Throwback Thursday: ‘The Beguiled’

One man…seven women…in a strange house!

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to see Clint Eastwood play a villain?  Ever been curious as to how he might fare in a horror film (outside of his part as Jennings the Lab Technician in 1955’s ‘Revenge of the Creature’)?  Well, if these notions have ever dotted your movie-loving mind, then you need not look any further than Don Siegel’s gothic, psychosexual film from 1971, ‘The Beguiled.’

Made just before ‘Dirty Harry,’ ‘The Beguiled’ stars Eastwood as Corporal John McBurney, a Yankee soldier near the end of the Civil War.  After being wounded in the field, McBurney seeks shelter in an all-girl boarding school deep in the South.  After being nursed back to health, McBurney begins to use his charm in enticing the young women, one at a time.  Needless to say, things get heated, and, before too long, they get violent.

Just as McBurney is not a typical role for the Man With No Name, ‘The Beguiled’ is not a typical horror film.  Under Sigel’s artistic and confident direction, the film finds a comfortable balance between drama and the violent nature that drives the film’s more terrifying moments.  Never resorting to standard, horror trappings, the film oozes gothic and atmospheric sentiment, never allowing the audience to rest easy in their seats.  You know something is afoul in the boarding house, and you know that, before too long, it is going to reveal itself to McBurney.  He, being a charismatic and naive fool, sees nothing amiss, and, as he grows more and more comfortable in his seat in the house, we find ourselves growing more and more uneasy in ours.

Of course, Siegel wouldn’t have been able to pull the film off all on his own.  Eastwood gives an outstanding performance, made all the more brilliant seeing as how completely against type it is.  This is a man who, in 1971, had recently finished the Leone trilogy (‘A Fistful of Dollars,’ ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,’ and ‘For a Few Dollars More’) and had already begun his hero drive towards Dirty Harry with turns in ‘Coogan’s Bluff’ and two war films ‘Where Eagles Dare,’ and ‘Kelly’s Heroes.’  In 1971, Eastwood wasn’t completely pigeonholed as the macho action hero.  He had already tried his hand in a musical, ‘Paint Your Wagon,’ and had already set himself to play the villain Two-Face on the TV version of “Batman.”  The show was cancelled before Eastwood could film an episode, but the wheels were greased for him to step into the role of a villain.

1971 would end up being a banner year for Eastwood.  His production company, Malpaso, was established, Eastwood directed his first film, ‘Play Misty for Me,’ and he would step into the role that would become his most iconic, Dirty Harry.  1971 also saw Eastwood finally set himself to playing the baddie, as he re-teamed with Siegel, who he had previously worked with on ‘Coogan’s Bluff’ and ‘Two Mules for Sister Sara.’  ‘The Beguiled’ was released on March 31st of ’71, and, almost immediately, the film felt the weight of Eastwood’s play against type at the box office.  Not sure on how to market the film, Universal ended up selling it as a straight, romance picture.  It is anything but.

Despite its failure at the box office, ‘The Beguiled’ is remembered as being a dangerous and somewhat creepy film about bottled up emotion and the explosion that occurs when it is subdued for too long.  Eastwood is great as McBurney.  Due to the iconic nature of many of the characters he has played, you can’t say McBurney is one of his more memorable performances, but it is, arguably, one of his best.  McBurney is chauvinistic and dangerous, yet, oddly, fascinating.  It is easy to see how he is able to make the women fall in love with him, but it ends up being no surprise at all when he grows violent towards them.

Eastwood and Siegel aren’t the only ones firing on all cylinders for ‘The Beguiled,’ either.  Geraldine Page as Martha Farnsworth, the headmistress, is superb, as are most of the young women who make up the house’s inhabitants.  Siegel and cinematographer Bruce Surtees work well together, injecting a vibe of atmospheric sensuality and foreboding danger throughout the picture.  It isn’t any wonder Siegel would bring Surtees back for ‘Dirty Harry,’ nor is it any wonder Eastwood would continue to work with Surtees throughout the rest of the ’70s and on into the ’80s.  Lalo Schifrin, who Siegel had previously worked with on ‘Coogan’s Bluff,’ offers a provocative and dangerously seductive musical score.  He, too, would go on to work with Siegel and the rest of the returning crew for ‘Dirty Harry.’

‘The Beguiled’ is a forgotten gem, a psychological thriller that is charged from within and brought to the bubbling surface by an outstanding performance by Eastwood and the excellent direction from Siegel.  It is a film that holds you throughout, never slowing down yet taking its time in setting up the characters and relationships between them.  It is somewhat a horror film, somewhat a gothic drama, and somewhat a dark fable of the evil within all of us, and what it takes to unleash that evil upon another human being.  It is a highly recommended piece of filmmaking that is made all the more intriguing by the off-kilter performance by one of Hollywood’s most famed heroes.