Movies - TV
Clint Eastwood Borrowed A Small-But-Impactful Element Of Psycho For Play Misty For Me
By JEREMY SMITH
1971 turned out to be a pivotal year for Clint Eastwood, as the star branched out of his usual niche with roles in “The Beguiled,” “Dirty Harry, and “Play Misty for Me.” In fact, Eastwood starred and directed “Play Misty for Me,” about a woman who mistakes a one-night stand for a romantic commitment, and the actor said he borrowed from “Psycho” while filming the movie.
Eastwood said that he learned the value of heightened suspense from Hitchcock. The actor-director said, “with stories about psychotic people, there's no identification factor. In a picture like ‘Psycho,’ the real highlights of the film are strictly the shock and the suspense.” He added, that in his film he channeled “the same kind of suspense and energy as Hitchcock used.”
Eastwood was originally drawn to Jo Heims’ story for “Play Misty for Me,” because “there are incidents like this in everyone’s life, to some degree, this whole thing of interpretation of commitment, or misinterpretation of commitment.” Indeed, when Eastwood’s Dave pushes Jessica Walter’s crazed character off a cliff, the audience feels a palatable relief.