KL Studio Classic Tunes into Clint Eastwood’s Thrilling Directorial Debut in 4K
DIRECTED BY CLINT EASTWOOD/1971
4K UHD STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 19, 2024/KL STUDIO CLASSICS
In an April 2018 ZekeFilm “Film Admissions” piece devoted to the directorial works of Eastwood, I contributed the following words about my own introductory viewing of Play Misty for Me:
“With an unmistakable voice, in more ways than one, it’s somehow fitting that Clint Eastwood would make his directorial debut in a film in which he plays a radio personality.
They say that radio, for whatever reason, brings out the crazies. If Clint Eastwood’s debut directorial effort is any indication, they couldn’t be more right. Jessica Walter plays a woman obsessed with KRML disc jockey Dave Garver, played by a spry Eastwood. Garver is a man of his time and place, holding to an open relationship with a longtime gal pal with benefits (Donna Mills). When a one-night fling with Walter’s character sends her into Glenn Close Fatal Attraction territory, things get tense, deadly, and even stabby.
It’s been widely reported that Eastwood never yells “action” while directing, instead opting for a more settling cue of ‘okay’. Whether or not he’d adopted this practice at this earliest of points in his esteemed directing career, one thing is for sure- there are long stretches where the lack of action is felt. That’s not to say that Play Misty for Me is a boring movie-ultimately, it becomes quite thrilling. But the art of pacing and trimming the fat is something he’d yet to perfect.
An odd observation in this first-time viewing: The two main women both have tightly cropped helmet hair, whereas Eastwood gets to sport the wildest fly-away hair of his career. Also, Eastwood comfortably wearing big-collared patterned polyester shirts and bell bottom jeans the whole time is yet another naturally time capsuling element of this otherwise fairly timeless story- no sin unto itself, but a point of attention, nonetheless. More glaring in its omission in a Clint Eastwood film of this era in his career: a gun. Rather, he gets to, for the very first of many times, indulge his deep love of jazz music. The characters even visit the actual Monterey Jazz Festival, and we all get to watch a live performance for several minutes.
Play Misty for Me is a film that’s compellingly in love with its visual textures, dwelling prolongedly at times on the uneven ripples of the ocean, the sand on the beach, the leaves of the woods. And that’s not to mention Garver’s house, itself an isolated, dark, labyrinthine dwelling sporting all manner of antiques, art, the occasional floor-to-ceiling barky tree trunk(!), and some always interesting crinkling reflective gold wallpaper, left over from the old world. In short, it’s a production designer’s dream.
Yes, Eastwood’s voice is unmistakable, both his physical speaking voice, and his authorial voice. Somewhat unpredictable, but ever unmistakably his own, the iconic patriarch has picked up the torch of his own experiential influences, Sergio Leone and Don Siegel (who makes his own acting debut as a bartender in Misty), breaking new ground, pushing new boundaries, and ruminating on things to do with death.”
*****
Since then, Kino Lorber released an extras-packed edition of Play Misty for Me on Blu-ray, a tremendously worthwhile addition to its impressive array of Clint Eastwood titles from his earlier days. Now, the label one-ups itself with a 4K UHD upgrade that not only ports over all the previous supplemental material but adds a newly recorded audio commentary to its bullet points.
The first of two audio commentary tracks on this release is a lively one by screenwriter/producer Alan Spencer, creator of the great late-‘80s TV comedy , Sledge Hammer!, itself a Clint Eastwood homage. Spencer begins his track with tongue unmistakably in cheek, welcoming us to the dulcet sounds of “radio K-I-N-O, Kino Lorber.” While providing the requisite film facts and anecdotes, Spencer takes the opportunity to critique and satirize contemporary audio commentaries by Kino Lorber’s familiar stable of “film historians.”
In quoting the lead actor on his casting of Don Siegel, Spencer’s shift into an appropriately raspy Eastwood impression is something of a groaner. That is, until he immediately follows it with a Don Siegel retort, itself an unexpectedly nasally impression. “These movies serve as time capsules of their eras, reflecting the mores of the period; things that are no longer acceptable- like Clint’s hair and those slacks.” The unexpected self-one-upmanship is exemplary of the fun that Spencer allows himself to have while also delivering the informational goods one expects from a commentary track by an outsider to the subject at hand. This fun carries over to the viewer, providing one allows for it amid a generally unfunny film of certain cinematic significance such as this.
Later, when Walters’ character shows up at Clint’s door then promptly drops her coat revealing herself in all her bare glory, Spencer observes that back then, you couldn’t just send nude photos with one click. “You had to show up and make an effort.” Still later, following a flurry of informed one-liners about Eastwood’s extended inclusion of the 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival, Spencer quips that Evelyn performs “The First Time Ever I Stabbed Your Face”, a warped reference to the film’s inclusion of the Roberta Flack hit, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” He does, however, cut the comedy long enough to seriously advise viewers who may find themselves the target of a real-life stalker to not engage, and turn over all correspondence to the police. Then, back to schtick. The track is a refreshing keeper, one that’s quite a scream up to its very final moment.
Altogether free of any such serious tomfoolery are the carload of pre-existing bonus features that were originally created or sourced for the label’s 2020 Blu-ray release of the title. Accordingly, all but Tim Lucas’ audio commentary does not make the jump to the new 4K triple-layered UHD100 disc, allowing maximum bitrate allocation for the film itself. The decision serves Play Misty for Me extremely well, getting the most from the film’s brand new HDR/Dolby Vision Master, itself sourced from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative. The disc’s presentation of the film is grandly in keeping with its tactile early-1970s aesthetic. Fortunately, KL includes that Blu-ray disc, with all its extras, alongside of the new main attraction.
Tim Lucas’ commentary from 2020 is so startlingly well researched that one couldn’t be blamed for considering it the last word on Play Misty for Me. Not only does he continually contextualize the otherwise likeable main character’s cavalier chauvinism but discusses his exquisite cliffside home and its beautiful surrounding locale, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California- a place of great significance to Eastwood. He goes so far as to break down the title song’s lyrics line by line in context to the characters and plot of Play Misty for Me. It’s honestly the kind of move that only Tim Lucas could truly pull off on an audio commentary. This track is also highly recommended.
Next up is a terrific interview with co-star Donna Mills, who enthusiastically discusses how she got the role of Eastwood’s girlfriend in the film, and what it was like to work with him on his directorial debut. The interview is a product of the COVID-19 era, which means that the video and sound quality are that of a lo-fi Zoom call (which it is). But on the plus side, the pandemic may well have enabled the availability of Mills in the first place, and most definitely freed her up to spend as much time regaling us with her memories as she does.
Then it’s back into thorough analytical mode with Split/Screen: Clint Eastwood, Play Misty for Me & The Feminine Abstraction, a video essay created and narrated by Howard S. Berger. At a sprawling run time of nearly seventy-five minutes, Berger leaves few if any stones unturned in this laidback deep dive into the film’s themes of “divided selves” and the metaphorical conceit of the unwell homicidal stalker Evelyn as “the Evelyn monster”- a horror of David (Clint’s) and Tobie’s (Donna Mills’) own unintentional creation.
Per Berger’s analysis, Evelyn’s emergence was an inevitable side effect of both characters problems. While certain observations and conclusions floated here might strike one as “a bit much”, that completely subjective criticism is the only one that can be leveled at this excellently crafted piece, one that Berger rightly labels “A Thematic Examination”, then crediting it to “The Flying Maciste Brothers”. According to Berger, that credit refers to a long-running collaboration between himself and Kevin Marr known as “The Destructible Man”, which exists in service of their fascination with on-screen dummy deaths. As Berger said in our correspondence, Play Misty for Me certainly incorporates the dummy death trope, even as it only warrants a mention or two in the video essay. Split/Screen: Clint Eastwood, Play Misty for Me & The Feminine Abstraction is a terrifically packed piece that gives an abundance of food for thought.
The rest of the features date back significantly further. From the early 2000s is the nearly one-hour retrospective, Play It Again… A Look Back at Play Misty for Me: Documentary. This doc marks the only participation of Eastwood amid these features. Thankfully, he appears extensively, sharing his memories and stories about the opportunity to make the film, and then making it. All the key players are in this studio-made piece, including Mills, who basically tells the same stories the same way that she does on the 2020 Zoom interview.
Even older is a brief piece called The Beguiled, Misty, Don and Clint: Featurette. This is literally in service of an altogether different Clint Eastwood movie, but it does hail from the same era and is helmed by Don Siegel. Finally, there’s a
“Trailers from Hell” segment on Misty with filmmaker Adam Rifkin, as well as a few stills montages. It’s a lot to stay tuned into, but it’s better to have an abundance than not enough.
I’ll give a final quote and last word to fellow St. Louis Films Critics Association member Lynn Venhaus, whom, upon my mentioning my reviewing of this 4K disc, shared her own vivid memories of seeing Play Misty when it opened circa late 1971: “I saw Play Misty for Me when I was a senior in high school. It was VERY sexy back then, especially when I was sixteen. Jessica Walters was frightening. This was Clint’s love of jazz and music infiltrating his rising star. Donna Mills went on to nighttime TV soap opera (Knot’s Landing). It was one of those movies that met its moment. And Roberta Flack, to boot!”
Special Features:
DISC 1 (4KUHD): • Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative • NEW Audio Commentary by Screenwriter/Producer Alan Spencer • Audio Commentary by Novelist and Critic Tim Lucas • 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio • Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc • Optional English Subtitles
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY): • 2020 2K Master by Kino Lorber • Audio Commentary by Novelist and Critic Tim Lucas • Misty Memories: Interview with Co-Star Donna Mills • Video Essay by Film Historian Howard S. Berger • Play It Again… A Look Back at Play Misty for Me: Documentary • The Beguiled, Misty, Don and Clint: Featurette • TRAILERS FROM HELL with Adam Rifkin • Stills Montage • Clint Eastwood Directs and Acts: Photo Montage • The Evolution of a Poster: Photo Montage • TV Spots • Theatrical Trailer and Teaser • 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio • Dual-Layered BD50 Disc • Optional English Subtitles
Special thanks to Alan Spencer for advocating for this review, and to Kino Lorber for providing a screener copy.