Play Misty for Me

Name: Play Misty for Me
Genre: Thriller
Released: November 12, 1971
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 78
Cast: Clarice Taylor, Clint Eastwood, Don Siegel, Donna Mills, Duke Everts

1971

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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7.6

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7.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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Play Misty For Me

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 12, 1971 | R

Starring: Clarice Taylor, Clint Eastwood, Don Siegel, Donna Mills, Duke Everts, Irene Hervey, Jack Ging, James McEachin, Jessica Walter, John Larch

Summary: 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

Genre(s): Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 102 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Roger Ebert

Play Misty for Me is not the artistic equal of Psycho (1960), but in the business of collecting an audience into the palm of its hand and then squeezing hard, it is supreme. It doesn't depend on a lot of surprises to maintain the suspense. There ARE some surprises, sure, but mostly the film's terror comes from the fact that the strange woman is capable of anything. Read full review

Keith Phipps

Eastwood didn’t overreach with Play Misty For Me. It’s a tense thriller that’s inside his comfort zone in more ways than one. But he does overdeliver in the best way. Co-star Jessica Walter plays an obsessed fan, and Eastwood wrings every ounce of tension from a scenario in which a casual affair turns into a life-threatening mistake, and the film executes a potentially trashy scenario with respect for its audience. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Clint Eastwood wisely chose a strong, simple thriller for his first film as a director (1971), and the project is remarkable in its self-effacing dedication to getting the craft right—to laying out the story, building the rhythm, putting the camera in the right place, and establishing small characters with a degree of conviction. Read full review

Empire Rob Fraser

The Man With No Name faces a whole lot of pain in Clint's thrilling directorial debut. Read full review

Time Out London

Eastwood's first film as director, and first exploratory probe for the flaws in his macho image as outlined in Siegel's The Beguiled. A highly enjoyable thriller made under the influence of Siegel (who contributes a memorable cameo as a bartender). Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

A superior thriller, Play Misty For Me proved that popular actor Eastwood could direct himself in a film, concentrate on every aspect of the production from the visuals to the performances, and complete the shooting ahead of schedule and under budget. What he delivered was an engrossing study of how loneliness and longing can be transformed into irrational rage after a thoughtless act of selfish indulgence. Much of the credit must go to Jessica Walter for her outstanding performance which somehow manages to be chilling while at the same time sympathetic. Read full review

Roger Greenspun

It is not simply that the movie fails to make sense. A lot of good movies are weak on sense—though they don't often require a leading man to be quite so dense for quite so long in interpreting the behavior of a psychotic leading woman. But they must not be weak in sensibility, in that logic of emotional response that is the real motive power of the atmospheric thriller. Read full review

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User Reviews

Steven1981

Mar 22, 2020

Play Misty For Me is a 1971 drama thriller directed by and also starring Clint Eastwood and he shows the metal of a good director here. The story is the same premise or similar to that of Fatal Attraction made in 1987 however Play Misty For Me came out before Fatal Attraction was even madePlay Misty For Me is a 1971 drama thriller directed by and also starring Clint Eastwood and he shows the metal of a good director here. The story is the same premise or similar to that of Fatal Attraction made in 1987 however Play Misty For Me came out before Fatal Attraction was even made so I wouldn't be shocked or surprised if Fatal Attraction copied the idea from this film. Both films are flawless with no faults and are excellent and Play Misty For Me is never boring because there's always some suspense and excitement and great acting especially from the lunatic actress. Clint Eastwood also gives a perfect acted performance and shows us why he's one of the best actors in the world!!! Excellent film.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Robwinz

Jun 28, 2020

Play Misty For Me is about Dave who's played by the man himself (Clint Eastwood) who works at KRML radio on the nights and he keeps getting requests from a young woman called Evelyn (Jessica Walter) to play her favourite song. Also, Dave doesn't know anything about this woman all he knows isPlay Misty For Me is about Dave who's played by the man himself (Clint Eastwood) who works at KRML radio on the nights and he keeps getting requests from a young woman called Evelyn (Jessica Walter) to play her favourite song. Also, Dave doesn't know anything about this woman all he knows is she's requesting a song and she's started to flirt with him and he's wanting to meet her in person. Dave and Evelyn finally meet each other in a bar surprisingly and he later realizes what she's really like and I must say Jessica Walter did such a great job on well playing a psychopath throughout this movie. Finally, I've got to say there's some really unexpected moments throughout this movie which work quite well and Clint Eastwood's character is a badass from start to finish. Overall, the movie's got a great plot about this psychopathic woman coming into Dave's life and trying to ruin it for him. Also, there's some great action scenes throughout and this is quite a small thing but I really liked the clothing choices for the characters I honestly thought they went well with the year it's set in. Anyways, it's a great movie about a psychopathic woman trying to ruin Clint's life and he's got to think of a way to sort things out with her. I really enjoyed this movie from start to finish and I'm not going to say anymore about this film because I'll end up spoiling it but anyways, it's honestly worth the watch.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Nov 25, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a somewhat chilling suspense thriller, a bit like an early version of Single White Female almost, with the stereotypical female psycho character present. I thought aspects of the plot were a little...unlikely, to say the least - I mean that in terms of what the main character, the DJ Dave Garver does (or more, doesn't do, such as alerting authorities to certain things). Its fair to say Clint Eastwood plays yet another cool, calm and collected type in this film, like many of his other roles.

It would be wrong to say that this isn't an unsettling watch at times and there are certainly some jump scares present - its not quite an all-out horror film, as the plot takes a while to build and its not a constant slasher-fest sort of a film but thats not necessarily a bad thing, as it makes what happens feel more realistic in a sense.

There are some good bits of dialogue and I thought it was a fairly good film, although perhaps a little cliched - for one thing, why is it when its a female killer she is so screamy? its a typical depiction of a crazed lady - don't get me wrong, its not laughably tame or un-thrilling, it just felt a little (perhaps unnecessarily) cliched. Overall its a reasonably good film, its somewhat atmospheric although im not sure I'd especially recommend it as such.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

r96sk

Jan 26, 2022

Not convinced it's necessarily a great film per se, but 'Play Misty for Me' really does a very good at unsettling the viewer!

Jessica Walter is the sole reason for that. As good as Clint Eastwood is, as he makes his directorial debut, Walter gives a superb performance as the unnervingNot convinced it's necessarily a great film per se, but 'Play Misty for Me' really does a very good at unsettling the viewer!

Jessica Walter is the sole reason for that. As good as Clint Eastwood is, as he makes his directorial debut, Walter gives a superb performance as the unnerving Evelyn Draper - one that'll live in the memory, for sure. Elsewhere on the cast, it's neat to see Don Siegel - one of Eastwood's long time collaborators - make a cameo.

I have some minor remarks about this, like the editing is a tad iffy in parts, but all in all nothing important. I'd recommend this, to put it simply.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Compi24

Nov 15, 2017

With this directorial debut from Clint Eastwood, we have a film that accidentally ends up being a kind of surprisingly emblematic microcosm of the filmography that would continue beyond it - at least in my eyes. Like a large portion of Eastwood films, "Play Misty For Me" is not perfect.With this directorial debut from Clint Eastwood, we have a film that accidentally ends up being a kind of surprisingly emblematic microcosm of the filmography that would continue beyond it - at least in my eyes. Like a large portion of Eastwood films, "Play Misty For Me" is not perfect. Often operating at a gentle simmer rather than a rolling boil, it takes its time to build its suspense and tension, often sacrificing the viewer's attention here and there. But when it's on it's really on, especially with some of the more intense scenes and the film's truly hilarious (in the best way) conclusion. Also there's a lot of jazz. So, yeah. Definitely an Eastwood film. Overall, though, it's definitely worth a watch. Not just if you're an Eastwood fan, but if you're a fan of thrillers or the "psychotic ex-lover" subgenre, which this movie is kind of an nifty prototype of.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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