Play Misty for Me is one of my favorite Clint Eastwood films mainly because I am a lifelong fan of suspenseful thrillers and horror movies, which this movie is. The movie not only stars Clint Eastwood, but it is also directed by him, and is noteworthy of being the first film that he directed.

In a nutshell, Play Misty for Me is a tragic tale about an obsessive crazy lady who stalks a man.  Popular radio disc jockey, Dave Garber (Eastwood) meets a fan/listener Evelyn Draper, (Jessica Walter, The Group) who requests to hear the song “Misty” on a nightly basis. She approaches him at his favorite bar one night and hit it off. They wind up spending the night together. Soon after Evelyn starts to become mentally unstable, turning into an obsessive person with frequent uninvited visits to his home and following him around. This starts to aggravate Dave, as he is not interested in having a relationship with her. For me thing, Dave is in love with another woman who broke up with him, Tobie (Donna Mills, The Incident) that he is trying to rekindle their relationship, plus he has noticed Evelyn has been showing signs she has issues. Dave keeps trying to tell her off gently, but cleverly, on a night where it was about to be over, she nearly kills herself at his place, resulting in her staying with him. She continues to follow him upon her recovery, and suddenly goes maniacal when she sees him with another woman in a business meeting at an outdoor restaurant where they are discussing new career. The discussion had nothing to do with sex, but Evelyn is nuts and delusional and has become hateful and filled with a jealous rage, she explodes right in front of him. Dave throws her into a cab and tells her to drive off! Later, she gets arrested and taken to a psychiatric institution for nearly murdering Dave’s cleaning lady, but the situation is not over and done with. Evelyn comes back again, on a murderous rampage, screaming at the top her lungs taking stabs at him with a pair of scissors while his girl Tobie is also threatened by this crazy woman!   

Play Misty for Me is a fantastic, intense thriller. The acting by everyone in the cast is superb. Jessica Walter going way over-the-top as the insane and murderous Evelyn gave her some attention in this early role. She received a Golden Globe Awards nomination as Best Motion Picture Actress for her part! The best and most amusing aspect of the film as that the violent scenes are happening to ridiculous, but excellent mellow jazzy musical scores by Dee Barton. The film also to me has a uniqueness to it as it seems to take a break between Evelyn getting arrested and the final act. During this intermission of sorts the iconic love song “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is played in its entirety, which many may get sentimental after what poor Dave Benton went through. The song is so powerful that it can make you reflect about your own love-life. This is followed by scenes of Dave and his friend Al Monte (James McEachin, Sudden Impact) at a Monterey Jazz Festival. After listening to some hearty jazz music, the time comes to ease back into the thrilling suspense ride of the picture for the great climax. I thought this was a remarkable sequence partly because the film sends you on an emotional rollercoaster from anxiousness to sadness to happiness. Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut was unforgettable, and did a fantastic, effective job in his no-nonsense style of storytelling.  

The excellent cinematography is by Bruce Surtees who captures some wonderful scenery of Monterey, California where the film was shot as well as some gorgeous shots of the ocean in and around Carmel. This scenic part of California has a lot of gorgeous sights to behold.

Kino Lorber re-releases Play Misty for Me on Blu-ray. This time the film has been scanned with new 2K master on a dual-layered BD-50 Blu-ray disc. The film grain is natural, and the film has a more organic look then the previous releases. The video shows a lot of detail to the scenery with deep, rich and bold colors. Black levels are also much stronger with excellent shadow detail. Skin tones also look accurate with a lot of depth to the facial features of the cast in close-ups.

Kino uses the English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 track, which is also strong but not aggressive or overpowering. The screams, jazz music and dialog come in flawlessly without any popping noises, drop-offs or hissing. Optional English subtitles are available.

Play Misty for Me has a slew of extras for this release. There is a new audio commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas, who once again shows why he is amongst the best in the business. Obviously, he talks about the film in great length with a vast number of anecdotal tidbits among the performers, his connections with Jo Heims, film director Donald Siegel, and the jazz music. He has a mellow voice which is fitting for this movie

Other features include an interview with Co-Star Donna Mills, a new video essay by Film Historian Howard S. Berger, Trailers from Hell with Adam Rifkin, a theatrical teaser and a theatrical trailer, both in HD. There are two TV Spots, along with a stills montage are also part of this batch of new extras.  This release has reversible sleeve art and a limited-edition slipcover.

Kino Lorber as always includes trailers from their catalog. This time around we get trailers for more Clint Eastwood films: Play Misty for Me, High Plains Drifter, Breezy and The Eiger Sanction.

But wait, there is still more!

Features from the previous Universal Blu-ray release have been ported over to make this an even sportier offering!  Included in this release are Play It Again… A Look Back at “Play Misty For Me”, “The Beguiled, Misty, Don and Clint “, “Clint Eastwood Directs and Acts: Photo Montage”, and “The Evolution of a Poster” are all part of this immense supplemental package.

Unless this movie gets a UHD release with the same amount or more extras, this new release of Play Misty for Me is going to be the gold standard for years to come. Highly recommended!  

Play Misty for Me

Director- Clint Eastwood

Cast- Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date- 12/12/20