I was contacted by an old friend and Eastwood fan today, James Elliott.
James pointed me to this fascinating article on the original Beguiled movie
from 1971. The story is by Mike Scott of the New Orleans newspaper The
Times-Picayune. The piece is accompanied by some wonderful pictures that are
ALL new to me. I’m constantly amazed by this sort of material and how it
continues to surface.
Thank you James – it’s a wonderful article.
Sofia Coppola’s New Orleans-shot
Civil War drama “The Beguiled” pulled down a respectable $3.3 million in its
limited release on June 30, and it continues to win praise from critics. But
it’s not the first time moviegoers have been beguiled by “The Beguiled.” In
fact, Coppola’s adaptation isn’t even the first time the story has been filmed
in Louisiana.
Back in 1971, actor Clint
Eastwood and Don Siegel teamed up for a version of the film shot at
Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation near Baton Rouge. It would be one of five
movies the two would make together. (Coogan’s Bluff in 1968, Two
Mules for Sister Sara in 1970, Dirty Harry in 1971 and Escape from
Alcatraz in 1979).
Both Siegel and Coppola’s films
are built around the same story, about a group of women at an all-girls
Southern boarding school who take in a wounded but charming Union soldier, but
they’re decidedly different movies. That goes for the style in which they’re
shot -- which in Siegel’s film is all jarringly canted camera angles and quick
cuts, as opposed to the elegant polish of Coppola’s film -- but it also goes
for each film’s very raison d’être.
For her part, Coppola describes
her “Beguiled” as a study of the dynamics between the female characters -- who
represent several age groups -- and how that dynamic changes with the
introduction of a man. Siegel, on the other hand, has been quoted as saying his
movie is about “the basic desire of women to castrate men."
Can’t get much different than
that.
At any rate, with Coppola’s “The
Beguiled” gaining notice -- including at May’s Cannes Film Festival, where the
film earned her the award for best director -- we thought the time was right
for a look back at the set of Siegel’s “Beguiled,” as seen through the lens of
staff photographer V.A. Guidry.
The House
While Coppola’s more recent
version of “The Beguiled” was shot largely at Madewood Plantation House in
Napoleonville, Siegel’s film set up at the Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation in
Ascension Parish near Baton Rouge.
Ashland-Belle Helene was built in
1841 by planter Duncan Farrar Kenner, who is of the same family after which the
Louisiana city of Kenner is named. Kenner named the house Ashland, borrowing
the name of Henry Clay’s estate. It was changed by a later owner to Belle
Helene to honor his own daughter.
The Greek Revival building, with
its striking colonnades, has been featured in other films including A Band of
Angels (1957), The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), The Long, Hot
Summer (1985) and Fletch Lives (1989), in which Chevy Chase's main character
inherits the old house. It was placed on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1979 and was sold in 1992 to Shell Chemical Co., which has set about
restoring it.
The women of The Beguiled.
Geraldine Page (right) and the
other women of Siegel’s version of The Beguiled are photographed on the
Ashland-Belle Helene grounds. In Coppola’s version, Oscar-winning actors Nicole
Kidman played the role originated by Page. Also visible in the photo is Mae
Mercer, the blues singer and actress who played Hallie, a slave character in
Siegel’s film. Coppola drew criticism for her decision to exclude that
character from her telling, which some characterised as whitewashing. For her
part, though, Coppola said the decision was made out of respect to the plight
of American slaves. “I didn’t want to have a slave
character in ‘The Beguiled’ because that subject is a very important one, and I
didn’t want to brush over it lightly,” she said.
A first for Clint Eastwood
Actor Clint Eastwood and
11-year-old Pamelyn Ferdin are photographed in April 1970 on the set of director Don Siegel's Civil War-era drama The Beguiled at Ashland-Belle
Helene Plantation Home near Baton Rouge. While Siegel directed The
Beguiled, Eastwood made his directorial debut on the same set, making a
12-minute documentary called "The Beguiled: The
Storyteller." Later in 1970, Eastwood would take the reigns of his first
feature film, Play Misty for Me, which, like The
Beguiled, would arrive in theatres in 1971.
Take five
Crew members line up for lunch on
the 1970 set of The Beguiled, a Civil War-set drama starring Clint Eastwood
and which was shot at the Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation near Baton Rouge.
Geraldine Page and Don Siegel
The Beguiled' actress Geraldine
Page (center), and others go over a scene with director Don Siegel, standing,
during film of the Civil War-set drama in 1970 at Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation near Baton Rouge.
The Beguiled actress Geraldine
Page goes over a scene with director Don Siegel (center left), and Dialogue
Director Scott Hale (right), during production of the film in 1970 at
Ashland-Belle
Clint Eastwood and Pamelyn Ferdin
Actor Clint Eastwood (left),
stands by as dialogue director Scott Hale goes over lines with 11-year-old
actor Pamelyn Ferdin in April 1970 during filming of director Don Siegel's
Civil War-era drama The Beguiled at Belle Helene Plantation Home near Baton
Rouge.
Below: Advertising flashback
An ad in The Times-Picayune for
director Don Siegel's 1971 drama The Beguiled played up the film's Louisiana
provenance. (The Times-Picayune archive)
By Mike Scott of The
Times-Picayune, the New Orleans newspaper Posted July 05, 2017 Original article here
No comments:
Post a Comment