Review of The Wicked Lady (1983) by Greg W — 30 Dec 2012

Directed by Michael Winner (alarm bells ringing) and produced by Cannon Films (second alarm bell), this is a remake of Leslie Arliss's 1945 film of the same name which in turn was based on The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton by Magdalen King-Hall.

However, instead of doing a new adaptation of the book, Winner just remake the original film with added sex and nudity. How typical of him. Lady Barbara Skelton (Faye Dunaway) has recently married the rich Sir Ralph Skelton (Denholm Elliott), who was originally to have married Barbara's sister Caroline (Glynis Barber), before Barbara seduced Sir Ralph.

Despite having many riches and a new found social standing, Barbara is bored with it all, and she turns to highway robbery as a thrill. However, she soon meets another highwayman in Jerry Jackson (Alan Bates), who claims HE has the right to rob the main road, but after a while, they team up and commit robberies together.

However, it's not long before the law comes down on them both with force. It's exactly the sort of sleazy filth you would expect from Winner, who had just come off Death Wish 2. You can't imagine this sort of bawdy sexuality happening back then, but Winner just doesn't know when to stop.

It's most infamous scene was a scene where Dunaway and Barber go at each other with horsewhips, which was a big problem for the censors here. If Winner had done a more traditional retelling of the book, it might have worked.