Play Misty for Me

In the news recently, ESPN personality Erin Andrews' stalker was arrested, a Chicago man (another proud moment for the Windy City), for photographing her through hotel room peepholes. Talk about off the scale creepy. Stalkers, both celebrity and otherwise, have often been presented through movies and TV shows solely as men, but one of the scariest presentations of a stalker was a women, 1971's Play Misty for Me.

In the vein of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, 'Misty' gets high points from female leader Jessica Walter, playing Evelyn, a terrifying role if there ever was one. What works so well for Walter's character is that no background is given, no reason for her ever-crazier actions. Instead of some stupid, forced explanation, the audience is allowed to brew about what drives this lady. What happened to her growing up that she acts like this? Was she abused or taken advantage of? Who knows for sure.

Making his directorial debut, star Clint Eastwood plays Dave Garber, a radio disc jockey who has a show during the night where he plays jazz music and reads poetry to his listeners. Typical Eastwood part, right? One of his loyal listeners always calls in with a request, 'play Misty for me.' One night following his show, Dave meets this fan, Walter's Evelyn, and takes her back to his home where they have what Dave figures is nothing more than a one-night stand. Not so fast, Mr. Eastwood. Evelyn starts showing up in all aspects of Dave's life, following him when he goes, checking in on him when he's at the bar.

At first, Dave thinks it's nothing more than a semi-crazy lady he'll be able to ditch. But soon after, her behavior escalates into something no one had planned for, and he has no idea what to do. Making things worse, Dave's old girlfriend, Tobie (Donna Mills) is back in town and looking to get back together, and a big city radio station is interested in hiring Dave. Evelyn takes a keen interest in both and starts to do everything she can to stay with him. What started off as a supposedly no strings attached fling escalates to something much worse.

Watching the movie some 40 years after its first release, it's hard not to know where this story is going so some of the surprise is gone as Evelyn's slow burn turns into fanatical love and murder. But even knowing the story's final destination, the movie's suspense keeps you interested. As a guy, I'm watching this from Dave's perspective wanting to scream at him 'Run away, run away now!' but of course that would be a short movie. It's nerve-wracking right up until the final scenes which delivers a somewhat obvious twist that still works because of a sudden reappearance of Evelyn.

Taking over the director's chair for the first time, Eastwood shows his flair already for the visual with a strong story. He filmed the movie in Carmel, California (before he became mayor) which gives the story a homey feel to it as he shoots in basically his own backyard. Issues arise in the last reel as Eastwood tries to build suspense when Evelyn has supposedly taken off. A long montage to Roberta Flack's 'The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face' seems like the first-time director showing off what he can do, but it's just too slow. The next scene, filmed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, has some great location shooting, but it too is unnecessary. As a viewer, you know Evelyn's coming back, just now how, and these scenes were excruciatingly slow for me.

Playing against type, Eastwood's Dave is unlike any character he had played prior to 'Misty.' Not surprisingly, the studio was worried that this wasn't his typical part for the actor who made his stardom in action movies like Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy. Eastwood's part is the least of the movie's concerns because regardless of what critics say or write, he is a strong actor, especially here as he begins to realize how bat-sh*t crazy Evelyn really is. At the same time, whether out of fear for his own life or genuine concern, Dave still tries to help her when he sees how far she'll take things.

Those are minor complaints though relative to a good movie otherwise. 'Misty' set the blueprint for future movies like Fatal Attraction where Glenn Close plays the unhinged stalker, and still packs in the suspense and tension. Jessica Walter is downright frightening as stalker Evelyn and generally scared the hell out of me. A solid directorial debut for Eastwood as well.

Play Misty for Me <---trailer (1971): ** 1/2 /****