Play Misty for Me

Universal | minutes | | | Standard DVD reviewed by: Christopher Bligh

After many years of being the Man with No Name (he had a few) in Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy, Clint Eastwood came off singing his heart out painting his wagon and was looking to broaden his horizons as a filmmaker. What he got was some nice advice from Don Siegel and an opportunity to direct a feature at Universal. The only catch is that he had to star in the piece as well. The film tells a suspense tale of a man, some women and a song with the four word Casey Kasem-esque long distance dedication, Play Misty For Me.

Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood) is a late-night California DJ with a little verse and a pleasant set of jazzy favorites. One of his daily requests comes from a mysterious caller requesting the song "Misty". It just so happens one night that this caller, Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter) decides to introduce herself at one of Dave's favorite nightspots. They talk and things go well but as time goes by, Evelyn starts to become obsessive with Dave and things slowly but surely start to turn deadly, especially when Dave's long distance girlfriend (Donna Mills) comes back into the picture.

For a first movie by any filmmaker, Play Misty for Me is a decent read on paper and can make for an average first time affair, but through the eyes of Clint Eastwood it turns out to be one of the most impressive debuts. His scenic shots of California in the opening credits are a thing of beauty and leaves some room for some nice silhouette shots later in the film. He also does a good job creating a three-way situation between the women and Dave is done with some ease and comes boiling slowly but in that time. The film deals with obsession in a way that any man can be fearful of even when possessive minds come into the picture.

Clint does a fine job as Dave, a happily single man who enjoys his work and is up for anything when it comes to a beautiful lady, but things do complicate themselves when he wants to end one to restart another from the past. His struggle results in a bit of Murphy's law in his personal life.

Jessica Walter gives a powerful performance as the desperate, lonely Evelyn who will do anything to win the heart of Dave even if it means turning to violent measures with her competition. She starts out nice and loving but turns out slowly but surely to be blinded by a love that worn out it's welcome sooner than expected.

Also worth noting is the appearance of Eastwood film director Don Siegel in a small cameo as the bartender friend of Dave's that's always up for a round of Cry Bastion.

At one point, the film comes to a screeching halt and the audience is given time to breathe, but once it gets going again, it gets going in a chilling suspenseful way thanks to the tight editing of the second half, the use of music and the satisfying climax. This film has spawned off many knockoffs in the past years, but in the end there is always one original and Play Misty for Me still plays well after all those years.

After many years in VHS and LD pan and scan hell, Play Misty for Me gets the anamorphic treatment on DVD restoring the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and in turn giving an impressive print with a few hints of grain but not too much. The transfer has a few blotches and the look of the film is pretty common amongst the films of the seventies that may not get the clarity that some of the films today have but have a look all it's own despite some darker scenes being lighter than they should be and daylight scenes coming just right visually. A very good transfer.

The track for Play Misty for Me is in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono and the results are good providing a strong track full of music and effects. They range fairly well throughout the back channels but the majority of the track comes from the middle and despite the track's age and a fair amount of seventies muteness, there is a audible charge of a scream in the track that comes out sharper than expected. This disc also has a Spanish and French track along with English subtitles.

Play Misty for Me is given Universal's Collector's Edition treatment and it provides a fair amount of worthy supplements starting off with an impressive documentary entitled "Play It Again: A Look Back at Play Misty For Me".

On this documentary, practically all the players are interviewed present day reflecting on filming, acting and casting this feature. It's provides a good montage on the work that Eastwood did up to this point and rolls into the documentary full of stories, reflections and the struggle to keep Misty as the song of the film which Universal at first objected to. Wonderfully put together by the great DVD documentarian Laurent Bouzereau, it's a very entertaining piece and a nice reminiscence of the picture.

Next is the featurette, "The Beguiled, Misty, Don and Clint" with a short recollection of the working relationship with Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel. It's brief and Clint provides some interesting info in a short and sweet manner.

After that, is "Clint Eastwood on DVD", another short featurette this time focusing on the thoughts of Eastwood and his work in the DVD format. It's brief and introduced me to the word cineaste and I'm glad it did with an addition of some knowledge along with a fine short piece.

After that are three photo galleries set to the score of Play Misty for Me and two can be mistaken for featurettes. The first two, Photograph Montage and Clint Eastwood Directs and Acts show photographically behind the scenes work along with some publicity shots for the film by all the players and crew.

The third, the Evolution of the Poster, shows the different concepts the studio was going to go with marketing the film (along with a different title).

Finally are cast and crew bios, production notes on the making of the film as well as the film's theatrical trailer, which is quite impressive by seventies standards, along with recommendations of other Universal titles including a trailer for Boogeymen.

One of the most memorable directorial debuts turns out to be a most impressive DVD in the end as the Collector's Edition of Play Misty For Me displays Universal at the top of their game both transfer and supplement wise showing sometimes not everything has to be explained or described to the viewer on a commentary track. Even though it might be welcomed either way, it doesn't hurt the impressively recommended title.