Line #12 Film/PlayMistyForMe


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9	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_936.jpeg]]
10	[[caption-width-right:310:[[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe "And this maiden, she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by you."]]]]
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12	''Play Misty for Me'' is a 1971 American PsychologicalThriller film, marking the directorial debut of its star Creator/ClintEastwood.
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14	Dave Garver (Eastwood) is a womanizing overnight jazz DJ on radio station KRML in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Visiting his LocalHangout after the show, he meets Evelyn Draper (Creator/JessicaWalter), who claims to have been stood up by her date. After he drives her back to her house, she reveals that she's a big fan of Dave's show and that the date story was a lie; she went to the bar (which he talks about on his show) specifically in order to meet him. Dave also figures out that Evelyn is the woman who constantly phones the station while he's on the air, asking him to play Erroll Garner's song "Misty". Agreeing to keep things casual, Dave and Evelyn have a one-night stand.
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16	Afterward, however, Evelyn insists on making herself part of Dave's life, and Dave enjoys the attention... at first. However, his ex-girlfriend Tobie Williams (Creator/DonnaMills) moves back to town and Dave decides to patch things up. After he tries to tell Evelyn that he's not interested in any further involvement, she responds by attempting suicide. Meanwhile, Dave and Tobie get closer, but Evelyn isn't going to take it and tries any way she can to keep Dave to herself, even if it means getting rid of Tobie for good...
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19	!!This film contains examples of:
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21	* AuthorAppeal: Eastwood's hometown (Carmel, California) and favorite genre of music ({{Jazz}}) are spotlighted throughout the film.
22	* AxCrazy: Evelyn goes into full knife-wielding psycho mode in the final act.
23	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted. [[spoiler:The first of the two people Evelyn attacks in the movie is Dave's black housekeeper, but she survives, although her involvement in the plot does end there.]]
24	* BriefsBoasting: Dave has a nightmare in which Evelyn comes up to his bed to stab him and wakes up, feeling like it was real. He goes outside and looks around the yard in just his (slightly baggy) tighty whities to investigate.
25	* TheCameo: Creator/DonSiegel, who directed Eastwood in such films as ''Film/TwoMulesForSisterSara'' and ''Film/DirtyHarry'', was on set to give Eastwood directing advice, and also took an on-camera role as Murphy the bartender.
26	* CampGay: Tobie's artist friend Jay Jay, complete with affected voice, fey mannerisms, and DeadpanSnarker tendencies.
27	* DirtyOldMan: Murphy calls himself this, after unsuccessfully trying to woo Evelyn on the phone when Dave refuses her call.
28	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Evelyn is accidentally pushed off a cliff by Dave.]]
29	* FictionalBoardGame: Dave Garver and his friendly bartender set up an impromptu game on a bar napkin with four pieces each. It's played similarly to chess, with analysis and strategy. Dave wins the game, and attracts the attention of a pretty patron, Evelyn. He later admits the game was a ruse to break the ice.
30	* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Evelyn (Dark) has brown hair, stalks Dave and has a violent side. Tobie (Light) is blonde, sweet, and genuinely loves Dave.
31	* LoonyFan: Evelyn starts off as an avid fan of Dave's show, but then decides to insert herself into his life.
32	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Evelyn isn't exactly in perfect mental health to begin with, but she becomes totally obsessed with Dave and will do anything to have him to herself.
33	* MaskOfSanity: Evelyn's quirky, cheerful, almost GenkiGirl persona early on eventually disappears as her obsession with Dave grows.
34	* TheMentallyDisturbed: Evelyn has some serious mental problems. She has traits of both bipolar disorder (going from "up" states where she's either bubbly or violent to almost catatonic depressive states, suicidal urges) and borderline personality disorder (sudden mood changes, impulsiveness, fear of abandonment; the title of one of the classic books about BPD, ''I Hate You--Don't Leave Me'', pretty well sums her up attitude toward Dave after Tobie enters the picture).
35	* MoralityPet: Tobie is one for Dave, showing us that he's not just a womanizing cad, and that he has a sensitive side and is willing to change himself for the better.
36	* MurderTheHypotenuse: This is clearly Evelyn's ultimate intention with Tobie, [[spoiler:but Dave stops her]].
37	* NotGoodWithRejection: Dave starts to move away from Evelyn as her obsessive side starts showing, then backs out of the relationship once he gets back together with OldFlame Tobie. This finally pushes Evelyn over the edge.
38	* PsychopathicWomanChild: Evelyn initially acts like a smitten teenage girl when she deals with Dave. She even buys him a giant stuffed [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]] doll.
39	* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: InUniverse: An altercation with Evelyn at a business meeting at a local restaurant that she believes is a date with another woman costs Dave a job opening at another radio station.
40	* SacrificialLion: At the climax, [[spoiler:Sgt. [=McCallum=], the police detective tracking Evelyn, gets fatally stabbed by her with a pair of scissors]].
41	* SceneryPorn: The Carmel-Monterey coastline is shown to great effect, most memorably the way the waves dominate the frame as Dave and Tobie walk together in the "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" sequence.
42	* SexyCoatFlashing: Evelyn waits for Dave at his house when he starts having second thoughts about their relationship, wearing just a fur-collared trenchcoat, and flashes her naked body to seduce him. She's already begun to show signs of being unhinged by that point, however, so the effect on both Dave and [[FanDisservice the audience]] is rather more creepy than sexy.
43	* StalkerWithACrush: Evelyn, who single-mindedly pursues Dave motivated by obsessive love, is the TropeMaker for this in modern pop culture.
44	* TitleDrop: Long before they even meet, Evelyn regularly calls in to Dave's radio show and asks him to "play 'Misty' for me".
45	* TokenBlackFriend: Al Monte, the too-hip host of the show before Dave's on KRML, is Dave's main confidante in the story.
46	* TraumaticHaircut: At the climax, Evelyn holds Tobie hostage, ties her up and gags her, and tortures her by cutting off pieces of her hair.
47	* WhamLine: Evelyn's crude response ("Yeah, get lost, [[PrecisionFStrike assholes]]!") when a couple of restaurant customers try to intervene in a parking-lot argument between her and Dave is the first indication that she has a genuine nasty streak beneath her cutesy, ladylike front.
48	* WhamShot: When Evelyn is revealed to be Tobie's new roommate.
49	* WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys: Dave is a late night DJ on a small town radio station, but can somehow afford a [[CoolCar vintage Jaguar XK150 convertible]] and a [[CoolHouse stylish, mid-century modern California house, complete with greenery-filled atriums, on a cliff overlooking the ocean]].
50	* {{Yandere}}: Probably one of the earliest examples in film of a female character pursuing her love interest to the point of being willing to commit homicide. This example predates both Alex Forrest from ''Film/FatalAttraction'' (a film that's practically a stealth remake of this one) and Annie Wilkes from ''{{Literature/Misery}}''.

Context Film / PlayMistyForMe