PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Clint Eastwood's impressive directorial debut from 1971 is a sharp, scary, provocative thriller - it does not follow what had been cheapened in the 1980's and known as the slasher film format. "Play Misty for Me" could have been an average "shocker" (as they once called it) or in the post-"Friday the 13th" era, an average slasher picture. What counts here and sets the bar is the level of suspense and the, dare I say, the occasional sensitivity of the stalker here and Eastwood's DJ character who is more than perturbed by the stalker.
The stalker here is Evelyn (Jessica Walter), a possibly scorned, lonely woman who seeks love and some pleasant company. She is her own person, and she is also an avid fan of the Carmel, California DJ, Dave (Eastwood) who plays smooth jazz sounds on his radio show. The two of them meet at a bar, have sex, and the next day she arrives with groceries to make lunch for him. Dave is miffed by her and expects a phone call to arrange a date - he is also trying to resolve his relationship with Tobie (Donna Mills), who has a steady rotation of roomates. Both Dave and Tobie have homes in the hills of Carmel overlooking rocky formations and the sea - they seek solace and those sweet jazz sounds (one sequence is set at the famous Monterey Jazz Festival). Evelyn is a stay-at-home girl who wants candlelit dinners and Dave to love her by her bedside, while "Misty," her song, plays on the radio.
Things turn ugly when Dave wants nothing to do with Evelyn. She disrupts a business meeting, calls passerby "assholes," makes threats and attempts suicide, and even attacks Dave's cleaning lady. How on earth is Dave going to get rid of her when she keeps falsely claiming that he loves her?
"Play Misty for Me" is consistently edgy, unnerving and suspenseful from start to finish. Eastwood carries the film with complete assurance as actor and director (a musical interlude set to Roberta Flack enhances the mood of the film - such lovely sounds feel threatened by the atmosphere so that its lovemaking scenes and nature shots do not feel like some TV commercial). What really anchors the film is Jessica Walter who is a hellish psychopath on one end, conniving and manipulative on the other, and yet she conveys shards of sympathy because we know she desires love, almost at any cost. Just watch out for those shards of glass.
