Play Misty for Me (1971)

Perfect cast and a good story

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I wasn't much of a Clint Eastwood fan over the years but now am appreciating him more as he has mellowed with age. I found a DVD set of seven of his early movies at my public library and "Play Misty" is one of them.The very beginning has a long aerial shot of the California coastline and towards the end of that shot lingers on one home on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. That location is key to the story and especially to the end of the story.Clint Eastwood is disk jockey Dave with a local radio program. Seems just about every day he gets a call with a particular request, "play Misty for me." One day after work he is at his favorite bar and encounters an attractive woman. She is Jessica Walter as Evelyn, we soon find out she is the one who calls with the request. Being a suitably horny single man he takes the bait and they end up in bed together. She seems very nice but when she starts to show up unannounced at his place, with groceries, and asking how he likes his steak cooked, it becomes clear that she is an obsessed fan. Dave finds this annoying at first, then downright dangerous. Then things are complicated by his old girlfriend coming back to town. All in all a worthwhile Clint Eastwood movie.SPOILERS: The ending. As Evelyn's intrusions get more and more worrisome Dave finds that she has gone to the girlfriend's house and tied her up. Dave arrives and in struggling with Evelyn throws a single punch, the only one in the whole movie, she falls through the back plate glass window, over the back porch railing, and down the cliff to her death.

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.

As a guy who spent 42 years in radio, there are a few things I could poke at as far as radio accuracy is concerned, and since I haven't read any of the other IMDb reviews or comments I might be repeating stuff already mentioned elsewhere. First, why don't any of the DJ's wear headphones? When you open the microphone it turns off the speakers (to avoid feedback) and you can't hear what's playing, so what's up with that? Also, In almost every scene in the radio station control room, the VU meters on the board never move. Finally (and this is the coup de gras): How could an overnight DJ on a small market radio station ever afford to own or rent an ocean side villa overlooking the Pacific? Factually Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood) should be living in a trailer park or low-rent apartment complex on his salary. Now, the good stuff... This is Clint Eastwood's directorial debut and he excelled. This film's plot is basically "Fatal Attraction" 15 years before Douglas and Close struck gold in 1987. This nearly out-Hitchcocks Hitchcock! The viewer is slowly sucked in as the tension builds until nuclear war breaks out. Shot entirely on location in Carmel California, the cast is flawless with Jessica Walter co-staring as the girl with the fatal attraction for Dave Garber, a DJ at KRML. Donna Mills also stars as Dave's ex-girlfriend who's sole purpose is to complicate things. A great original soundtrack, plus Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", which would go on to hit #1 on the Hot 100 5 months later as a direct result of exposure in this film. This film has gone down in the annals as one of the greatest thrillers ever, and a film that struck fears in the heart of disc jockey's everywhere. "Play Misty For Me.. And not Ray Steven's Version"!

A brief fling between a male disc jockey (Clint Eastwood) and an obsessed female fan (Jessica Walter) takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly turn when another woman enters the picture.I appreciate that Eastwood's directorial debut was a thriller, rather than a western or drama or action film. He took a bold turn from what people might have expected and excelled at it. Over forty years later (2015), the film holds up very well and it really needs to be revisited by people in light of Eastwood's subsequent success (not to mention Walter's rising star from "Arrested Development").I enjoyed this greatly, and may need to add it to my personal collection... especially if a blu-ray exists.