, it's a mixture between ''Bonnie and Clyde'' and ''Tom Jones''."

Shooting

"This is the only film I've ever enjoyed making," said Dunaway on set. "Everything I've done in the past has been so full of anguish, though that's partly my fault, I'm sure." She said the film "came at the right time for me. I needed something light after making ''Mommie Dearest'', which was decidedly harrowing." The actor Mark Burns appeared in ''The Wicked Lady'' as King Charles II, but during the filming director

could not afford to pay him even the Equity union minimum fee. Burns told him to make a donation to the

Police Memorial Trust The Police Memorial Trust is a charitable organisation founded in 1984 and based in London. The trust's objective is to erect memorials to British police officers killed in the line of duty, at or near the spot where they died, thereby acting as ...

, which was run by Winner. Years later, when Burns appeared at a magistrate's court on a charge of speeding, Winner, appearing as a character witness, told the bench that the actor had given "his entire fee" for a major film to the fund and Burns was subsequently discharged.

Censorship

The film included a scene where Faye Dunaway's character has a whip fight with Jackson's Girl (Marina Sirtis). The British censor insisted this scene be cut before the film was given an X certificate. Winner got various colleagues to watch the film and write letters of protest to the censor in support of the film and the scene. These included Derek Malcolm,

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social a ...

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for ...

, and

Fay Weldon Fay Weldon CBE, FRSL (born Franklin Birkinshaw; 22 September 1931 – 4 January 2023) was an English author, essayist and playwright. Over the course of her 55-year writing career, she published 31 novels, including ''Puffball'' (1980), '' Th ...

. Winner's appeal was successful and the film was released uncut.The lady who beat the censor Malcolm, Derek. The Guardian 15 Mar 1983: 17.

Reception

The film received a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

nomination for Faye Dunaway as Worst Actress.Razzie Awards for 1984
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was composed by

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

keyboardist Tony Banks.

References

External links

* *
The Wicked Lady
at Letterbox DVD
The Wicked Lady
at BFI {{DEFAULTSORT:Wicked Lady, The 1983 films 1980s adventure drama films American adventure drama films British adventure drama films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Michael Winner Films set in the 17th century Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Golan-Globus films United Artists films 1983 drama films Cultural depictions of Charles II of England Films with screenplays by Michael Winner Films about highwaymen Films produced by Menahem Golan Films produced by Yoram Globus 1980s American films 1980s British films