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Wicked Lady (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Second Sight Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (3rd June 2016). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** This boisterous caper features screen legend Faye Dunaway (Chinatown) as the titular lead, who appears alongside an all-star cast including Alan Bates (Far from the Madding Crowd), John Gielgud (Chariots of Fire) and Denholm Elliot (Raiders of the Lost Ark). After seducing and marrying the already betrothed Sir Ralph Skelton (Elliott), Lady Barbara Skelton (Dunaway) finds life very dull, despite her wealth and good fortune. Desperate for excitement and danger she is thrown into the arms of infamous highwayman Jerry Jackson (Bates). Every evening she slips away from home, to join him in his criminal exploits. But how long before her perilous nighttime escapades are discovered?
Video
Second Sight in the UK are releasing this delirious slice of 1980s cheese. A remake of the 1945 bawdy Restoration romp brought to the screen by the journeyman hand of Michael Winner for the commercially minded Cannon Films. Cannon were big studio wannabes who produced endless amounts of misguided trash and the occasional high-minded piece of cinema to please the cineastes. This was one of a number of sleazy costume films they made; see also Mata Hari (1985) and Lady Chatterly’s Lover (1981). Winner had made his name in the '70s with a series of brutal, violent westerns and thrillers like Chato's Land (1971), Scorpio and The Mechanic (both 1972) but had massively raised his directorial profile with Death Wish (1974). By the time he made this 1982 film he was very much the bad boy of mainstream, English language cinema having made the notorious Death Wish II (1981) which had recieved critical approbation but had gone done well with the public. Never a stylist, always a journeyman his directing career ended in the '90s and the old boy passed away in 2013. The Wicked Lady would prove equally controversial and was tied up by the BBFC due to the infamous "thrashing'" scene between Faye Dunaway and Marina Sirtis in which the latter (and the latter only) ends up topless in front of a crowd (including children) whilst being chased and whipped by Dunaway. Winner managed to gain the help of various cultural luminary friends to lobby the BBFC to pass the film uncut, which duly happened but the film languished for a year before seeing release as a result. One of those gliterati - Fay Weldon - claimed Winner had conned them all by showing them a cut version, but showed the BBFC the uncut edition. How does this relatively lavish period piece shape up on this new UK DVD? I compared it to the recent US Blu-ray released by Kino Lorber and it compares fairly well considering it's in standard definition and is obviously taken from the blemish free HD used for the Kino disc. Obviously detail suffers but the print used in pristine condition and given the fact the film was lensed by the late, great Jack Cardiff it looks wonderful and much better than the ancient VHS copies that have been used. Until the Blu-ray came along the best versions available were on the now defunct UK TV station MGM HD so this DVD is very welcome. Colours are as florid and robust as they should be without being overly saturated, and this is a colourful production with plenty of wonderful period costumes and shot on historic UK locations. It's obviously a film made on 35mm so isn't going to have that unnaturally sharp quality modern digital productions can have and there is plenty of grain to be had, although in standard definition it's muted. Black levels are good and I could detect no black crush in patches of darkness during night scenes or in dark clothing; again, this will be due to a decent encode of the excellent HD master used for the fine Blu-ray. The area where this obviously falls down in comparison to the Blu-ray beyond the obviously sharper image, is in contrast. The DVD is duller by a slight margin and consequently there is the odd compression artefact to be found in darker moments. PAL / 1.85:1 / 94'56"
Audio
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono with optional English HOH subtitles At this point in time stereo soundtracks were still not de rigueur, and as such this this film was made in mono. It's a solid, clear track that allows Tony Banks' (Genesis) orchestral score to shine - one of the best aspects of this glorious guilty pleasure. Dialogue is clear and sound effects come through with no issues. Having compared this to the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track on the Blu-ray I do detect signs of compression and the sound level is certainly lower and less robust. However, this Dolby Digital track does the job perfectly well.
Extras
Nothing, which is a shame because a retrospective recounting the 1982 BBFC submissions and the fight Winner put up would have been very interesting. The US Blu-ray only had a trailer by way of an extra. Interestingly, when I first saw this film on UK TV an alternate PG level edit was used with clothed versions of all of the various nude scenes. This would also have been a nice edition.
Overall
This is a cheesy guilty pleasure of the first order with a terrific all-star cast of English character actor stalwarts backing up the token US star. Everyone is having a ball with Winner never missing an opportunity for vulgarity and it's great to see a solid AV presentation, but why have we not had a Blu-ray? This forgotten production will really only appeal to fans and film buffs who will have most likely imported the region 'A' locked Blu-ray which was relatively cheap.
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