No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jack Smight

Writers:

John Gay (writer)
William Goldman (novel)

Release Date:

20 March 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller

Plot:

A crafty serial killer plays a game of cat-and-mouse with a harried police detective trying to track him down.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Homosexual | Black Comedy | Jewish Cop | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win

Cast

Rod Steiger	...	Christopher Gill
Lee Remick	...	Kate Palmer
George Segal	...	Morris Brummel
Eileen Heckart	...	Mrs. Brummel
Murray Hamilton	...	Inspector Haines
Michael Dunn	...	Mr. Kupperman
Martine Bartlett	...	Alma Mulloy
Barbara Baxley	...	Belle Poppie
Irene Dailey	...	Mrs. Fitts
Doris Roberts	...	Sylvia Poppie
Ruth White	...	Mrs. Himmel
Val Bisoglio	...	Detective Monaghan
David Doyle	...	Lieutenant Dawson
Kim August	...	Sadie

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Sol C. Siegel Productions

Trivia:

One of the names of actors on poster outside theater is William Henry Pratt -- real name of Boris Karloff.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first victim is identified both in a line of dialogue and in the end credits as "Alma Mulloy." However, when the killer is reading about the murder in the paper, the news article lists her name as "Alice Mulloy."

Quotes:

Sylvia Poppie: Is that one of your own wigs you're wearing?
Christopher Gill: You don't look like Cleopatra, honey.
Belle Poppie: Don't raise your voice!
Sylvia Poppie: You homo.
Christopher Gill: Doesn't mean you're a bad person.

Soundtrack:

A QUIET PLACE

Comic thriller was way ahead of its time...

ROD STEIGER has an actor's field day assuming many different disguises when he decides to play a cat-and-mouse game with detective GEORGE SEGAL who is hot on his trail to capture a serial killer. That about sums up the plot contrivances of NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, which has Steiger donning various make-up disguises so that he can gain entry into unsuspecting female's apartments and promptly strangle them.

The dark humor is always on the surface of this comic showcase for actor Steiger, who dons each disguise with relish and gives a performance you're not likely to forget.

EILEEN HECKART is his overbearing (ultra so) Jewish mother who has unwittingly driven her son to the brink of madness. She's so good at "overbearing" that she almost drives the audience mad too, but LEE REMICK is rather wasted in a colorless role as a dame who's been around the block a few times and likes to spout smart talk. It's not a well developed role and Remick can do little with it but look good in plenty of make-up and mascara.

For pure titillation and subject matter, this is way ahead of its time, a comic thriller that is largely forgotten and deserves some attention, if only for Rod Steiger's tour de force role, all played in tongue-in-cheek manner.