Robin Hardy

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.