When you think of Clint Eastwood you immediately think of him as an action star. But he’s done more than that and it’s time we as fans recognized it. Kino Lorber has released several of his films now on blu-ray and among them is his first film as a director as well as star. That movie is PLAY MISTY FOR ME, one of the earliest stalker films made and released in 1971.
Eastwood stars as Dave Garver, a DJ at station KRML in Carmel by the sea playing jazz music late into the night. Each night Dave gets a call from one determined fan asking him to “play ‘Misty’ for me”. After his shift one night he stops by his favorite bar and meets a woman named Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walters). They seem to hit it off and when he drives her home she reveals she was not there by accident. He figures out that she is the caller asking for the same song. He goes inside and spends the night with her.
It isn’t long before this potential one night stand becomes something else. Evelyn begins to show up at his house uninvited. She shows up where he works. She calls him demanding that he pay her attention. Eventually she shows up at a job interview for a high profile station calling the lady owner of the station more names that one would be comfortable with, insulting her and costing Dave the job.
When Dave tries to get her to leave and break things off, he returns home one night to find she’s attempted killing herself there. When she is released from the hospital she tells Dave she’s fine now. But Dave’s housekeeper finds out differently when she discovers Evelyn slashing his bedroom and then stabbing her. She survives and Evelyn is committed.
While there Dave learns that his ex-girlfriend Tobie Williams (Donna Mills) has returned. The pair begin to rekindle their relationship. Things seem to be moving well for the couple. Then Dave gets a call from Evelyn. She’s been released and tells him she is moving to Hawaii and wishes him all the happiness in the world. He hopes she’s being truthful but when he wakes that night to find her hovering over him with a butcher knife he knows that’s not the case.
The film is one of the earliest stalker movies out there, long before more horror inclined films like HALLOWEEN and BLACK CHRISTMAS were released. But the concept is there and used quite well. Eastwood takes his time as a director to set the story up and let it build rather than rush it forward. The result is a movie that flows fluidly with plenty of suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Like THE BEGUILED the film also offers Eastwood the chance to flex his acting as well as his directorial muscles and he does so admirably. Walters plays the crazed fan to the hilt, no knife pun intended, and throws herself into the role with complete believability. It’s surprising to discover that this was one of the first roles in film that Mills had ever done. Long before she achieves stardom on KNOTS LANDING or was recognizable on the TV soap LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING she shows the potential here that she would live up to then.
It’s surprising that more fans of Eastwood don’t discuss this film, even more so since it was his first directorial effort. It’s a movie that deserves being watched and discussed. Take the time to find a copy and give it a view.
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