Play It Again: A Look Back at 'Play Misty for Me'

This documentary, featured on the Collector's Edition DVD for "Play Misty for Me" and dedicated to Don Siegel, discloses additional information about the story, the screenplay, the production and casting of this film. Clint Eastwood tells details of Jo Heims' story, how Universal bought the rights and he was successful in directing this movie, with a low budget and a tight schedule. Jessica Walters tells how much she loved making this film. The still very beautiful Donna Mills tells how she was invited to participate in this movie through the indication of Burt Reynolds. There are also the participation of the producer Robert Daley and the film historian and author Richard Schickel. This documentary, released in 2001 in the Collector's Edition DVD for "Play Misty for Me", was shamefully released in Brazil by Columbia and Universal (together) without subtitle in Portuguese. None of the Extras have subtitles in Portuguese, only in English and Japanese, showing the common total of respect of Columbia and Universal with the Brazilian consumers. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Play It Again: A Look Back at Play Misty for Me"

Play It Again: A Look Back at Play Misty for Me (2001)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Good, 45-minute documentary on the making of PLAY MISTY FOR ME, the now classic shocker that marked the directing debut of Clint Eastwood who also played the lead. Eastwood is joined here by producer Robert Daley, writer Dean Reisner and co-stars Jessica Walter and Donna Mills. Eastwood starts off talking about his desires to direct and what brought him to this story. We hear how he almost lost the picture until he signed a deal with Universal and then he goes into details on how he got to direct the part. The casting is discussed in detail as is the entire production including talk about the $725,000 budget and how they had to spend $25,000 to get the rights to the song Misty, which the studio at first didn't want to do. All of the people involved are very energetic as they look back on the making of the film and we get all sorts of good stories. Eastwood, as usual, is at the top of his game as he's always entertaining to listen to. He goes into great detail about the production as well as the post-production when the film was finally released to some mixed reviews. We hear about some changes that were made to the screenplay while they were in production as well as why the ending was changed from the book. Fans of the film are certainly going to enjoy hearing the stars look back on the film and it's certainly worth watching after seeing the movie.

Writer-producer-director Laurent Bouzereau's modestly-made 49mn featurette on the filming of Clint Eastwood's 1971 shocker "Play Misty For Me", released on the Collector's Edition DVD, is informative and entertaining for fans, using lots of great stills and movie clips. From the time he was a star on TV's "Rawhide", Eastwood wanted the chance to direct. Encouraged by his mentor, director Don Siegel, Eastwood went to Universal Pictures' chairman Lew Wasserman and asked to direct a script they just optioned about a radio disc-jockey who attracts a psychopathic fan (the original treatment was written by Jo Heims, a friend of Eastwood's, who based her plot on a friend she knew who stalked a man). The project was greenlit under the proviso that Eastwood direct for gross profits but no salary (how's that for a Hollywood bargain?). Yet Eastwood didn't mind, saying, "I would have done it for nothing. They were smart not to wanna pay me." Cameras rolled in 1970 in Carmel, CA after a brush-up on the script by screenwriter Dean Riesner, who had worked with Clint on "Coogan's Bluff". Some interesting tidbits: Eastwood chose Jessica Walter for the female lead after seeing a certain angry expression on her face in "The Group", though the studio was pushing for Lee Remick; Burt Reynolds told Clint about Donna Mills, whom he had just worked with on an episode of "Dan August", and Eastwood cast her for the love-interest based solely on the dailies; the charge for using Errol Garner's song "Misty" was $25K--the budget of the film came in at approximately $725K--which may be why Universal suggested using "Strangers in the Night" instead; Eastwood heard Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" on the car radio driving to work and wanted to use it ("I had a little bit of a problem buying it, but we finally got it."); Walter's wardrobe budget was just $300, and she learned early on that her director desired the natural look (i.e., no makeup); Mills loved working with Walter and lived in her guest-house in Los Angeles after production wrapped. Great fun! *** from ****