The Wicker Man/Trivia

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The Original Film

• Doing It for the Art: Christopher Lee states that he did not earn any money for the project and just did it out of love.
• Executive Meddling: Yes. British Lion execs stated it was the worst film they'd ever seen (particularly Michael Deeley, who told Christopher Lee to his face that it was "one of the ten worst films [Deeley had] ever seen"; Deeley denies saying this, but Lee insists it happened; in his 2008 autobiography, Blade Runners, Deer Hunters And Blowing The Bloody Doors Off, Deeley referred to Lee as "chief whiner", and said he had "paranoia"), edited the film and released it with no advertising. Fortunately, Roger Corman saved an unedited copy.
  • The company's advertising executives were appalled by the film's ending, and wanted Anthony Shaffer and Robin Hardy to re-shoot the scene, suggesting a sudden rainstorm which would douse the wicker man's flames, and save Sergeant Howie's life. They refused.
• Fake Nationality: None of the four leads are Scottish. Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee are English (or, unfortunately, were, in Woodward's case); Britt Ekland is Swedish; Diane Cilento was Australian; and Ingrid Pitt was Polish.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Sergeant Howie is.... Breaker Morant (Edward Woodward plays both roles extremely well, but the contrast between the characters is jarring).
• Romance on the Set: The film's writer, Anthony Shaffer, and actress Diane Cilento (whom, at the time, was on the verge of divorcing from Sean Connery) met during filming, and began a relationship that would last until Shaffer's 2001 death. Cilento returned to her native Queensland in 1975, and Shaffer went with her. They married a decade later.

The Remake

• Creator Backlash: Nicolas Cage "'I might have known that that movie was meant to be absurd."