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 1980s affair with the first murder victim in the film, Jamie Rose. J. Hoberman in the "Village Voice" describing Clint as " one of the most masterful under-actors in American movies" and David Denby commenting that he has become a "very troubled movie icon". Others such as Jack Kroll of "Newsweek" noted the sexuality of the film and vulnerability of Eastwood's character, remarking, "He gets better as he gets older; he seems to be creating new nuances". Eastwood next starred in the period comedy "City Heat" (1984) with Burt Reynolds. The film was initially running under the title, "Kansas City Jazz"