Play Misty For Me (1971) ****

Actors always want to be directors. It seems to be a right of passage that every actor seems to think that they can do a better job than the guy behind the camera. Clint Eastwood seemed to be one of those actors and in 1971 Universal allowed Clint Eastwood to take a crack at directing, thinking that if we throw him a bone he'll do another western for the studio. Instead he gave them a little thriller called Play Misty For Me that planted the seeds of a second career as an actor.

Clint Eastwood stars as Dave Garver, a small town jazz disc jockey tom cats around town on a wave of popularity. But good old Dave is trying to change his ways and get back with his steady girlfriend Toby (Donna Mills). The problem is he's gotten involved with a fan who requests Misty nightly named Evelyn (Jessica Walter). Dave saw their relationship as a typical one night stand. Evelyn is more clingy than that. And a little more violent as he tries to juggle his new problem with his old flame.

Play Misty For Me represents Eastwood's first work behind the camera and shows that he had been studying a bit. Misty is a solid film that delivers it thrills with a cast that is above average. Eastwood and Walter really carry the film with Donna Mills over acting a bit in her damsel that doesn't know she's in distress role. For all of Eastwood's good direction, there are a few sequences that tend to show how green he was behind the camera, particularly the long winded Robert Flack and Monterey Jazz sequences that drag the film to a grinding halt. Thankfully, Eastwood gets the film back on track after these horrendous segments.

For a directorial debut Play Misty For Me is a solid piece of film making from Clint Eastwood. It's a film that was ahead of it's time in that it led the obsessed love interest craze that have filled cinemas by over fifteen years. It's also a representation of the first effort of a director whose career has exploded into better films as time has past. Yes, Misty is dated, but it's still a classic thriller that stands the test of time (wardrobe excluded).