The Beguiled (1971)

While imprisoned in a Confederate girls' boarding school, an injured Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts, causing them to turn on each other, and eventually, on him.

Director:

Don Siegel (as Donald Siegel)

Writers:

Albert Maltz (screenplay) (as John B. Sherry), Irene Kamp (screenplay) (as Grimes Grice)

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	John McBurney
Geraldine Page	...	Martha
Elizabeth Hartman	...	Edwina
Jo Ann Harris	...	Carol
Darleen Carr	...	Doris
Mae Mercer	...	Hallie
Pamelyn Ferdin	...	Amy
Melody Thomas Scott	...	Abigail (as Melody Thomas)
Peggy Drier	...	Lizzie
Patricia Mattick	...	Janie (as Pattye Mattick)
Charlie Briggs	...	1st Confederate Captain (as Charles Briggs)
George Dunn	...	Sam Jefferson
Charles G. Martin	...	2nd Confederate Captain (as Charles Martin)
Matt Clark	...	Scrogins
Patrick Culliton	...	Miles Farnswoth

Storyline

As the costly American Civil War still rages on, a 12-year-old student of the forgotten Miss Martha Farnsworth's Seminary for Young Ladies in warm and humid Mississippi stumbles upon a gravely wounded Union soldier, John McBurney. Taken in to recover from his injuries, the Corporal is imprisoned in a small room inside the mansion, however, before long, the seductive and unwanted guest will manage to take advantage of the female inhabitants' wartime-subdued desires. But is really McBurney in control over the situation?

---

Plot Keywords:

leg amputation | american civil war | southern gothic | union soldier | confederate | 

---

Taglines:

His love... or his life...

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller | War

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

23 January 1971 (Italy)

Also Known As:

El engaño

Filming Locations:

Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,100,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Malpaso Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clint Eastwood and Jo Ann Harris had a love affair that continued well after they made the movie.

---

Goofs

When McB is playing cards the deck has both the pictures (hearts, spades, etc) and the number in the corner. They didn't put #s on cards until 1864 and it was extremely rare to see a deck with them until 20-30 years after the war

---

Quotes

Cpl. John McBurney: Sometimes a man's gotta do things he doesn't particularly like.
Hallie: Not if you're free, you don't. And you white folks ain't killin' each other 'cause you care about us niggers. White mans de same everywhere in this world.

---

Alternate Versions

The leg amputation scene was edited by the censors for the film's original UK cinema release. Later releases were uncut and rated 15.

---

Connections

Referenced in ITV News at Ten: Episode dated 30 June 2017 (2017)

---

Soundtracks

Dove She is a Pretty Bird
(uncredited)
Traditional
Performed by Clint Eastwood

User Reviews

An oddball gem.

Clint Eastwood in a soap opera? You bet! Gothic melodrama is what a real critic would most likely call it. Wounded Yankee soldier Eastwood is rescued from the field by several southern school girls. He finds himself in an isolated all girls school surrounded by young ladies from about 10 years old up to the middle aged school mistress. Kinky! Crushes and jealousy kick in as Eastwood attempts to get as much mileage out of his situation as he can. He's a nasty man, but these are some nasty girls. I remember when this came out at the drive-in. No one really knew what to make of it. A few months later "Dirty Harry" was released and this out of step Clint Eastwood movie just disappeared. That's a shame. It's something really different. Directed by Eastwood's longtime collaborater Don Segal, the film has a highly stylized look and feel to it. It's just plain creepy and that feeling never lets up. There are no good guys or bad guys, just nasty people trying to take advantage of other nasty people who in turn grow nastier and nastier as the movie progresses. It doesn't cover all the ground the book did. (I read it during a tour of jury duty some years ago.) But it moves at a good pace and it's sometimes complicated plot stays reasonable easy to follow. (The book was very hard to keep straight!) Creepy and nasty and very different. Well worth a look, especially by Eastwood fans.