Year of Eastwood #40

the Beguiled (1971)

Starring: Eastwood, Geraldine Page
Directed by Don Siegel

Early in his career, Clint developed his own production company - the Malpaso Company - to allow him to have more creative control of the movies he starred in. Malpaso, which is named for a creek located near Clint’s home in Carmel California, has been associated with most of Clint’s films since it’s inception with Hang ‘Em High. Malpaso is also Spanish for misstep which Clint felt would be an appropriate name for his company since he was warned that starring in Spaghetti Westerns would be a bad move in his career.

Clint also produced a few films thru United Artists which allowed many of Hollywood’s biggest stars - including Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, and Woody Allen - to have more control ... and also to reap more of the financial benefits of the blockbusters they worked on instead of most of the money going to the studios which had been the case during Hollywood’s golden years in the 1930s and 40s. Recently, when Tom Cruise (couch-jumper) was released from his contract with Paramount, he resurrected United Artists with the hopes of saving his own career as well.

With this creative freedom to produce the films he wanted to do, I’m sure Clint did back flips when he saw the script for Beguiled. The story begins as Clint, an injured Union soldier, is rescued by a Southern girl and taken back to the plantation which just happens to be filled with young, nubile hotties being taught all the etiquette and manners of being a fine, upstanding Southern lady. The school is operated by a strict matron played by Geraldine Page, who via flashbacks seems to spend a bit too much time rolling around in the grass with her brother. The girls, who haven’t seen a man in several years, are willing to put aside the fact that Clint plays for the other team and begin scheming against one another for the chance to jump around on Clint’s bed.

Geraldine has ideas of her own for Clint. As she nurses him back to health, she begins to weave her own web to catch herself a man to help her with the farming since her beloved brother probably won’t be coming home any time soon. Clint pulls some story out of his ass about being a Quaker medic in the Army, while we see scenes of him shooting men in the back and doing his best to burn down as much of the South as he can. He tells Geraldine he would like to plow her fields. He tells one of the lonely, young school teacher that he loves her. And he tells a busty young student to practice her stretching exercises.

Every one seems blissful with all the deception, until the night Clint must decide which lady’s room to make a special visit to: the old, cranky brother-lover, the marmy book worm, or the PYT. Clint, of course, chooses the hot thing and the school teacher pushes him down the stairs and Geraldine cuts off his … leg. Now Clint is pissed, but there ain’t much he can do because, you know, he ain’t got no leg. So he drinks too much wine, gets mouthy at the dinner table and ends up throwing the little girl’s pet turtle across the room. That crosses the line and for dinner the little girl feeds Clint some poison mushrooms and next stop for Clint is the big dirt nap.

It really is a rarity for Clint to end up dead at the end of any of his movies. Since I already ruined that Spoiler, I might as well say that Honkytonk Man is the only other Clint movie where he ends up dead. Beguiled is unique among Clint movies in other ways as well. Clint is hobbled for most of the movie so it’s easily got the least amount of action of any of his films, but he still manages to beat the crap out of a couple of guys with his crutches. The film relies more on the complex mind games and lies … and Clint considers it one of his best films.