The Beguiled (1971)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Thomas Cullinan (novel)
Albert Maltz (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 May 1971 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

One man...seven women...in a strange house!

Plot:

While imprisoned in a Confederate girls boarding school, a Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts.

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Civil War | Yankee | Boarding School | Jealousy

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Cpl. John McBurney
Geraldine Page	...	Martha Farnsworth
Elizabeth Hartman	...	Edwina Dabney
Jo Ann Harris	...	Carol
Darleen Carr	...	Doris
Mae Mercer	...	Hallie
Pamelyn Ferdin	...	Amelia ('Amy')
Melody Thomas Scott	...	Abigail (as Melody Thomas)
Peggy Drier	...	Lizzie
Patricia Mattick	...	Janie (as Pattye Mattick)
Charlie Briggs	...	1st Confederate Captain
George Dunn	...	Sam Jefferson
Charles Martin	...	2nd Confederate Captain
Matt Clark	...	Scrogins
Patrick Culliton	...	Soldier

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1971) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (1989) (cut) | UK:X | Singapore:M18 | Spain:13 | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) | USA:R (certificate #22657) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation - State Highway 75, Geismer, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Jennings Lang

Trivia:

During the making of this film, Clint Eastwood directed his very first film, a behind the scenes look at his director Don Siegel at work called The Beguiled: The Storyteller (1971).

Quotes:

Cpl. John McBurney: I've just been thinking about all the advantages a one-legged man has. He saves on socks. He doesn't have to worry about trimming as many toenails... fewer corns and bunions. I've been contemplating asking her to cut off the other one.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Eastwood on Eastwood (1997) (TV)

Great Actress Roles

Another well done moral ambiguity pieces where the anti-hero makes it hard to decide who to root for.

If nothing else "The Beguiled" silenced anyone who said there were no good parts for actresses in movies-at least in 1971. There were four excellent parts for actresses in this film and all were well cast and well executed.

Pamelyn Ferdin did a fine job as Amy and would go on to play "Wanda June". This must have been the first time an adult male box office star shared an extended kiss with a twelve-year-old girl on camera, wonder if there was much controversy about this at the time. It was probably Polanski's favorite scene. Given the fate of Amy's turtle "Randolph", it is no surprise that Ferdin grew up to be a hardcore animal rights activist.

Geraldine Page was likewise excellent, playing a complex character with just the right amount of restraint. It is interesting that she died just three days after Elizabeth Hartman committed suicide (throwing herself through a fifth floor window) as they had also worked together in "You're a Big Boy Now".

Hartman (who looks like she could be Blair Brown's sister) was wonderful as Edwina and should have gotten an Oscar (no other performance was even close that year), but given what we now know about her you wonder just how much of her performance was a studied effort and how much just came from inside her. Edwina shows such raw pain it is difficult to watch. Like Marilyn Monroe's incredible performance in "The Misfits", the viewer is probably seeing a whole lot of her own demons in the character she is playing.

Finally there is Jo Ann Harris who is stunningly perfect as the flirty Carol. For my money Harris was the sexiest actress of the 1970's, combining sensuality with intelligence and humor. She was the best reason to watch the "Most Wanted" television series and the only reason to watch "Wild Wild West Revisited". Hard to believe that someone who could bring all that to the screen never became a big star.