Have I Ever Written About Evelyn Draper? Well, It Is About Time I Did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because She Is A Perfect Bitch Of The Week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Evelyn Draper was the prototype of Alex Forrest.  Long before anyone heard of either Glenn Close, or "Fatal Attraction" there was "Play Misty For Me," wherein Jessica Walter gave probably her best performance as deranged DJ fan of Dave Garver, played by Clint Eastwood.

                                    Made in 1971, as Clint's directorial debut, it follows the same trajectory as "Fatal Attraction."  Attractive man meets attractive woman at a bar.  They strike up a conversation, and the next thing you know they are at his place, having a one night stand.

                                      You guessed it.  She thinks it's the real thing, he does not.  And trouble follows.

                                        Some other things about this film.  It popularized the Roberta Flack classic, " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," by incorporating it into a love scene, with Donna Mills.  

                                           Pre-"Fatal Attraction," there is even a "Madame Butterfly" reference.

                                           And Don Siegel, who just directed Eastwood in the 1971 classic, "The Beguiled," encouraged his directorial ambitions, and appears as the bartender in the bar where  he and Evelyn meet.

                                              As for Evelyn, she is a piece of work, and I love her.  Having looked at footage from both films closely, I think Evelyn is more lethal.  There are moments, in "Fatal Attraction,' where, good as Glenn may be, one can tell she is acting.  This never happens with Jessica Walter.  Her emotional transitions are flawless, and the way she uses her eyes to convey love, hate, desperation, are brilliant.  She never received the acclaim she should have.

                                              My favorite Evelyn line comes when she poses as a woman named Annabel. (The movie also references Poe's poem, "Annabel Lee.")  She roommates with Tobie (whom the audience and she know is Eastwood's girl friend).  Later, when she turns on Tobie, ties her up, and begins chopping at her hair, Evelyn says, "I want him to see what you look like.  Because it is what he is going to take to Hell with him!"

                                                 This lady is lethal, going from emotion to emotion in a second.  She has no political agenda; she is pure ID. Nor does she have a back story. The first time I saw the scene of her standing over the bed with the butcher knife, I jumped out of my seat.  And the audience screamed.  And you have to see her disrupt Garver's business lunch.  It is a classic example of a no boundaries personality.

                                                    If you have never seen this one, you owe it to yourselves.

                                                     "Fatal Attraction" is unquestionably iconic.

                                                     But "Play Misty For Me" is better.

This shot says it all, about Evelyn, and Jessica Walter's performance.

Now, wouldn't it be great to have an Evelyn Draper T-shirt?  Huh, girls?????????????