No Way to Treat a Lady

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No Way to Treat a Lady

Film poster
Directed by Jack Smight
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Written by John Gay
William Goldman
Starring Rod Steiger
Lee Remick
George Segal
Eileen Heckart
Music by Andrew Belling
Stanley Myers
Cinematography Jack Priestley
Editing by Archie Marshek
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) March 20, 1968
Running time 108 minutes
Country United States
Language English

No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) is a darkly comic thriller directed by Jack Smight, with a screenplay by John Gay adapted from William Goldman's novel of the same name. The film starred Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal and Eileen Heckart. Segal was nominated for a BAFTA for his role as Detective Moe Brummel.[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot

Rod Steiger stars as Christopher Gill, a serial killer who is fixated on his late mother, who had been an actress. Gill preys on older women who remind him of her. A costumer, he adopts various disguises, i.e. priest, policeman, plumber, hairdresser, etc., to put his victims at ease (and also avoid being identified) before strangling them and painting their lips with garish red lipstick. Gill strikes up an adversarial relationship, via telephone, with Detective Morris Brummel (George Segal), who is investigating the murders. As Brummel realizes that the killer has access to costumes, he seeks out local costume outlets, and tracks down Gill. Once he sees a portrait of Gill's mother with bright red lipstick, he knows he has his man, as he later relates, but the case is far from over.

The film features a B-plot concerning Brummel's own mother (Eileen Heckart), who wants her son to be more like his brother (and settle down). Brummel's love interest in the film, Kate Palmer (Lee Remick), manages to win over Brummel's mother, but is later targeted herself by Gill, for reasons other than his mother fixation as Palmer does not fit the profile of his previous victims.

[edit] Adaptations

In 1987, Douglas J. Cohen adapted the film into a musical comedy,[2] which was revived Off-Broadway by the York Theatre Company in 1996.[3] That production was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Revival.[4]

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

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