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A script crafted by the acclaimed writer and starring Christopher Lee and the lead actor could have been a dream project for director Robin Hardy while the filming of The Wicker Man over half a century ago.

Even though it is now revered as a cult horror masterpiece, the extent of misery it brought the production team is now uncovered in newly discovered letters and early versions of the script.

The Plot of The Wicker Man

The 1973 film revolves around a devout policeman, portrayed by Edward Woodward, who travels on an isolated Scottish isle in search of a missing girl, but finds sinister local pagans who claim she ever existed. the actress was cast as an innkeeper’s sexually liberated daughter, who tempts the God-fearing officer, with Christopher Lee as the pagan aristocrat.

Production Conflict Uncovered

But the creative atmosphere was frayed and fractious, the documents show. In a message to the writer, Hardy wrote: “How dare you treat me like this?”

The screenwriter had already made his name with masterpieces like Sleuth, but his typed draft of The Wicker Man shows the director’s harsh edits to the screenplay.

Heavy edits include the aristocrat’s dialogue in the final scene, which would have begun: “The child was but the tip of the iceberg – the part that showed. Don’t blame yourself, there was no way for you to know.”

Apart from Writer and Director

Conflict escalated beyond the main pair. A producer commented: “The writer’s skill has been offset by a self-indulgence that impels him to show he was too clever by half.”

In a note to the producers, the director complained about the film’s editor, the editing specialist: “I don’t think he likes the theme or style of the picture … and feels that he has had enough of it.”

In one letter, Christopher Lee described the film as “alluring and enigmatic”, despite “dealing with a talkative producer, an underpaid and harassed writer and an overpaid and hostile director”.

Lost Documents Uncovered

A large collection of letters about the film was among six sack-loads of documents left in the loft of the former home of Hardy’s third wife, his wife. Included were unpublished drafts, visual plans, on-set photographs and budget records, many of which reflect the struggles experienced by the film-makers.

The director’s children his two sons, currently in their sixties, have drawn on these documents for an upcoming publication, titled Children of The Wicker Man. It reveals the extreme pressures on the director throughout the production of the movie – from his heart attack to financial ruin.

Personal Consequences

At first, the movie was a box office flop and, in the aftermath the disappointment, Hardy left his wife and his family for a new life in the US. Court documents reveal Caroline as an unacknowledged producer and that Hardy owed her up to £1m in today’s money. She had to sell the family home and passed away in 1984, aged 51, battling addiction, unaware that the project eventually became an international success.

His son, an acclaimed documentary maker, described The Wicker Man as “the film that messed up our family”.

When he was contacted by a woman living in the former family home, asking whether he wanted to collect the documents, his initial reaction was to propose destroying “the bloody things”.

But then he and his brother examined the bags and realised the significance of their contents.

Insights from the Documents

His brother, an art historian, commented: “All the big players are in there. We found an original script by Shaffer, but with dad’s annotations as filmmaker, ‘containing’ the writer’s excess. Because he was formerly a barrister, Shaffer tended to overwrite and dad just went ‘edit, edit, edit’. They sort of loved each other and clashed frequently.”

Writing the book has brought some “closure”, the son said.

Financial Struggles

His family did not profit monetarily from the production, he explained: “The bloody film earned a fortune for other people. It’s beyond a joke. Dad accepted a small fee. So he never received the profits. Christopher Lee also did not get payment from it as well, despite the fact he performed his role for zero, to leave Hammer [Horror films]. Therefore, it’s been a very unkind film.”