THE WICKED LADY

The film’s star, Margaret Lockwood gives her defining performance as Barbara Worth, a beautiful, wilful woman who refuses to accept the limits of polite society. Marriage to the wealthy Sir Ralph Skelton offers status but little excitement, so Barbara adopts a secret identity as a masked highway robber and enters a dangerous alliance with the infamous criminal Captain Jerry Jackson.

The plot delivers romance and rivalry, but the film’s lasting fascination lies in its charismatic anti-heroine: scheming, transgressive and thrillingly unapologetic. Directed by Leslie Arliss and adapted from Magdalen King-Hall’s novel, this Gainsborough production was a huge box-office success in Britain, as audiences were looking for escape as World War II drew to a close. It spawned a series of period adventures in the ‘bodice-ripping’ mode and transformed its actors into Britain’s first true film stars, a fame that Gainsborough exploited to the full.

While it may not pretend to period authenticity, THE WICKED LADY has much to offer modern audiences: above all, a vivid encounter with a female protagonist whose ambition, sexuality and appetite for risk still feel startlingly bold.

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Text: Josephine Botting