The Beguiled - 1971
One man...seven women...in a strange house!
Director(s)
Don Siegel (as Donald Siegel)
Writer(s)
Thomas Cullinan (novel)
Albert Maltz (as John B. Sherry) and
Irene Kamp (as Grimes Grice)
Producer(s)
Jennings Lang executive producer
Don Siegel producer (as Donald Siegel)
Claude Traverse associate producer
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
Buddy Van Horn - Soldier (as Wayne 'Buddy' Van Horn)
Review by Theo Robertson
The Beguiled (1971)
Despite Everything THE BEGUILED Works Very Well,
THE BEGUILED is indeed a memorable movie , but when you think about it in any great detail this should have been a disaster of a movie
1 ) There are no likable characters . Think about it , Eastwood's anti hero is a bush-wacker while the girls - Some of whom are serious jail bait - are hypocrits . Who are we supposed to be cheering for ?
2 ) Nothing much happens
3 )The downbeat ending . Everyone loves happy endings right ? Just think how regarded THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION wouldn't have been if it wasn't for the feel good factor
4 ) You could see this being marketed as a western when it was released and still being marketed as such every time it's shown on television and all the western fans being disappointed when they find out it's not a western
And yet THE BEGUILED works because of these things . Eastwood is hardly the most versatile actor in the history of Hollywood but he's most impressive here while the supporting cast shine . Don Siegel direction is very restrained , some people might say the directing is flat and they wouldn't be entirely inaccurate and that's by no means a criticism but he does concentrate on a slightly brooding atmosphere
Perhaps the reason this movie works so well is down to the timing of its production . By the early 1970s conservative Hollywood was finally waking up to new ideas and new themes even though there was still reluctance by the studios to go over board . The movie is blatantly about repressed sexual desire but there's no explict sex . Can you imagine this being remade today with Brad Pitt playing the Union soldier who stumbles into the girls school with 19 year old starlets with implants playing 15 year olds ? Now that would be a disaster
As it is THE BEGUILED is a haunting story worthy of Poe or Ambrose Bierce and shouldn't be remade
|
