Play Misty for Me (1971)

I have seen this several times over the years and always loved it. Watching it again now, I still enjoyed it but found that the first half was beginning to drag with a mounting irritation in the stalker and even in Eastwood's less than vigorous manner of dealing with the situation. Maybe its because I watched Dirty Harry only yesterday and felt that that was the way to sort it out! The romantic and jazz festival interludes have been criticised but while they are not very good, particularly the festival footage, they do make that break between the earlier increasing obsessional behaviour situation and the final De Palma style crazy and scary slasher mode. Eastwood does well in his directorial debut but is helped enormously by good storyline and script as well, I'm sure as having Don Seigel on hand if needed and doing a great job as bar tender in the meantime.

I first decided not to give 10 stars to this film because I knew I was being subjective, but that's what users' reviews are for - to be subjective. From the first moment, my heart and soul were stolen by Carmel and the man standing on the rocks who had an eye for his hometown's natural beauties and was sure enough of himself as a debutante director to put on full display the things he cared about, like The Monterey Jazz Festival, for example. That scene and the one with Donna Mills that is, in fact, a music video for Roberta Flack's song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face may seem like intermissions, but I think they prove again and again that Clint Eastwood wasn't afraid to follow his artistic instincts - he knew what he was doing. Jessica Walter as Clint's one night stand stalker is so convincing; each time she yells, I shrink, just like Clint's character on the screen does. I can't tell if it's a sound effect, but judging by his reactions, I'd say she really yelled that loud. As for the "misogynistic undertones", I can only say - the good old days, half a century ago, when men and women were so equal, that women could play psychopaths, too.

Play Misty For Me is the excellent directorial debut of Clint Eastwood and the third film in a trilogy of films in an experimental phase of Eastwood's career. I'm no fan of Paint Your Wagon, but the other two films in question (The Beguiled and this film) are very good and some of Clint's most interesting work. Play Misty For Me is a tense thriller in the same vein as Fatal Attraction, which Misty... no doubt had a big influence on. Clint Eastwood plays a laid back jazz DJ that gets a lot of action from the ladies. He tries to focus his efforts on one woman and a chance encounter with groupie Evelyn turns into a torrid affair that later turns his life upside down. Dave's (Clint) attempts to call off the relationship go awry and Evelyn starts stalking him an disrupting his life. Foxy lady Evelyn Draper(Jessica Walter) turns out to be the super fan from hell as events unfold to its violent climax. Clint gives an excellent performance and shows his more vulnerable side in this project. The direction is solid and the story flows together well. The camera-work is quite good as well. Clint does a fine job building tension and suspense in this Hitchcock like shocker. The jazzy score and wardrobes make the film dated to that specific period(late 60's/early 70's), but also gives the movie its own flavor and ambiance that separates it from similar styled films. Overall, Play Misty For Me holds up really well and was an original movie in its day, plus it shows Clint's ability to direct and range as an actor. Great film.

Disc jockey Dave Garver attracts the attentions of demented fan Evelyn Draper. Evelyn lets Dave pick her up at a bar, but later at her apartment, she admits that she is the cooing caller who repeatedly asks Dave to play the Garner classic "Misty." From then on, Evelyn stalks Dave everywhere, ruining his business lunch, assaults his maid, ransacks his house and all of his belongings, and finally threatens to kill his girlfriend Tobie.........Eastwoods directorial debut has almost twenty years on Fatal Attraction, and while the controversy surrounding that movie is still pretty notorious, the controversy Eastwoods movie has a little of now, didn't seem like a problem at the time of release.The problem is that its a very misogynistic affair, with almost every female character portrayed as a plaything, or a lesser person to to the male counterparts. But, it's clear that Eastwood was Siegels protégé of sorts, so if you can just about ignore the way the female characters are depicted, you'll be in for terrifying ride.It's shows that no matter where or when you do it, one night stands never work, because you just don't know the history of that person you meet, or what history they have on you, especially when your a minor celebrity in your hometown.Eastwood is brilliant as the womanising DJ, and he does deserve some of the things that are happening, after all, he's a mans man, with luxurious hair, and even more luxurious outfits, like a real life Ron Burgundy.But Evelyn, she goes from slightly unhinged to psychotic in less than a minute, and when she finally goes for broke,the film is intense beyond belief.It also shows that Eastwood has always been a competent director, and he deserves the illustrious career he's had behind the camera.It's obviously not as shocking now as it was forty years ago, but this must have been something else back then.And he must have the hardest punch in the world, because he literally punches her out if a window and off a cliff.You dig?