Director Sofia Coppola's revisionist version of the 1971 production of "The Beguiled" is winning critical raves.This has inspired writer Mike Scott of the Times-Picayune to look back at the original version of the film which was shot at a historic plantation near Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1970. The film marked the third collaboration between newly-minted superstar Clint Eastwood and his mentor, director Don Siegel. The article provides some very rare on set photos and an overview of the gothic Civil War drama that bombed when it was first released, though its stature has increased among film scholars in the ensuing decades. Eastwood fans who have never seen the movie are advised to do so. It represents a major achievement in his early acting career and he also plays an unsympathetic character, a rarity for him. Click here to read.
For an in-depth look at the film, order Cinema Retro's special issue "The American Westerns of Clint Eastwood" by clicking here.