Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Clint Eastwood made an impressive directorial debut with 1971's Play Misty For Me. He plays a popular Carmel, California disc jockey named Dave Garver who keeps getting requests to "play Misty for Me" (as in the Errol Garner classic Jazz piano piece Misty)--from an extremely sexy voiced female listener. After a fight with his girlfriend Tobie (Donna Mills), D.J. Dave meets Evelyn (Jessica Walter) in a singles type bar. She's the woman who's been requesting Misty. They wind up in bed with the understanding it's not going to lead to a relationship. But Evelyn is a very disturbed and psychotic woman. Even when Dave patches things up with Tobie, Evelyn won't leave him alone.

If you are thinking this sounds like Fatal Attraction, you would be right. It's a much better film though. Eastwood's Dave Garver is a smooth operator, a selfish womanizing cad. It's worth noting that Eastwood the director does not give Eastwood the actor vanity project type starring roles. Often he plays quirky, somewhat dark and flawed characters in the film's he directs. While his DJ character in Misty doesn't deserve an almost murderous psychotic woman stalker in his life, he is certainly partly responsible for how the situation began and develops. His behavior which may resemble the 70’s Playboy bachelor lifestyle’ is the height of masculine irresponsible arrogance. Eastwood fearlessly takes on the persona without apologies.

In contrast, the character Michael Douglas plays in Fatal Attraction is mostly exonerated of wrong doing when he is pursued by a psycho. Several scenes are almost identical in both films (both women wind up slitting their wrists as a ploy for sympathy and understanding). Family values are over-emphasized in the ridiculously overly political correct Fatal Attraction.

There’s not a lot of plot to tell you about and giving you more details will only ruin the movie. It’s a laid-back character driven movie about a very popular radio disc jockey who is stalked by a mentally unstable fan.

Play Misty for Me was not a perfect movie when it was released. There are a couple of awkward sequences that simply don't work at all in the film, but Eastwood recovers from such scenes and makes some very good, and mature directorial choices as the film progresses. The movie is also dated in several ways—some of which makes it a great period piece.

In a nutshell: Eastwood's performance is a little stiff and un-even; Carmel locations are beautifully photographed; there's also a memorable scene set at the real Monterrey Jazz Festival, Jessica Walter's harrowing performance is excellent and believable, and there’s lots of tasty jazz on the soundtrack. Eastwood is stretching himself in terms of the acting he has shown in past movies and he seems quite wooden and stiff at times. Roberta Flack's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face quickly moved to the top of the charts after the film was released (it's featured in the film).

Look fast and you'll see director Don Siegel appearing as a bartender. In fact the story is that the first scene Eastwood shot as a director was the one with Siegel (who directed Eastwood in some of his best films including Dirty Harry, Escape from Alcatraz, Coogans Bluff and the Beguiled.) and supposedly after 11 takes he then told the cameraman to put film in the camera. The idea for the script was by a former Malpaso production company secretary (Jo Heims) which was turned into the shooting script by Dean Riesner who worked on the Rawhide tv series and Coogan's Bluff. Eastwood finished the film ahead of schedule and about $50,000 under budget. This is how Eastwood has continued to make movies as a director.

DVD Stuff

Play Misty for Me is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The film does show some tell-tale signs of it's age and there are a few noticeable blemishes and visible grain on the print. The colors look slightly over-saturated in a style that's more late 1940's then 1970's but it's a very warm intentional look. As with most 1970's films, close-ups in particular are not crisply detailed and have a slight soft focus look to them. This is often the fault of older film-stock.

Black levels have been adjusted but some blacks appear grayish during night scenes and colors get washed out

Over-all this DVD version of the film is much improved over previous video versions, with sharpness increased and graininess decreased throughout it's presentation.

Yes the audio on the disc is presented in 2.0 mono. It is one of the best sounding mono-soundtracks I've ever head and the Monterrey Jazz Festival sequence sounds so clear and crisp it's as if it was in stereo. There's very little distortion or noise. Some of the dialogue was obviously looped and has a different sound quality in some scenes than in others but that has to do with how it was originally recorded. This was a very low budget film remember.

The visual and audio qualities could be improved but this DVD marks a very noticeable improvement over any previously released versions of the film.

Extra Extras :

This DVD is loaded with quite a generous dose of informative extras.

First is : " Play It Again... A Look Back at Play Misty for Me" . It is a 49 minute documentary on the making of the film recently produced and directed by the prolific Laurent Bouzerau. It features new interviews with Eastwood, Jessica Walters, Donna Mills, producer Robert Daley, the screenwriter, Dean Riesner and film critic and writer Richard Schickel.. The story of how Eastwood rose from the t.v. series Rawhide to stardom and his desire to direct is quickly recounted. There is a generous mix of behind the scenes gossip and information on how and where the film was made. We learn that Eastwood took a lower Director salary in exchange for profit participation. We hear about the studio asking for some changes which would have included using the Sinatra Song "Strangers in the Night" and making Jessica Walters' character an escaped lunatic on the rampage.

Next up is : "The Beguiled, Misty, Don and Clint which is a six minute features that shows what an important influence Director Don Siegel was on Eastwood. There's also an interesting comparison between the themes of the Siegel's Beguiled and Eastwood's Play Misty for Me (both starred Eastwood.

"Clint Eastwood on DVD" is an under two minute quickie where Eastwood says pretty much what any DVD fan says about the DVD format. It's a puff piece.

Then there is the "Photograph Montage " which allows you to go through about 50 stills in about four minutes. Most you've seen if you watched the documentary and you can pause any you want a closer look at.

The similar "Clint Eastwood Directs and Acts" is a collection of about 25 stills and features behind the scenes photos of Clint at work and at play. It runs about two minutes.

"Evolution of a Poster" shows about 35 pictures or artwork and the directions the marketing concepts for the film took. Some represent some pretty bizarre concepts. It concludes with the poster that was used to promote the film. Unlike most stills galleries it was interesting to me.

The original theatrical trailer is shown in full frame and is in pretty rough shape, showing lots of signs of dirt and age. It's an interesting trailer enticing audiences with the most exploitative elements of the films. It gives away too much.

"Production Notes" includes some information that is not mentioned in documentary.

The filmographies are the eight main actors in the film and include a link to Universal Home Videos DVD newsletter.

There's an additional trailter for the DVD compilation The Boogeymen (referring to horror movie makers) also included.

Credits

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, John Larch, Jack Ging, James McEachin,Clarice Taylor, Don Siegel, Duke Everts, George Fargo, Mervin W. Frates Tim Frawley

Written by: Jo Heims and Dean Riesner

Produced: Robert Daley

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Score by: Dee Barton



Bottom line

This DVD might surprise you in how collectible it really is. The film has grown into a fascinating period piece of its era. It's dated, but it remains extremely effective and is one of Eastwood's better films. The beautiful locations, jazz score and plot, all hold up very well. The movie is far from perfect, but it looks and sounds very good. There are also newly produced documentaries and information about the film that fans of the film, and fans of Eastwood won't want to miss. You'll probably be able to purchase the DVD for $20 dollars or less—a good deal for fans of 70s flicks and Eastwood.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD