The Nightcomers 4K (1971)

There were worse directors in the 1970s than Michael Winner, but probably none with such a high profile who courted controversy so often and who frequently had major studio talent at his disposal. A typical Winner work from that period is THE NIGHTCOMERS, which Studio Canal are releasing in a new 4K restoration on UHD, Blu-ray and Digital as part of their cult classics line.

THE NIGHTCOMERS is a prequel to the Henry James story (actually more of a novella) The Turn of the Screw, which was filmed with great success as THE INNOCENTS in 1961 by Jack Clayton. Part of the reason both that film and the book it’s based on work so well is because so much of what happens is not explained and is, essentially, unknowable. What THE NIGHTCOMERS sets out to do is explain everything which, as well as being redundant, it doesn’t do half as well as it probably could.

When the parents of Flora (Verna Harvey) and Miles (Christopher Ellis) are killed in a car accident, they are left alone at remote Bly Manor with only the cook (Thora Hird), governess Miss Jessel (Stephanie Beacham) and handyman Peter Quint (Marlon Brando) for company. Jessel and Quint are engaged in a sado-masochistic relationship that’s witnessed by the children and which they then reproduce in their play, which is where everything starts to go really wrong.

Part of the problem with THE NIGHTCOMERS is that you know what’s going to happen, but that would still have left space for an interesting story that could have played with the ideas of 'were the children / weren’t they affected by the behaviour of Quint and Jessel' and indeed what exactly it was that the two adults got up to. The film might also have worked better had it been told more from the children's point of view. Unfortunately with the casting of Marlon Brando in the lead, THE NIGHTCOMERS instead veers dangerously into becoming The Peter Quint Show. There’s at least one lengthy sequence where the actor has obviously been allowed to go ‘full Marlon’ and while it is, as Kim Newman says in his extra on here, an acting masterclass, it doesn’t really belong in a film like this. 

It’s also hard to accept why Stephanie Beacham’s Miss Jessel Hooks up with Quint or takes part in his bizarre sex games as she seems to reap little benefit from it. Beacham is far better in the scenes without Brando, where she delivers a more nuanced, sympathetic performance. The child actors are rather stilted and it’s obvious Winner’s forte was not in directing children.

Studio Canal’s 4K disc comes with a new 19 minute Kim Newman talking head piece which is very informative. Carried over from the Imprint release is a 29 minute featurette of interviews with surviving crew members (including SFX ace John Richardson and first assistant director Michael Dryhurst) and if you’re looking for on-set gossip about Mr Winner this is the place to go. You also get a video essay from Kat Ellinger on film interpretations of Turn of the Screw (19 minutes) and two commentary tracks. Contrary to what Kat Ellinger says in hers there is no Michael Winner commentary on this disc so hang on to your Kino region A Blu-ray if that’s a favourite (if nothing else Winner's commentaries do tend to be...er...winners). There’s also a very informative ‘nuts and bolts making of’ commentary from Alain Silver and Jim Ursini. Finally there are the usual trailers and the disc comes with four art cards. 

Michael Winner’s THE NIGHTCOMERS is out in a new 4K restoration from Studio Canal on UHD, Blu-ray and Digital on Monday 27th April 2026

 

The Wicked Lady (1983)

"Not quite as historically accurate as CARRY ON DICK"

Where to start with Michael Winner’s remake of THE WICKED LADY for Cannon Films? For many the words ‘Winner’ and ‘Cannon’ in the same sentence will be (more than) enough. The 1945 version was panned by the critics on release, made a star of Margaret Lockwood, and was a huge financial success for Gainsborough Pictures. Over the years it has come to be regarded as a bit of a classic of a bodice-ripper, with Lockwood’s cleavage being deemed too racy for the American audience who had a more covered-up version shot for them. 

Michael Winner’s THE WICKED LADY is not a classic of anything.

"Don't worry, you won't be in this film for much longer"

That doesn’t mean you won’t have fun with it, though. Jack Cardiff’s photography is excellent, the locations are great and Winner has put together an interesting cast. Sadly, that cast isn’t given the best direction, the framing of shots doesn’t have the best direction, and all those naked young ladies running around have I presume had some kind of direction. But not the best.

We’re in a slightly bizarre version of seventeenth century England where normally single-firing muskets can shoot several times without needing reloading, rich men and women wear the most enormous hats, and naked girls come running right at the screen if Michael Winner’s name appears.

For goodness' sake, Michael...

Glynis Barber plays Caroline, except for the bits where she has a stand-in. You’ll be able to tell these because the shots are filmed from what Michael Winner thinks is far enough away (it isn’t) and because we keep cutting to the stand-in’s much bigger breasts and then back to poor old Glynis obviously with her bra still on.

Caroline is getting married to Ralph (Denholm Elliott). To celebrate this union she books an overdressed pantomime dame to come and overact in a melodramatic manner whilst wearing a variety of outrageous over the top outfits that can barely fit inside a carriage, presumably as after-wedding entertainment. Faye Dunaway arrives instead but nobody seems to notice. 

"I'm the Wicked Lady!" "Oh no you're not!" "Oh yes I…" etc

Soon wicked Faye has seduced Ralph with the old ‘I’ve fallen off my horse’ routine and is enjoying the life of a posh wife, which includes putting up with dotty old Joan Hickson (mouthing her own dialogue I suspect) and manservant John Gielgud (you can almost see the tears in his eyes when he’s not almost but not quite successfully looking for the odd cue card). 

When Prunella Scales wins Faye’s brooch in a card game, and Winner’s use of repetitive voice-over reminds us of facts we were only told a couple of minutes ago, Faye decides to dress up as a highwayman using yet another outfit she must have brought with her in a massive furniture lorry that has to be parked around the back of the building, and off she goes to get it back.

Michael Winner attempts 'interesting' shot. Joan Crawford looks on.

Thus her adventures in Michael Winner land get underway, including hooking up with highwayman Alan Bates, whipping a topless Marina Sirtis (all uncut in this version for those ‘sophisticates’ among you), slowly poisoning John Gielgud (Gielgud Still Lives! should ideally be shouted out regularly during viewings of this), and having a final scene of which Joan Crawford would have been proud and extremely envious. 

Once again Mr Winner effortlessly emphasises the most important component of this scene

Second Sight’s disc comes with no extras, but to be honest with all that going on you really don’t need any. THE WICKED LADY is quite possibly the most fun you can have with a Michael Winner film. It’s much funnier than his comedies and no doubt the inspiration for numerous late-night drinking games. If not then it should be. Like I said, the cast is great but they aren’t reigned in at all, with Dunaway in particular so over the top (emulating her hairstyles in many scenes, in fact) that it’s impossible to take anything she says or does seriously. Definitely one to watch over and over again. With the right sort of friends, of course, or they won’t be your friends anymore. 

Michael Winner's version of THE WICKED LADY is out on DVD from Second Sight on Monday 4th July 2016