The film Play Misty For Me was the 1971 directorial debut for acclaimed actor (and now director) Clint Eastwood. The “stalking” plot centers around a brief fling between the Carmel, California, DJ Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood) and an ardent “fan” played by Jessica Walter who he soon learns is “fanatically” obsessed with him. If you liked the more recent Fatal Attraction, then this is a film for you!

The famous title of the movie comes from the jazz song, “Misty” (Eastwood is an avid jazz buff), which Walters (as Evelyn Draper) repeatedly and eerily requests from her DJ lover.

“Misty” is a jazz and pop standard composed in the late 1950s by the self-taught pianist Erroll Louis Garner who was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1923. The lyrics to “Misty” were penned by Johnny Burke.

“Because he never learned to read music, the Pittsburgh Musicians Union refused him membership. Unable to play with other musicians in his hometown, he was forced into a career as a soloist. He developed a big lush style filled with dramatic effects to show the full resources of the piano. Ideas for his improvisations came from everywhere—’a big color, the sound of water and the wind, or the flash of something cool.’ One idea came to him while he was flying from Chicago to New York on a wet, cloudy day. Since he was unable to write music, he kept humming the melody over and over to keep it in his mind. As soon as the plane landed, he rushed to a piano and put the tune on tape. He called it “Misty” in honor of the weather.” —Reader’s Digest Festival of Popular Songs

“…Garner enjoyed more television exposure than most jazz artists, appearing on the Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Perry Como, Merv Griffin…as well as the Today and Tonight shows…” —The Encyclopedia of JAZZ in the Sixties

“Misty” has been recorded hundreds of times by popular singers and jazz ensembles including Pat Boone, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald. Perhaps the best known cover of the song was made by Johnny Mathis in 1959 and reached #12 on the Top 40 charts.

Play Misty For Me on IMDb.