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A script penned by the acclaimed writer and featuring a horror icon and Edward Woodward was expected to be a dream project for director Robin Hardy during the production of The Wicker Man more than 50 years ago.

Even though it is now celebrated as a cult horror masterpiece, the extent of turmoil it caused the film-makers is now revealed in previously unpublished correspondence and early versions of the script.

The Plot of This Classic Film

This 1973 movie revolves around a devout policeman, portrayed by Edward Woodward, who arrives on a remote Scottish island looking for a lost child, only to encounter sinister local pagans who claim she ever existed. Britt Ekland appeared as an innkeeper’s sexually liberated daughter, who seduces the God-fearing officer, with Lee as Lord Summerisle.

Production Tensions Revealed

However, the working environment was tense and contentious, the documents show. In a message to Shaffer, the director stated: “How could you treat me like this?”

Shaffer was already famous with masterpieces such as Sleuth, but his script of The Wicker Man reveals the director’s harsh edits to his work.

Extensive crossings-out include the aristocrat’s dialogue in the final scene, originally starting: “The child was only a small part – the part that showed. Do not reproach yourself, it was impossible you could have known.”

Beyond Writer and Director

Conflict escalated outside the main pair. A producer commented: “Shaffer’s talent was marred by a self-indulgence that impels him to show he was too clever by half.”

In a letter to the producers, the director complained about the editor, the editing specialist: “I don’t think he appreciates the theme or approach of the picture … and thinks that he has had enough of it.”

In a correspondence, Christopher Lee referred to the movie as “alluring and mysterious”, despite “having to cope with a garrulous producer, an underpaid and harassed writer and an overpaid and hostile director”.

Forgotten Documents Uncovered

An extensive correspondence relating to the film was part of six sack-loads of papers left in the loft of the former home of the director’s spouse, his wife. There were also previously unseen scripts, visual plans, on-set photographs and financial accounts, many of which reflect the challenges experienced by the team.

Hardy’s sons his two sons, currently in their sixties, have drawn on the material for an upcoming publication, titled Children of The Wicker Man. The book uncovers the intense stress faced by the director throughout the making of the film – from his heart attack to financial ruin.

Personal Fallout

At first, the movie was a box office flop and, in the aftermath of its failure, Hardy abandoned his spouse and their children for a new life in America. Court documents reveal his wife as an unacknowledged producer and that Hardy was indebted to her as much as a large sum. She was forced to sell their house and died in the 1980s, aged 51, battling addiction, never knowing that the project later turned into a global hit.

Justin, an acclaimed documentary maker, described The Wicker Man as “the movie that ruined our family”.

When he was contacted by a woman who had moved into his mother’s old house, inquiring if he wanted to retrieve the documents, his initial reaction was to suggest destroying “all of it”.

But afterward he and his brother examined the bags and understood the significance of what they held.

Insights from the Documents

Dominic, a scholar, commented: “All the big players is represented. We found the first draft by the writer, but with dad’s annotations as director, ‘containing’ Shaffer’s overexuberance. Due to his legal background, Shaffer did a lot of overexplaining and dad just went ‘cut, cut, cut’. They loved each other and clashed frequently.”

Writing the book has brought some “resolution”, the son stated.

Monetary Struggles

The family did not profit financially from the film, he added: “The bloody film earned a fortune for others. It’s unfair. Dad agreed to take five grand. Thus, he missed out on any of the upside. The actor never received payment from it either, although he performed his role for no pay, to leave his previous studio. Therefore, it’s been a harsh experience.”