10 Overlooked First Films By Great Directors
8. Play Misty For Me - Clint Eastwood
Though more famous as an actor, Clint Eastwood has stood behind the camera a few times too.
Although, more often than not, he has also been in the films he's directed. What an ego, honestly.
His first directorial effort was Play Misty For Me, which sounds like Clint really wanted someone to pretend to be the redhead from the original Pokémon anime.
Instead, the film stars Eastwood as a radio DJ being stalked by an obsessive fan. Instead of demanding autographs and video messages, the fan instead demands that Eastwood's character fall in love with her. This goes about as well as you'd expect.
Play Misty For Me is a far cry from Clinty Boy's regular roles as an all-action man. He plays a regular fella in this film, completely at the mercy of his fanatical follower. Said follower is portrayed brilliantly by Jessica Walter, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.
The success of this film opened the door for the Dirty Harry star to helm future projects like The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino, all of which star... himself.
We warned you about that ego.