Clint Eastwood in the 1970s would be widely screened in France later and is considered one of Eastwood's finest works by the French. According to Eastwood and Lang, the film, aside from being poorly publicized, flopped due to Clint being "emasculated in the film". Eastwood said about his role: 1971 was a professional turning point in Eastwood's career. Before his professional financial adviser and president of Malpaso Productions Irving Leonard died, the last film they discussed was "Play Misty for Me". The goal was to give Eastwood the artistic control that he desired and make it his directorial debut. The rights to the song "Misty"
Clint Eastwood in the 1960s According to Riesner, Eastwood's "face went white and gave me one of those Clint looks". The two soon reconciled their differences and worked on the script, with Eastwood having considerable input. Don Stroud was cast as the psychopathic criminal Coogan was chasing, Lee J. Cobb as the disagreeable New York City Police Department lieutenant, Susan Clark as a probation officer who falls for Coogan, and Tisha Sterling played the drug-addicted lover of Don Stroud's character. Filming began in November 1967, even before the full script had been finalized. The film was controversial for its portrayal of violence, but it launched