Excellent directorial debut from Clint...
This is a damn fine picture, and it's Clint Eastwood's first film as a director. It's not Citizen Kane, but it isn't Fear and Desire (Kubrick's abysmal first film), or Pirahana 2: The Spawning, James Cameron's first feature. either. It's a very good film, and considering this was the first time Clint stepped behind a camera, he did a very good job. The story is quite contemporary as Clint is playing a DJ who beds a woman (played very well by Jessica Walker) who turns out to be a bit unstable and homicidal. The word stalker had not entered the American vocabulary at the time, but this is in fact what she was. It's a terrifying film, very well acted, directed, edited, and shot mostly on location (an Eastwood favorite). It's a fine debut.

There's an interesting backstory behind this film. Clint has always had ambitions to direct, and he asked the studio heads at Universal if he could direct this film. They were understandably weary and cautious about letting an actor who had never directed before direct a film, but instead of Clint pulling the "I'm the biggest actor in the world! DO AS I SAY!" route, he told Universal he would do the film for no money, and take a percentage of the gross. Well, it turned out that Clint finished the movie early and under budget (he almost always does), and it was a box office hit, so Clint earned more from the gross than he would have from a straight salary.

Clint was never really taken seriously as a director (at least by American critics) until Unforgiven. Many critics just thought of him as an actor who was just amusing himself by directing occasionally. The truth is that he was directing many of his own films after Play Misty for Me. Clint has only worked with 3 major directors (other than himself) in his career: Sergio Leone, Don Siegel (who has a cameo here), and Wolfgang Petersen (in the film In the Line of Fire). He's really unique in the film industry in that he really controls his own creativity, along the lines of Charlie Chaplin and Woody Allen (both of them rarely ever acted for others). Clint's remarkable career just keeps getting better, as he has a new film due out (Changeling), and one due out not too far after that (Gran Torino). So it turns out Clint was a much better artist than most made him out to be, and he keeps getting better and better.

Play Misty for Me
Great movie. Have not seen it since it 1st released.
It scared me again. It is better than Fatal Attraction

Clint Plays The Victim...
Yep, Clint Eastwood, DIRTY HARRY himself, is the victim in this movie! As strange as that may sound, it works! His radio DJ character, Dave Garver is still a macho sort of a guy, but he definitely has his hands full w/ Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter). Evelyn isn't the type of gal who can be tossed aside after a one-night-stand. She is an ultra-needy, schizoid psychotic w/ a penchant for big, sharp knives! Dave tries to be nice. He attempts to give her the slip, resulting in Evelyn's total mental melt-down! PLAY MISTY FOR ME is a superb thriller w/ a terrific cast, including Donna Mills as Dave's girlfriend Tobie, and John Larch as an unfortunate police detective. Highly recommended to anyone who thinks their last relationship ended badly...

jessica walter rocks the house!
the main reason why this film ranks so high in my book is jessica walter.

her performance set the mark that would be hit by glenn close, rebecca de mornay, lynn whitfield and many other actresses. but it would never be surpassed. her portrait of evelyn is a chilling, unflinching trip in to a very sick mind. she also manages to infuse her work with this dark, at times knavish, humor that makes her performance so watchable time after time. in fact, i am watching her about to get killed now on the sleuth channel.

there are many aspects of this film that are hip, such as the maid played by clarice taylor. she's so funny! and the roommate madeleine has a black boyfriend that is a jazz afficionado. the soundtrack is a huge highlight.

but donna mills is so pallid as the love interest. and the tone it takes towards gay people is pretty shocking but sadly, not out of date. that friend on 'sex and the city' for example? does darren star really think he's doing gay men a favor by having that character in that show?

but eastwood, considering it's his debut as a director, does a pretty good job with the script and working with surtees to lens some gorgeous shots of the carmel area and the california coastline.

and, he gave irene hervey a great little cameo to boot! so it's all good.

scary!
This one will keep you on the edge of your seat-a great movie, despite its age. Ms. Walters should have been
nominated for an Oscar for her right-on-the-money performance!