Play Misty For Me- Amanda's Faves

I'm sure that most people have heard of Play Misty for Me and know that it stars Clint Eastwood as Dave Garver, a successful DJ. It also stars Jessica Walter in a very convincing role as the mentally unbalanced Evelyn Draper. Donna Mills is Dave's ex girlfriend, Tobie. Eastwood directed this film himself and as you can tell from the title of this post, it is a favourite of mine. It was released in 1971 and is a great thriller.

The story is that Dave works as a DJ in California and he has a good life with his own place and plenty of female attention. He has a particular female fan who calls in and asks him to 'play Misty for me' every so often and he is intrigued. When he goes to his local bar, he spots a good looking woman sitting alone. He begins talking to her and he likes her. They go back to her place and she tells him that she is the voice on the phone who wants him to play Misty(a song) for her. Dave tells her that he is hung up on another woman and doesn't want complications and she agrees. They sleep together and it all seems very open and straightforward. Until, she starts turning up in his life unannounced. She starts to call over and intrude on his privacy. He tries to tell her to back off, but the more he does, the worse she gets.She attacks his housekeeper and thrashes his place. She slashes her wrists in his house and he feels bad.He takes care of her and she seems okay again, but she is just waiting to kill him. She finds out about his ex and she sees them reuniting which pushes her over the edge. A great climax sees her trying to kill Dave and Tobie and taking a fall through a window into the sea below.

This is a great thriller with some eerie scenes. Walter plays the part brilliantly as the pathetic but dangerous rejected woman. She keeps coming back and won't take no for an answer. Eastwood is great as the guy who thinks that it is a one night stand, but isn't sure what to do when she loses the plot. He is stuck in an awful situation and cannot get rid of her. The whole movie is building towards the climax in which Evelyn loses what's left of her sanity and goes over the deep end. All in all, a great thriller and if you haven't seen it before, then do. You will be in for a treat!!!