Review of Play Misty for Me (1971) by Paul P — 07 Feb 2010

Nearly 40 years on, this film has lost little of it's power or influence. As far as debut's go, Clint showed from the very beginning that he knows how to tell a story.

Visually, this film is terrific, rarely has California been made to look so inviting and the soundtrack is just a pleasure to listen to. Clint under plays nicely and he doesn't try to make his DJ all that likeable. When he starts to pay the price for his casual treatment of the women in his life, he still manages to get you on his side despite not having that many redeeming features, which is pretty impressive. Clearly the most memorable part of this film is Lucille Bluth herself, Jessica Walter playing our stalker. She is terrific in this and Clint exploits her work here to great effect.

This film set the standard for the copycats that followed and it still hasn't been bettered.