Beer on DVD no.52
The Wicker Man
Everything is not what it seems in this film, initially released in 1973
as a B-feature to Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” with Julie Christie.
A devoutly Christian police sergeant Neil Howie (a vulnerable Edward
Woodward) from the mainland flies in by seaplane to investigate the
alleged disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison, the
postmistress’s daughter, from a remote Hebridean island which for a
century or more has been in the stewardship of agronomist Lord
Summerisle (Christopher Lee but not creepy). The less than
co-operative locals act as though Rowan never existed. Under their laird
in the previous century the islanders had reverted to pagan beliefs with
assorted fertility rites that, in most seasons, favoured the apples
which have been the island’s staple export.
Most of the shooting took place in breathtaking scenery in and around
Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway - no filming actually
occurred on an island! The island pub, actually the Ellangowan Hotel at
Creetown just off the A75 (interiors) and Cally Estate Offices,
Gatehouse of Fleet (exterior) is called, not too surprisingly, as the
plot unfurls, the Green Man, and it’s where our sergeant stays for B &
B.
Pub entertainment: there is the "funniest, corniest, creepiest and
amateur-night pub scene in Brit-flicks.” (Time Out), and to put it
mildly, ribaldry with the landlord’s daughter Willow played scorchingly
by Brit Eklund (they had to dub-in a Scottish voice for her, in
post-production) It’s all too much for our Sergeant Howie who scuttles
off quickly to tuck himself up for what he thinks will be an early
night. If you didn’t know how to spell “phwoar” you do now. The
inhabitants copulate
openly in the fields. The island’s schoolchildren with their
mistress Miss Rose (Diane Cilento) are steeped in paganism, too, much to
the sergeant’s perturbation.
The islanders include children as part of the May
Day celebrations, teach children of the
phallic association of the maypole,
and place toads in their mouths to cure sore throats. The May Day
procession sees Christopher Lee in drag looking passably like Cher!
There was a re-make 2006 re-make with Nicolas Cage set in the US but it
bombed. The 1973 trailer can be seen on YouTube but you aren’t
getting any more spoilers. You should be able to buy a basic disc new
for under a tenner, used from £2 on Music Magpie, director's cut or blu-ray
for a bit more. Finally, rest assured that no living animals perished in
the final scene.
Warner Brothers’ 2006 remake was nominated for five 2006 Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Nicolas Cage), Worst Screenplay, Worst Remake or Rip-off and Worst Screen Couple (Nicolas Cage and His Bear Suit).
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