Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7008 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-06-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Synopsis
This bizarre Gothic Western, made the year before Clint Eastwood's equally eerie Play Misty For Me, makes one wonder what was happening in the actor's personal life during this period. Set in the Deep South during the Civil War, the film stars Eastwood as John McBurney, a severely wounded soldier who is near death when discovered by a teenage girl. She takes him to the mansion that serves as her boarding school, where he slowly begins to regain his health under the care of headmistress Martha Farnsworth (Geraldine Page) and the dozen or so girls who live there. As McBurney gets better, he begins to charm the girls, all of whom are starved for affection because of the war's claim on their men. At length, powerful undercurrents of jealousy saturate the atmosphere as the girls, and even the headmistress, begin to vie for McBurney's attention. He first becomes involved with one of the oldest of the girls, Edwina Dabney (Elizabeth Hartman), but ultimately finds it difficult to resist the charms of some of her schoolmates. His promiscuity becomes his undoing. A fascinating mixture of eroticism and horror, The Beguiled is perhaps the most uncharacteristic of either Don Siegel's or Eastwood's career; its evocation of castration anxiety provides an interesting angle on the dark side of these tough-guy filmmakers. Eastwood gives one of his best performances, and Page and the ill-starred Elizabeth Hartman are superb.

Customer Reviews

The Western Goes Gothic.
There have been many strange Westerns in that genres history, but none that I can recall being quite so strange as "The Beguiled". I watched this film many years ago as part of a film studies course. I recall thinking afterwards "What on Earth was that all about". How was I to write an essay on it. Well I did but I doubt it made much sense. But one thing was absolutely certain, I remembered it vividly. It is one of those films like "Night of the Hunter" that haunts your imagination. There has been nothing like it before or since. The closest film to it is possibly Rob Reiner's "Misery" based on Stephen King's novel.

The film is set near the close of the American Civil war. A badly injured Yankee soldier played by Clint Eastwood is rescued by a 12 year old girl from a Louisiana boarding school. He is taken there to recover from his wounds. Initially the staff and pupils are frightened but as he gets better he charms them all, one by one. This leads to jealousy, deceit and eventual tragedy.

The director Don Siegal collaborated with Clint Eastwood on four other films. "Coogans Bluff", "Dirty Harry", "Two Mules for Sister Sarah" and "Escape from Alcatraz". All admirable films but they bear little similarity to this film, and in my opinion are nowhere near as good. Eastwood's "Play Misty for Me" bears far more similarities, and appears to have been heavily influenced by his work on "The Beguiled". The script was written by Albert Maltz but both Eastwood and Siegal were unhappy with the ending, wanting something more faithful to Thomas Cullinan's book "The Painted Devil" that it was based on. They had their way.

The film has been described as a Gothic Western. This has nothing to do with the architecture of an earlier period, but more to do with the gloomy and grotesque connotations of that word. The films strength is the build up of tension and an overwhelming sense of foreboding. It is an atmosphere reminiscent of the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. The location filming in in the Ashland-Belle House in Louisiana with its eerily clad trees festooned in Spanish moss helped this greatly.

The film is the most ambitious and elaborate of Siegal's films and deserves to be much better known in the UK. I am only the third reviewer at this time. On Amazon US there are over forty reviews which goes to show it has a far greater reputation across the Atlantic. It is a highly unusual film but ultimately very rewarding. The Western goes Gothic, and amazingly it works incredibly well. Highly recommended. Five stars for originality carried through with great flair.

Great film-not great disc
Anyone who has seen this film knows already it is great. It is kind of overlooked by Action-Clint fans but it really is a powerful movie. Watch it alongside 'Play Misty for Me' for an alternative Clint night.
The only problem with the DVD is it is not a particularly good transfer, mono soundtrack and no extras. Would have loved some inside info on the making of the film, some interviews and a commentary.
Still its better than my VHS copy, taped from TV years ago, with ad breaks. Buy it anyway.

Horror thriller
'The Beguiled' is a bit off the beaten track for fans of Clint who enjoys watching him in spaghetti westerns or as Dirty Harry. The closest to it is 'Play Misty for Me' which is superior to this film. That's not to say that 'The Beguiled' isn't a good movie, it is, but it's rather gruesome in nature and because it revolves around a soldier stuck in a house supposedly 'recovering' from a non-fatal leg wound, it could probably have been done as a stage play without much difficulty. As a previous reviewer said, it is like 'Misery' - just as dark and gloomy. That said, it's a good thriller and well worth getting out the popcorn for. I'll have to be careful not to stay in to any guest houses with any sex-starved young ladies knocking about! Though on second thoughts, maybe I will!! Recommended.