No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Taunted by phone calls from a serial killer who dons a different disguise every time he kills, a New York detective struggles to get an upper hand in this odd 'Boston Strangler' variant with comedic touches. As the murderer in question, Rod Steiger delivers a terrific performance, preying on the insecurities of his female victims whilst remaining completing in character until he has won their trust and has the opportunity to strike. George Segal is also fine as the baffled detective and the film gets very riveting in the final quarter as Segal finds ways himself to play mind games with Steiger and prod him into inadvertently revealing personal details. While solid as a thriller, the movie is uneven as a comedy. Eileen Heckart is irritatingly shrill as Segal's henpecking mother, and while there is something to be said for how her pestering is just as annoying for Segal as the killer's taunts, the exchanges between Heckart and Segal are generally unfunny and feel like a distraction from the Steiger main plot. Lee Remick only fares slightly better than Heckart as Segal's love interest and her subplot feels like a distraction too. The film consistently works though when Steiger is in focus with a lot of delicious dark comedy derived from how he manages to constantly con all his victims. His exchanges with Segal (each time affecting a different accent) sparkle too and he has one surefire memorable final scene. The title also has a curious double meaning here; Heckart says in disapproval of Segal inspecting female corpses, but it applies equally to Steiger's take on female companionship.

A strangler is on the loose in New York City, using disguises to get into apartments of unsuspecting women. This is similar to "The Boston Strangler," released the same year. Steiger rarely passed up a chance to ham it up and here he finds a role that is perfectly suited to his flamboyant acting style. Segal is quite good as the detective engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with the serial killer. Remick is charming as a witness that Segal becomes romantically involved with. Heckart is funny as Segal's nosy Jewish mother. Dunn has a hilarious bit as a midget who tries to convince Segal that he's the elusive killer. While it is entertaining for the most part, the wrap-up is disappointing.

No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)A showpiece for Rod Steiger. He's a great actor, and he takes on the role of an actor taking on a variety of roles, one by one, as a killer with a few issues to work out. The other two people have full fledged roles but they end up secondary: Lee Remick marginally overacting a ditzy but charming young woman and George Segal in what might be the performance of his life as a low key detective.Called a comic thriller by some, it hovers undecided...it's not a goofy comedy with thriller trappings like the 1960s Pink Panther movies, and it's not a thriller with some humor giving it humanity like much of Alfred Hitchcock's. So we flipflop from some really funny, if somewhat predictable, lines between the detective and his mother (about Jewish clichés) and some really chilling murder scenes, hammy but gruesome, too.If you can rise to the surface and enjoy all the pieces as they come together, maybe swallowing a little during the overdone last ten minutes, it's a pretty intensely enjoyable farce and psychodrama.

When Jewish Detective Mo Brummel (George Segal) isn't hunting down a serial killer (Rod Steiger), Mo's momus mother (the talented Eileen Heckart) is shoving food across the table to him whining, "Eat!"Well-scripted for its time, the story still holds up even today. Nothing is contrived. From the manipulating the newspapers so the police can smoke out their man to the verbal snipe at a homosexual. This was life in the 60s! If you grew up in New York you'll applaud writers Gay and Goldman for capturing the Jewish-ness of their characters. Either you had relatives like the Brummels, or they lived as neighbors in the same building you did, but live they did! New Yorkers will love the city street scenes and recognize many establishments like Sardi's and Merv Griffin's studio next door to it. And Lee Remick's funky 60s pad brings back memories of jaunty women caught up in the "new scene." A little disappointing is Lee Remick's character. Perhaps her character development got left on the cutting-room floor? Mrs. Brummel's conniption's over her son's dating a shiksa is right on, and funny.Steiger is a true master of mental disguise.Segal is the perfect mamma's boy, as well as a hard-working sleuth.A nice balance of humor and drama.A clever way to show off New York.Steiger probably would have won an Oscar for his role in NWtTaL if he hadn't received the Oscar the year before for his role in In the Heat of the Night.