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A screenplay crafted by Anthony Shaffer 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 more than half a century ago.

Although it is now celebrated as a cult horror masterpiece, the extent of turmoil it brought the production team is now uncovered in previously unpublished correspondence and script drafts.

The Storyline of This Classic Film

The 1973 film revolves around a devout policeman, played by Edward Woodward, who arrives on a remote Scottish island looking for a missing girl, but finds mysterious pagan residents who deny the girl was real. Britt Ekland was cast as the daughter of a local innkeeper, who tempts the religious policeman, with Lee as Lord Summerisle.

Creative Tensions Uncovered

But the creative atmosphere was frayed and contentious, according to the letters. In a letter to the writer, the director wrote: “How dare you handle me like this?”

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

Extensive crossings-out include Summerisle’s lines in the ending, which would have begun: “The girl was only a small part – the visible element. Don’t blame yourself, there was no way you could have known.”

Beyond Writer and Director

Conflict escalated outside the main pair. One of the producers commented: “Shaffer’s talent was marred by a self-indulgence that impels him to prove himself too clever by half.”

In a letter to the production team, the director expressed frustration about the film’s editor, Eric Boyd-Perkins: “I believe he likes the subject or style of the film … and feels that he is tired of it.”

In one letter, Lee described the movie as “alluring and mysterious”, despite “having to cope with a talkative producer, a stressed screenwriter and a well-paid but difficult director”.

Forgotten Documents Found

An extensive correspondence relating to the production was part of six sack-loads of papers forgotten in the attic of the former home of the director’s spouse, Caroline. Included were unpublished drafts, storyboards, production photos and financial accounts, which reflect the challenges faced by the film-makers.

The director’s children Justin and Dominic, currently in their sixties, used these documents for a forthcoming book, called Children of The Wicker Man. The book uncovers the intense stress faced by Hardy throughout the production of the movie – from his heart attack to financial ruin.

Personal Fallout

At first, the movie was a box office flop and, following of its failure, Hardy abandoned his wife and his family for a fresh start in America. Legal letters reveal his wife as the film’s uncredited executive producer and that Hardy was indebted to her as much as £1m in today’s money. She was forced to sell their house and passed away in the 1980s, in her fifties, battling alcoholism, unaware that the project eventually became a global hit.

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

When he was contacted by a resident who had moved into his mother’s old house, inquiring if he wanted to collect the sacks of papers, his initial reaction was to propose burning “the bloody things”.

But then he and his stepbrother Dominic opened up the bags and understood the importance of what they held.

Insights from the Papers

Dominic, an art historian, commented: “Every key figure are in there. 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 his father just went ‘edit, edit, edit’. They respected each other and hated each other.”

Writing the book provided some “resolution”, the son stated.

Financial Struggles

His family never benefited financially from the film, he explained: “The bloody film earned so much money for others. It’s beyond a joke. His father accepted five grand. Thus, he missed out on the profits. Christopher Lee also did not get any money from it as well, despite the fact he performed his role for zero, to get out of Hammer [Horror films]. Therefore, it was a harsh experience.”