Play Misty for Me (1971)

A brief fling between a male disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly turn when another woman enters the picture.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Jo Heims (screenplay), Dean Riesner (screenplay)

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Dave
Jessica Walter	...	Evelyn
Donna Mills	...	Tobie
John Larch	...	Sgt. McCallum
Jack Ging	...	Frank
Irene Hervey	...	Madge
James McEachin	...	Al Monte
Clarice Taylor	...	Birdie
Don Siegel	...	Murphy (as Donald Siegel)
Duke Everts	...	Jay Jay
George Fargo	...	Man
Mervin W. Frates	...	Locksmith
Tim Frawley	...	Deputy Sheriff
Otis Kadani	...	Policeman
Britt Lind	...	Anjelica (as Brit Lind)

Storyline

Disc jockey Dave Garver attracts the amorous attentions of a demented fan named Evelyn Draper. Evelyn lets Dave pick her up at a bar; later at her apartment Evelyn admits that she is the cooing caller who repeatedly asks Dave to play the Erroll Garner classic "Misty." From then on, the film is a lesson in how one casual date can turn your whole life around. Evelyn stalks Dave everywhere, ruins his business lunch, assaults his maid, mutilates his house and all of his belongings, and finally threatens to butcher his girlfriend Tobie Williams. You'll never be able to hear that song again without looking over your shoulder.

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Plot Keywords:

disc jockey | obsessed fan | fatal attraction | underwear | white briefs | 

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Taglines:

...an invitation to terror...

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Obsesión mortal

Filming Locations:

Spindrift Road, Carmel Highlands, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$725,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$10,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,The Malpaso Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 96 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The tape package sent to the producer, Madge, has the address "Malpaso TV Productions", which is Clint Eastwood's own company.

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Goofs

The VU (audio) meters on the KRML control board are motionless during music and voice input, indicating that the station is either off the air during filming or that the actual audio source is elsewhere.

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Quotes

Tobie Williams: Oh I didn't wish you anything too serious, just a couple of months in traction.
David 'Dave' Garver: You're all heart.

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Alternate Versions

The version shown on American commercial network TV had the entire "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" sequence re-shot to remove the sex scene. Instead, what was shown as the song played was simply scenes of Eastwood and Donna Mills walking in the forest. The very brief sex scene between Eastwood and Jessica Walter was also eliminated.

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Connections

Referenced in The Angry Video Game Nerd: Dirty Harry (2018)

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Soundtracks

Misty
Composed and Performed by Erroll Garner

User Reviews

Before there was "Swimfan," before there was "Fatal Attraction," there was "Play Misty For Me"

This movie, I suppose, was the first nice-guy-being-stalked-by-psycho-female thriller. And it's quite damn good. Modern audiences might feel the film was too low-key, but I found it very suspenseful. This proves you don't need eerie music (there's very little score on the soundtrack) and continuous gore to create suspense. Jessica Walter is terrifying--maybe not as terrifying as Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction," but she comes pretty close. It's fun--and somewhat hilarious--to see Clint Eastwood as a young man with LOTS of hair. This was his first directorial effort, and he did a fine job. Over 30 years, the premise has become all-too-familiar, so unfortunately the story is predictable. Maybe 1970's audiences found it more shocking. But I was able to predict who would die and when. Nevertheless, I still found "Play Misty For Me" very entertaining and very well-acted. But what was with that jazz concert scene? Clint definitely should've left that on the cutting room floor.

My score: 7 (out of 10)