No Way to Treat a Lady

[4 stars] [IMDB Link]

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Waay back in 1968, when I was a lad of 17, I read a laudatory review of No Way to Treat a Lady in Time magazine. And so I went to see it. In an actual movie theater! I remember enjoying it. Times were simpler back then. When I noticed that it was available free-to-me on my Roku (via PlutoTV, with a lot of ads), I bit.

Rod Steiger plays Christopher Gill, a rich actor/director in Manhattan's Theater District. Unfortunately, he has unresolved mommy issues, so he takes up a serial-killing hobby, preying on middle-aged women (well, usually women) living alone. He uses his talents in makeup, costumery, and accents to disguise himself in various identities.

The case gets assigned to Detective Morris ("Mo") Brummel (George Segal), who lives with his very stereotypical Jewish mother (Eileen Heckart). Mo becomes enamored with Kate (Lee Remick), a witness who happened to notice Gill's approach to the first victim.

Gill, publicity hound that he is, becomes obsessed with how he's being covered in the press, and starts phoning Mo. (This is in the days before caller ID.) A cat-and-mouse game ensues! Gill notices Mo's developing relationship with Kate, will she eventually be targeted as a victim?

Still a lot of fun to watch, 58 years later. You can read the Time review that impressed me back then right here.