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A script written by the acclaimed writer and starring Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward could have been a dream project for filmmaker Robin Hardy while the filming of The Wicker Man over 50 years ago.

Even though today it is revered as a cult horror masterpiece, the extent of turmoil it brought the film-makers has now been revealed in newly discovered correspondence and early versions of the script.

The Storyline of This Classic Film

The 1973 film centers on a devout policeman, portrayed by Edward Woodward, who arrives on a remote Scottish island in search of a lost child, only to encounter mysterious pagan residents who deny the girl was real. the actress appeared as the daughter of a local innkeeper, who seduces the God-fearing officer, with Lee as the pagan aristocrat.

Production Conflict Uncovered

However, the working environment was tense and contentious, the documents show. In a letter to the writer, the director stated: “How dare you handle me like this?”

Shaffer had already made his name with masterpieces like Sleuth, but his typed draft of The Wicker Man reveals Hardy’s brutal cuts to his work.

Extensive crossings-out feature Summerisle’s lines in the final scene, which would have begun: “The child was only a small part – the part that showed. Don’t blame yourself, there was no way for you to know.”

Beyond the Creative Duo

Conflict escalated outside the main pair. A producer commented: “The writer’s skill has been offset by excessive indulgence that impels him to show he was overly smart.”

In a letter to the producers, Hardy complained about the film’s editor, Eric Boyd-Perkins: “I don’t think he appreciates the subject or approach of the film … and feels that he has had enough of it.”

In one letter, Lee referred to the movie as “appealing and mysterious”, even with “dealing with a talkative producer, an underpaid and harassed writer and an overpaid and hostile director”.

Forgotten Documents Uncovered

An extensive correspondence relating to the production was part of six sack-loads of papers forgotten in the loft of the former home of Hardy’s third wife, Caroline. Included were unpublished drafts, visual plans, on-set photographs and financial accounts, many of which reflect the struggles faced by the film-makers.

The director’s children Justin and Dominic, now 60 and 63, used the material for an upcoming publication, called Children of The Wicker Man. It reveals the extreme pressures faced by the director during the making of the movie – from his heart attack to financial ruin.

Family Fallout

At first, the film was a box office flop and, in the aftermath of its failure, Hardy abandoned his wife and his family for a new life in the US. Legal letters reveal his wife as the film’s uncredited executive producer and that Hardy owed her as much as a large sum. She had to sell their house and passed away in the 1980s, aged 51, suffering from addiction, unaware that the project eventually became an international success.

Justin, a Bafta-nominated historian film-maker, described The Wicker Man as “the movie that messed up our family”.

When someone reached out by a woman living in the former family home, asking whether he wished to collect the documents, his first thought was to suggest destroying “the bloody things”.

But then he and his stepbrother Dominic examined the bags and understood the significance of their contents.

Insights from the Documents

Dominic, an art historian, commented: “Every key figure is represented. We discovered the first draft by Shaffer, but with his father’s notes as filmmaker, ‘controlling’ Shaffer’s overexuberance. Due to his legal background, he did a lot of overexplaining and dad just went ‘edit, edit, edit’. They respected each other and clashed frequently.”

Writing the book provided some “closure”, Justin said.

Monetary Hardships

His family never benefited monetarily from the production, he added: “The bloody film earned a fortune for others. It’s unfair. His father accepted five grand. Thus, he missed out on the profits. Christopher Lee never received any money from it as well, despite the fact that he did his role for zero, to get out of his previous studio. Therefore, it was a harsh experience.”