Un frisson dans la nuit

This movie, I suppose, was the first nice-guy-being-stalked-by-psycho-female thriller. And it's quite damn good. Modern audiences might feel the film was too low-key, but I found it very suspenseful. This proves you don't need eerie music (there's very little score on the soundtrack) and continuous gore to create suspense. Jessica Walter is terrifying--maybe not as terrifying as Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction," but she comes pretty close. It's fun--and somewhat hilarious--to see Clint Eastwood as a young man with LOTS of hair. This was his first directorial effort, and he did a fine job. Over 30 years, the premise has become all-too-familiar, so unfortunately the story is predictable. Maybe 1970's audiences found it more shocking. But I was able to predict who would die and when. Nevertheless, I still found "Play Misty For Me" very entertaining and very well-acted. But what was with that jazz concert scene? Clint definitely should've left that on the cutting room floor.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

Too-careful shocker directed and starring Clint Eastwood involves a radio disc-jockey who gets seductive requests by telephone for the song "Misty"--he later meets the overly-friendly female fan and they share a fling, but she 'won't be ignored'. Tense thriller may have been the starting point for Adrian Lyne's "Fatal Attraction", though this one is far less slick. Sometimes an actor is so good in a role that it's impossible to see them as anyone else later in their career; such is the case with Jessica Walter, who nails this part of the psychotic woman--and seems to embody instability itself! Several scenes go on too long, the climax is so dark visually it is nearly incoherent, and there's a jazz festival interlude (and a romantic montage with Eastwood and Donna Mills) that feels like padding, but the central situation is unsettling, well-crafted and well-played. As for Walter, she had a tough time shaking off the affects left behind with this role, which of course is both pro and con. *** from ****

Clint Eastwood certainly learned his lessons well when it came to making his directorial debut, with this now legendary shocker. It may not be all that original, but when it comes to this kind of stalker melodrama, it definitely set a template for others to follow. The pacing wasn't always as tight as this viewer would have liked, but the script (written by Jo Heims and Dean Riesner, based on Heims' story) is often pretty snappy and the film is well cast, and well acted, from top to bottom.

Clint also stars, playing late night jazz D. J. Dave Garver, who learns that he has a devoted admirer in the sexy Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter). They have a brief fling, but Dave finds that Evelyn will be extremely unwilling to let him go. She will also go over the deep end upon her discovery that Dave is busy making amends with another woman, an ex-girlfriend named Tobie (Donna Mills). The balance of the film shows what happens as Evelyns' actions threaten to completely derail Daves' life.

Clint is good in the lead, and Mills is appealing in her part. John Larch is a delight as a sardonic police detective who gets involved when the deranged Evelyn assaults Daves' housekeeper Birdie (Clarice Taylor). All lending their valuable support are Jack Ging, Irene Hervey, and James McEachin. Clint also casts his directing mentor, and five time collaborator, Don Siegel, in the role of Murphy the bartender, and Siegel does a solid and engaging job. But the main reason that "Play Misty for Me" is so memorable is because Walter is so incredible. She is, by turns, amusing, sexy, clingy, pathetic, and ultimately psychotic.

Well filmed, and situated in Clints' old stamping ground, the town of Carmel. In addition to the score by Dee Barton, there's plenty of great music along the way, with some sequences set at the Monterey Jazz Festival. There are brief, jarring bursts of violence, and a fairly effective and suspenseful finale.

This has to rank as one of the most iconic films in this whole sub genre of thrillers.

Seven out of 10.

In the city of Carmel, the popular disc-jockey David Garver (Clint Eastwood) has one night stand with Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter), a strange he met in a bar after his show. The woman, indeed a deranged obsessed fan, stalks David and threatens his life, his girl-friend Tobie Williams (Donna Mills), his friends and even his job.

The debut of Clint Eastwood as director could not be better. This low budget and low paced movie has a simple, but frightening story, which was ripped off at least in the famous "Fatal Attraction" and the teen version "Swimfan". The magnificent landscape and locations in the beautiful city of Carmel, where Clint Eastwood was elected Major many years later, are another attraction. The performance of Jessica Walters is awesome, changing naturally her behavior from a sweet to an aggressive person, really incorporating her character. Clint Eastwood is very cool, as usual, and Donna Mills very gorgeous. I like the unusual break of tension adopted when Evelyn is arrested and Dave and Tobie's routine returns to normal, dating, going to festival, making love, increasing the suspense after the twist point. I do not recall how many times I have seen "Play Misty for Me", a classic and one of the best thrillers of the 70's. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Perversa Paixão" ("Wicked Passion")

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.

I found this trivia interesting. Even though it touches on the early-'70s flashpoints of sexual liberation, studio execs expressed doubts about why anyone would want to see a movie featuring Eastwood as a deejay. Eastwood reportedly answered that he was not sure either, but he thought it was a good suspense story, and he offered his services as director for free. Play Misty for Me wound up making five times more than it cost and is a precursor to such erotic thrillers as Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992). Eastwood mentor Don Siegel appears early on as a bartender.

In the role of the stalker is Jessica Walter who balances between crazed, malevolent psychopath and sweetheart bimbo with a creepy ease. Much of the credit must go to Jessica Walter for her outstanding performance . A highly enjoyable thriller.