Perversa

This Gainsborough Picture costume drama stars Margaret Lockwood and James Mason with Lockwood playing the title role of The Wicked Lady. If you think this film bear resemblance to Forever Amber you'd be right. But Amber St.Clair is a Girl Scout next to the beautiful and treacherous Lockwood as Barbara Worth.

It all starts with Lockwood coming to live with Roc who is about to be married to the propertied and nice, but rather dull Griffith Jones. Lockwood sees security there and when she sets her cap for Jones he and Roc don't have a prayer.

But after that this minx craves excitement that Jones who is not just a landed squire, but concerned with social issues and ahead of his time that way. Lockwood after losing a precious ruby at cards then impersonates notorious highwayman James Mason and steals it back. Mason catches her and he should have obeyed his first impulse to kill her. But Lockwood uses her charms on him and the dashing Dick Turpin like highwayman is also hooked.

This film really belongs to Lockwood. I've not seen too many people as amoral as Lockwood on the screen. Beautiful and deadly this woman is the equal of other amoral females such as Jane Greer in Out Of The Past and Anne Baxter in All About Eve. Four men who trusted her meet death at her hands.

James Mason also deserves a mention. He's got quite the swagger in him as highwayman Jerry Jackson. Sad in terms of acting is competing with Lockwood who gets the woman's role of a lifetime, but he more than holds his own.

If you like Gainsborough's English costume dramas you'll love The Wicked Woman.

That's the best British film I have ever seen, at least concerning those from the forties, which is a period that I am not particularly fond of. Margaret Lockwood is here absolutely outstanding, terrific as an evil woman who has nothing to envy from Gene Tierney's similar performance in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN. A most possessive woman for sure. I saw it thirty years ago and I have it in my collection. That's a pure jewel, folks. British cinema industry is quite different from the US one. And many movies from this country remain to be discovered, even today.

A real must see.

Wicked Lady is quite the racy little melodrama! For its time, I can imagine it was totally scandalous, but quite tame by today's standards. Margaret Lockwood is delicious as the "bad" Barbara Worth, and James Mason is totally sardonic and witty as her bad boy companion. The times when the two of them are together on screen are by far the most wicked fun (except, of course, when Barbara is contriving some plot to bend everyone around her to her silly will). Honestly, you can see the wheels turning in her head. Her performance and character was the prototype for that queen of all heroines, Scarlet O'Hara. At this time the film was made, English ladies were all atwitter about this genre of Rank Organisations films (of which The Wicked Lady might be the best). I suppose during the war, this type of escapism fantasy must have been just the ticket.

The mid 40s were definitely the richest years for Gainsborough films - Madonna Of The Seven Moons, Love Story, Caravan, The Magic Bow, Millions Like Us, 2000 Women, The Man In Grey, Fanny By Gaslight, and the enticingly thrilling Wicked Lady. Of the main six Gainsborough players, four grace the screen in this latest - Lockwood, Mason, Roc and Kent (Calvert and Granger sitting out). Let's talk about Miss Jean Kent for a moment. Not the main character in The Wicked Lady, but her small part as Jackson's "Doxy" was integral to the plot and to Barbara's actions. Since I've seen the movie, I've noticed a fair bit of dispute over Kent's billing. On the box for the video, she was billed 5th - not bad! At this site, she's last. At the beginning of the movie, she was 8th, and at the end of the movie in the "full" credits list, she didn't even get a mention. Perhaps she was so highly billed on the box just because she *was* Jean Kent, and if some unknown girl had played her part, they would have remained in obscurity forever. The part of Doxy is not dissimilar to her Vittoria from Madonna Of The Seven Moons - the "other woman", the lover of the male lead, who eventually drives the female lead to murder. Though Barbara (Wicked Lady) was obviously a lot more jealous of Kent's charms than Rosanna (Seven Moons) was, and Rosanna's murder was because she thought her Nino was with another woman that wasn't her or Vittoria.

But I digress. The Wicked Lady is a fantastic movie, and it's understandable how it was the highest grosser of the above mentioned. Margaret Lockwood is purely wicked, not even loveable, as Barbara, but she's thoroughly exciting and if you don't hate her you at least have to admire her spunk. 30 year old Patricia Roc is perfectly cast as 19 year old Caroline, all sweetness and innocence, trying to believe for as long as possible that her cousin Barbara is the nice, friendly playmate she had as a child. Barbara comes to visit at the time of Caroline's impending wedding, and it's not long before she's stolen the fiancee and married him herself. And that isn't the worst that the Lady Skelton does - not by a long shot!

I read in Miss Lockwood's autobiography that they had to reshoot the entire film a year later with the only change being higher necklines because their low-cut dresses were deemed far too inappropriate for the censors to allow them an American release. After seeing the original version of the movie, I can see why a few old stuffies might have been a bit shocked - the entire movie absolutely sizzles, and the abundance of cleavage doesn't help cool it down. And that's another reason why I give this 10/10 - it's just too darn HOT! ;-)

The Wicked Lady is a sumptuous tale of excitement, passion, danger and deceit. Margaret Lockwood plays Barbara Skelton, who engages in treachery almost from the outset by stealing her best friend's man. It becomes clear that she is a ruthless character who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, even engaging in highway robbery to enliven her dull existence. Soon she meets a notorious highwayman, Jerry Jackson, and sparks soon begin to fly between the two outlaws! In order to preserve her secret lifestyle, all manner of wickedness ensues. Margaret Lockwood is fantastic as the selfish, devious protagonist and James Mason smolders as the dashing highwayman. This is a wicked treat not to be missed!