The Wicked Lady (1983) Cannon/Comedy-Drama-Adventure RT: 98 minutes Rated R (language, violence and gunplay, nudity, sexual content) Director: Michael Winner Screenplay: Michael Winner and Leslie Arliss Music: Tony Banks Cinematography: Jack Cardiff Release date: October 28, 1983 (US) Cast: Faye Dunaway, Alan Bates, John Gielgud, Denholm Elliott, Prunella Scales, Oliver Tobias, Glynis Barber, Joan Hickson, Helena McCarthy, Mollie Maureen, Derek Francis, Marina Sirtis, Nicholas Gecks, Hugh Millais, John Savident, Dermot Walsh, Marc Sinden, Glynis Brooks, Mark Burns, Teresa Codling. Box Office: $724,912 (US)
Rating: ***
I remember seeing the preview for the comedic period piece The Wicked Lady before 10 to Midnight (circa March ’83) and thinking it looked pretty good. When it finally hit theaters later that year, it didn’t open in any of my area theaters. I tried watching it on cable TV a couple of times the following year, but always fell asleep about a half hour into it. That’s not a reflection on the movie; it’s more of a reflection on how tired I usually was during the school year.
I didn’t actually see The Wicked Lady in its entirety until this past weekend. As a longtime fan of anything related to Cannon and Team Golan-Globus, I should be ashamed I put it off so long. It’s a good movie. Faye Dunaway (Mommie Dearest) stars in this witty, bawdy period romp as the bored wife of a wealthy landowner who turns to highway robbery for excitement. It’s a remake of the 1945 movie starring Margaret Lockwood and James Mason. I can promise you, sight unseen, that the original didn’t have as much nudity and bodice-ripping as the 80s version. There are boobs aplenty in The Wicked Lady and while it shouldn’t be the only reason to see it, it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Dunaway plays Barbara, a selfish, manipulative 17th century woman invited to serve as bridesmaid at the wedding of younger sister Caroline (Barber, Edge of Sanity) to Sir Ralph Skelton (Elliott, Raiders of the Lost Ark). It doesn’t take her long to seduce Ralph and marry him herself. However, her newfound wealth comes at a steep price. Her new life in the English countryside is boring.
Unable to convince Ralph to move to London, she seeks other pursuits. After losing a family heirloom in a game of cards, Barbara poses as notorious highwayman Captain Jackson to steal it back from Lady Kingsclere (Scales, Fawlty Towers) on a nearby road. Deciding she likes the danger and thrills involved in such an enterprise, she does it a few more times and bumps right into the real Captain Jackson (Bates, King of Hearts). They become lovers and partners-in-crime and do quite well until something goes horribly wrong and some, like pious, Bible-quoting house servant Hogarth (Gielgud, Arthur), begin to suspect her dual identity. How long will she be able to get away with her nefarious deeds? To what lengths will she go to conceal them? Uh, there’s a reason it’s called The Wicked Lady.
Meanwhile, Caroline takes up with Kit Locksby (Tobias, Arabian Adventure), a young man that caught Barbara’s eye at the wedding reception. There are romantic complications in The Wicked Lady involving the two couples.
I like how director/co-writer Michael Winner (Death Wish) blends adventure, sex farce and costume drama. He has a real eye for period detail with the costumes and coaches, manors and manners, villages with residents dancing around maypoles, etc. Dunaway is a sight to behold, especially when she’s decked out in full highway robber gear- i.e. mask, pistol and whip at the ready. She camps it up very nicely in The Wicked Lady, bringing a bit of her version of Joan Crawford to the role. There’s a scene in the final act where she gets into a fight with another woman (Sirtis, Star Trek: The Next Generation) at a public hanging. Out comes the whip and shreds the woman’s top so her breasts are visible to the crowd of stunned onlookers. Come on, who doesn’t love a good girl fight?
In general, the whole cast does a good job, especially Bates and Elliott. As an adventure, it’s not as rousing as one would hope, but this doesn’t hurt the movie in a noticeable way. It’s a fun, campy movie that stumbles a bit here and there. Some might feel the conclusion is a cinematic flip-off, but I think it’s the ending The Wicked Lady calls for. Remember, she’s wicked, not nice.
