Robin Hardy

Born

1929-10-10

Died

2016-07-01

Birthplace

Surrey, England, UK

Biography

Robin St. Clair Rimington Hardy was an English author and filmmaker. His most renowned directorial work and debut feature film, The Wicker Man, has been described as a foundational British folk-horror and "the Citizen Kane of horror movies". The 1973 film has achieved a cult status in the modern day. Before directing features, Robin Hardy began his career in the early 1950s and 60s directing television dramas, commercials, and educational or informational short films for the National Film Board of Canada, and programs like the Esso World Theater. Just before production of The Wicker Man, British Lion Films experienced a high-level management change, being aquired by John Bentley. To pacify suspicious unions and manufacture a false impression of a thriving studio, Bentley immediately greenlit The Wicker Man to prove British Lion was still actively making films. The film is set around May Day fertility rites, which required a springtime shoot, but rushed production made filming take place during the freezing, harsh weather of October and November in 1972 Scotland. To disguise autumn and bare trees, the crew had to wire thousands of fake plastic apple blossoms to branches. Furthermore, actors had to suck on ice cubes right before Hardy called "action" to prevent their breath from steaming in the freezing air. After filming wrapped, management changed again. Bentley sold the company, and incoming executives Michael Deeley and Barry Spikings took over during post-production. Hating the finished product, the new regime butchered the movie down to an 87-minute B-feature and attempted to bury it, with the original negatives "mistakenly" thrown out. Several scenes remain lost, and others destroyed. Hardy's family described the film as the worst thing to happen to them, as the financial failure of The Wicker Man had bankrupted Robin and his wife Caroline. Robin left his wife and children to pursue ambitions in America, while his wife was forced to sell the family house, and eventually divorced him after a four-year absence thinking he was dead. Hardy spent several of the following years tracking down surviving copies and attempted to restore his film the best he could. In the film's incomplete state, it is still considered by many to be a revolutionary film. Despite The Wicker Man's reputation, Hardy would go onto direct a total of only 3 feature films throughout his career (The Wicker Man, The Fantasist, and The Wicker Tree), spending most of his time authoring novels. Robin's final project was a 2011 film adaptation of his novel Cowboys for Christ, which was retitled as The Wicker Tree, and was poorly received. Hardy lived in London and Somerset, and was educated at Bradfield College and later studied art in Paris at institutions including the Beaux-Arts, L'Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, and the ateliers of Matisse, Fernand Léger, and Paul Colin.