Play Misty For Me
| Play Misty for Me | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Clint Eastwood |
| Produced by | Robert Daley |
| Screenplay by | Jo Heims Dean Riesner |
| Story by | Jo Heims |
| Starring | Clint Eastwood Jessica Walter Donna Mills John Larch |
| Music by |
Dee Barton Erroll Garner |
| Cinematography | Bruce Surtees |
| Edited by | Carl Pingitore |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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November 3, 1971 (US) |
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Running time
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102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $950,000 |
| Box office | $10.6 million |
Play Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The original music score was composed by Dee Barton. In the film, Eastwood plays the role of a radio disc jockey being stalked by an obsessed female fan.
The film was a critical and financial success, with Walter earning praise for her first major film role.
Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood) is a KRML radio disc jockey who broadcasts nightly from a studio in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, often incorporating poetry into his program. He lives a rather freewheeling bachelor lifestyle. At his favorite bar, seemingly by chance, he encounters a woman named Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter). Dave drives her home, where she reveals that their meeting was not accidental; she sought him out after hearing the bar mentioned on his radio show. He guesses correctly that she is the recurring caller who always requests the jazz standard "Misty". The two have sex.
A casual relationship begins between Dave and Evelyn. But before long, Evelyn begins to display symptoms of borderline personality disorder. She shows up at Dave's house uninvited. She also follows Dave from his home to workplace at all hours of the day and night. Evelyn phones Dave all the time to demand that he keep her company and not leave her alone for a single minute. The final straw comes when Evelyn disrupts a business meeting, mistaking Dave's lunch companion (Irene Hervey)—a representative who has come to offer him a career opportunity—for his date.
Despite his efforts to gradually and gently sever ties with Evelyn, her unbalanced feelings lead her to attempt suicide in his home by slashing her wrists. After Dave rejects her again, Evelyn breaks into his home where his housekeeper, Birdie (Clarice Taylor), finds her maniacally vandalizing his possessions. Evelyn stabs her with a knife and is subsequently committed to a psychiatric hospital.
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Wikipedia