On B List of Movie Reviews
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The Beguiled (1971)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
5/17
5/17:
Shot on location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, The Beguiled is a strange Civil War picture.
The tale starts out innocently. Midway, it descends to a pornographic love triangle. A minor is thrown in as an
attempt to make things more interesting. The ending is finally reached which results in rare death for a Clint Eastwood's
character that's fitting for an Edgar Allan Poe short story.
But one thing is for sure: The Beguiled isn't boring. The acting is competent, the editing is upbeat, the
cinematography is pleasing to look at, and the pace moves well. Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood took a risk, and it paid off
well for them artistically.
Unfortunately, The Beguiled didn't do well at the box office due to Universal's poor marketing when it purposefully
fooled Clint Eastwood's fans into thinking it was going to be another action-adventure movie. This enraged him, marking
the end of his relationship with the company right after
The Eiger Sanction in 1975 which wasn't revived until thirty-three years later.
Here's an interesting fact: A Patch of Blue's Elizabeth Hartman committed suicide just three days before
Geraldine Page had passed away of a heart attack in 1987 after suffering from kidney disease,. Unsurprisingly, Clint
Eastwood had an affair with Jo Ann Harris during and after the filming. As usual, it didn't last long.
All in all, The Beguiled is the most unusual picture of Clint Eastwood's career.