The Arts In Berwick -- Film
Sex and Violence on Holy Island

Film director Roman Polansky first used the island to make Cul de Sac (1966).

Donald Pleasance plays a transvestite married to a nymphomaniac menaced by two gangsters cut off by the tide. A comedy, it was a thoroughly unpleasant experience for all to make, Francoise Dorleac collapsing in the freezing water when Polanski sadistically demanded retakes of the nude bathing scene.

There was more nudity in Polanski's Macbeth (1972), funded by Playboy and also shot on the Island. A company spokesman though, assured worried residents that Lady Macbeth had been fully clothed while on their island. Two years later the Council's Health Committee deplored that a "sexy film starring Judge Dredd" was to be filmed on the island. On that occasion Polanski was not responsible.


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