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The Wicked Lady

For other uses, see The Wicked Lady (disambiguation).

The Wicked Lady
Promotional poster
Directed byLeslie Arliss
Written byLeslie Arliss
additional dialogue
Gordon Glennon
Aimee Stuart
Based onnovel Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton by Magdalen King-Hall
Produced byR. J. Minney
executive
Maurice Ostrer
StarringMargaret Lockwood
James Mason
Patricia Roc
Griffith Jones
Michael Rennie
CinematographyJack E. Cox
Edited byTerence Fisher
Music byHans May
Production
company
Distributed byEagle-Lion Distributors Limited (U.K.)
Universal (U.S.)
Release date
  • 15 November 1945 (1945-11-15)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£900,000[1] or $672,000[2]
Box officeover $1 million (US rentals)[3][4]
£375,000 (UK rentals)[5] or $2,250,000 (UK gross)[6]

The Wicked Lady is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who becomes a highwaywoman for the excitement. It had one of the largest audiences for a film of its period, with an estimated British attendance of 18.4 million seeing it in cinemas, according to a 2004 ranking of the most popular sound films in Britain. In the list, compiled by the British Film Institute for Channel 4, it was placed ninth overall, and was the second-most successful British film, behind only Spring in Park Lane (1948).[7][8]

It was one of the Gainsborough melodramas, a sequence of very popular films made during the 1940s.

The story was based on the 1945 novel Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton by Magdalen King-Hall which, in turn, was based upon the (disputed) events surrounding the life of Lady Katherine Ferrers, the wife of the major landowner in Markyate on the main London–Birmingham road.

The film was loosely remade by Michael Winner, also named The Wicked Lady, in 1983.

  1. ^ "Star dotes on chasing sheep". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. VI, no. 30. New South Wales, Australia. 10 June 1945. p. 38. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "London West End Has Big Pix Sked". Variety. 21 November 1945. p. 19. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Variety (November 1946)". Variety. 1946.
  4. ^ "Ranks $4,000,000 Likely This Year". 13 October 1947. p. 20.
  5. ^ "US Life or Death to Brit Pix", Variety 25 Dec 1946 p 9
  6. ^ "PRODUCER QUITS RANK IN SPLIT OVER POLICY". The New York Times. 24 January 1947. p. 18.
  7. ^ "Features | The Ultimate Film Chart". British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Features | The Ultimate Film | Researching the Chart". British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 August 2024.

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