The Wicker Tree tripped over power cables on set. Although very disappointed, Hardy gave the role intended for Lee to Graham McTavish, the actor who had originally been cast as Beame, the Morrisons' butler. Clive Russell plays Beame instead. Lee is still in the film, making a brief cameo appearance as the unnamed "Old Gentleman" who acts as Lachlan's mentor in a flashback. Robin Hardy has stated that fans of "The Wicker Man" will recognise this character as Lord Summerisle, but Lee himself has contradicted this, stating that they are two unrelated characters. Joan Collins was originally set to play Lady Delia Morrison
The Wicker Man by critics. Film magazine "Cinefantastique" described it as "The "Citizen Kane" of horror movies", and in 2004 "Total Film" magazine named "The Wicker Man" the sixth greatest British film of all time. It also won the 1978 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film, the burning Wicker Man scene was No. 45 on Bravo's "100 Scariest Movie Moments", and during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony the film was included as part of a sequence that celebrated British cinema. In 2013, a copy of the original U.S. theatrical version was digitally restored and released. In 1989, Shaffer wrote a script treatment