Play Misty for Me (1971) Universal/Suspense-Thriller RT: 103 minutes Rated R (violence, stalking, brief nudity, sexual content, language, thematic material) Director: Clint Eastwood Screenplay: Jo Heims and Dean Riesner Music: Dee Barton Cinematography: Bruce Surtees Release date: November 12, 1971 (US) Cast: Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, John Larch, Jack Ging, Irene Hervey, James McEachin, Clarice Taylor, Donald Siegel, Duke Everts, Britt Lind, Ginna Patterson, Johnny Otis, Cannonball Adderley. Box Office: $10.6M (US)
Rating: *** ½
Let’s dispense with the obvious right away, shall we? The psychological thriller Play Misty for Me is the primary influence for Fatal Attraction, the hit 1987 movie that dissuaded many a married man from committing adultery with its psycho mistress from hell scenario. Details may differ (e.g. no boiled bunny in this one), but it’s the same situation. A guy screws around with the wrong woman and lives to regret it. Now that we’ve established this, let’s get on with the review.
Post-Man with No Name/pre-Dirty Harry Clint Eastwood plays Dave Garver, a Carmel-area DJ at KRML who plays smooth jazz and reads poetry. A female listener calls nightly to request the standard “Misty” by Erroll Garner. One night after work, Dave picks up a woman in a bar he frequents. It turns out NOT to be a chance meeting. Her name is Evelyn Draper (Walter, Grand Prix) and she’s the caller that always asks for “Misty”. She admits to deliberately seeking him out. They have sex and Dave thinks that’s the end of it. WRONG-O! Evelyn turns out to be a delusional psychopath who doesn’t take kindly to rejection. He tries to be nice, but only makes things worse. The more he rebuffs her, the crazier she becomes.
Evelyn proceeds to make Dave’s life a living hell. She attempts suicide in his bathroom. She costs him a prime gig at work when she loudly interrupts a business luncheon meeting. She also interferes with his attempts to rekindle his relationship with ex-girlfriend Tobie (Mills, Knots Landing), a level-headed sort who goes through roommates like the Osmonds go through toothpaste. At one point, Evelyn breaks into his home, destroys his belongings and attacks his housekeeper (Taylor, The Cosby Show). The police finally have to step in and take control of the situation, but it doesn’t last long. There’s no keeping a scorned woman down.
After 50 years, Play Misty for Me still holds up remarkably well. It’s an effective shocker, but it’s more than that. If you look closely, it’s a critique of male entitlement, a cautionary tale about taking women for granted as Dave does with Evelyn. Here’s a man that keeps women at arm’s length in order to avoid messy emotional connections. In other words, he loves ‘em and leaves ‘em. He’s about to pay dearly for this character flaw. By the same token, the character of Evelyn can be seen as a manifestation of the terror of estrangement. She so yearns for human connection, she’ll latch on to any guy that shows her the slightest bit of attention and make more of it than it is. As such, a one-night stand becomes a declaration of undying love in her troubled mind. It’s every male swinging single’s worst nightmare come true.
Eastwood made his directorial debut with Play Misty for Me and it’s as solid a first film as one could hope for. Early on, his meticulous sense of pacing and scene composition is clearly evident. Look at the recurring ocean motif; it’s obviously symbolic of the fear of solitude that grows more pronounced as one gets older. He frequently allows the ocean and coastline to overshadow the characters like the scene where Dave and Tobie go for a walk-and-talk on the beach. Notice how he uses voiceover instead of showing them speak directly to each other. It shows that they’re together yet not completely together because of old resentments and Dave’s reluctance to connect on an emotional level. Of course, none of this would be possible without the expert cinematography of frequent Eastwood collaborator Bruce Surtees who makes the film’s Monterey locations look especially gorgeous.
As a director, Eastwood knows how to elicit great performances from his actors. He delivers a fine performance himself as Dave, a likable sort with one major character flaw. He can’t keep it in his pants. It’s a real departure from the iconic roles that made him famous. It took me a short while to get used to him in this role, but he does a dynamite job of it. Walter is terrifying as Evelyn, an insanely possessive woman prone to violent outbursts when her distorted view of reality is challenged. Mills is also good as the girlfriend destined to be in jeopardy in the final act.
All of this is good, but what about the thriller aspects? Play Misty for Me works well on that level too. There’s plenty of suspense and tension, especially in the climax with Dave racing to stop Evelyn from doing something terrible. A lot of people complain that Eastwood’s films move too slowly, but I disagree. I say his films are deliberately paced. Like his Dirty Harry character, he’s the master of the slow burn.
Music is always an essential component of Eastwood’s films. He’s a huge jazz fan which explains the plot-unrelated sequence at the Monterey Jazz Festival featuring performances by Johnny Otis and Cannonball Adderley. It’s a good scene even if it doesn’t further the plot in any way. He also makes excellent use of Roberta Flack’s hit song “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, using it as a backdrop for a beautiful love scene between Dave and Tobie. Dee Barton contributes a wonderful score including a jaunty piece accompanying the title sequence of Eastwood driving along the coast. It’s an interesting contrast to the horrific events that follow.
It’s interesting that Eastwood chose to do a suspense-thriller rather than a western as his inaugural directorial effort. Play Misty for Me proves he has great versatility as a filmmaker and actor. It’s taut, tense and unsettling. It’ll make members of the male species think twice about picking up women for one-night stands.
