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Play Misty for Me (1971)

post #1 of 20
7/25/08 at 5:41am
Thread Starter 
I don't know if I was expecting the Unforgiven of thrillers (and by that I mean a deconstruction of the genre, not a film as good as Unforgiven) but I was surprised at how light-weight this film is. It does its job well though, it's very suspenseful and it's made better by just how insanely creepy Jessica Walter is. I just can't believe how off-kilter she manages to play from frame one (it fucked with my head to discover she voiced an important part of my childhood as Fran Sinclair on Dinosaurs!). Clint Eastwood has a great radio voice too.

The ending is extremely anti-climactic though if you ask me. Evelyn slashes Dave a few times and Eastwood delivers admittedly one hell of a sucker punch causing her to fall out of the window to her death. I guess I was looking for a little bit more of a confrontation between the two.
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post #2 of 20
7/25/08 at 8:30am
Well to be fair it's a woman versus a man. I mean thats why they have those domestic abuse laws. However if she was Kathy Bates size and Clint was crippled then I would agree with you.
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post #3 of 20
7/25/08 at 8:46am
I think this film loses a lot of its impact in the post-Fatal Attraction, pychosexual thriler-filled world we live in. But think about how few films were as graphically depicting the events of this film in the early 70's and I imagine it was pretty full on. I know my dad said it scared the hell out of him when he saw it on its original release. I think its still a very powerful film and there are sequences in it that are incredibly well-constructed.

I get what you mean about the ending, but as (directing) debuts go, it was a ballsy move for Eastwood and an interesting role for him following on from mostly westerns or procedurals. Its actually one of my favourite films that he has directed (after Unforgiven and a few others, obviously).
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post #4 of 20
2/16/10 at 10:47pm
In a way, this film feels like a comment on the darkside of the sexual revolution, I'll never look at one night stands the same way again. It's a shame Jessica Walters didn't get better roles after this film, she's just terrific as the unbalanced and psychotic Evelyn, even her laugh screams attention whore with a side order of psycho.

The film really builds towards it's conclusion, it starts off almost as some kind of romantic drama then after Evelyn attacks Bertie goes into full on psychosexual mode.

As a debut, it's totally solid. The film feels like it could've come from an old pro, it shows what Clint learned during his time with Siegel and Leone.
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post #5 of 20
2/16/10 at 10:54pm
Saw this film for the first time last year when I picked up that Universal Clint Eastwood collection. Really creepy/great thriller. The way Jessica Walters goes from crazy to "nice" is some damn fine acting on her part. Clint does a great job as usual too. A very interesting directorial debut for him.
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post #6 of 20
2/16/10 at 11:53pm
I think I got the same collection, some good little gems in that collection.
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post #7 of 20
2/17/10 at 12:12am
Definitely. It's the only way to get the anamorphic version of The Eiger Sanction.
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post #8 of 20
2/17/10 at 12:24am
I'm not sure Kael ever forgave Clint for thhis one. The sexual dynamics/politics obviously rubbed her the wrong way.
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post #9 of 20
2/17/10 at 12:34am
Clint's films have always had a weird relationship when it came to women, this was just more overt. If it had been a guy I doubt she would've batted an eye.
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post #10 of 20
2/17/10 at 1:17am
I like when the movie stops for 15 minutes while Clint goes to the Monterey Jazz Festival.
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post #11 of 20
2/17/10 at 1:29am
Best Eastwood love scene accompanied by Roberta Flack vocals ever. So sensual.
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post #12 of 20
2/17/10 at 2:13am
That opening shot really is kind of impressive, I think Richard Donner used a similar shot for Lethal Weapon.
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post #13 of 20
2/17/10 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
I like when the movie stops for 15 minutes while Clint goes to the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Yes! Hopefully he throws some Glastonbury footage into HEREAFTER, for old times' sake.
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post #14 of 20
2/17/10 at 1:22pm
I had a high school girlfriend who loved scary movies (which resulted in a fairly traumatic trip to see Last House On The Left, but that's another story); she really enjoyed this film, and for some reason found the haircutting to be the part that creeped her out the most.

It's got its moments, but while it never fully recovers its pacing from the Monterey Jazz Festival scene, as Phil notes, that's also probably the bit I enjoyed most.
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post #15 of 20
2/17/10 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
I like when the movie stops for 15 minutes while Clint goes to the Monterey Jazz Festival.
I think pretty much every movie from the '70s has a scene like this.
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post #16 of 20
2/17/10 at 5:30pm
This is the very first Eastwood film I ever saw, period, and probably my second favorite of his directorial efforts behind High Plains Drifter. It gets little love because of the bigger and nastier mark of Fatal Attraction, but it got there first. I never found the film to be scary, but that didn't stop Walters from showing up in a nightmare and attacking me with a butcher knife. I woke up none too fucking pleased, I'll tell you that much.

P.S., I love the Monterey Jazz Festival scene, it's like Clint saying, "Yeah, I'm down". Ghetto Pass: Approved.
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post #17 of 20
2/17/10 at 5:35pm
I am guilty of finding Jessica Walters hottt in this, even after she goes psycho. I got a thing for crazy broads.
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post #18 of 20
2/19/10 at 4:52am
This was probably the second Eastwood film that I saw. I know I had to watch Unforgiven for a class, so that was probably number one and this was number two. Jessica Walter really makes the movie. The Monterey Jazz Festival scene is pretty funny to me, too, but I think the sex scene is even funnier. It is the definition of dated, very earnestly passionate in a 1970's way.

In The Cable Guy, during Chip's childhood flashback, this movie is playing on TV. I thought that was a funny shout-out.
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post #19 of 20
2/19/10 at 7:14am
The Monterey Jazz Festival was really there as a plot point. Also, the actor who plays the detective also plays the police chief in Dirty Harry.
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post #20 of 20
5/13/12 at 4:39pm

I finally watched Play Misty For Me last night. Jessica Walter was terrifying as Evelyn. I am just as guilty as Sebastion OB of finding her hot even after she goes psycho.

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