<Tr> <Th> Country </Th> <Td> United States </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Language </Th> <Td> English </Td> </Tr> <P> The Beguiled is a 1971 American Southern Gothic, thriller - drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page . The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil . The film marks the third of five collaborations between Siegel and Eastwood, following Coogan's Bluff (1968) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), and continuing with Dirty Harry (1971) and Escape from Alcatraz (1979). </P> <P> During the American Civil War in 1863, Amy, a 12 - year old student at the Miss Martha Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies in rural Mississippi, discovers a seriously wounded Union soldier, John McBurney . She brings him to the school's gated enclosure where the school headmistress, Martha Farnsworth, first insists on turning him over to Confederate troops, but then decides to restore him to health first . He is initially kept locked in the school's music room and kept under watch . Edwina, the schoolteacher who has had no experience with men, takes an immediate liking to John, as does Carol, a 17 - year - old student who makes advances with an experienced air . </P>

Who wrote and directed the film the beguiled