"No Way to Treat a Lady" focuses on a Manhattan theatre director (Rod Steiger) who moonlights as a serial killer, impersonating various made-up characters to entrust his victims, whom largely consist of middle-aged and elderly women. The killer taunts a local police officer (George Segal), and a witness (Lee Remick) who soon becomes the detective's girlfriend falls in his crosshairs.
Adapted from the thriller novel by William Goldman, this late-'60s effort from comedy director Jack Smight ("Airport 1975") stands as an unusual tongue-in-cheek mixture of fluffy humor and macabre psychology. A lot of the humor here derives from Steiger's eccentric performance and ever-changing costumes, which range from Irish priests to drag queens, as well as the lighter subplot involving Segal's character and his overbearing Jewish mother, who treats him as a failure for his lack of a college education and decision to join the NYPD.
While there are a lot of humorous moments throughout the film, they are undercut by the often harrowing scenarios in which Steiger's character infiltrates the homes of his impervious victims, like a true wolf in sheep's clothing. Sitting uncomfortably amidst the comedy is a sense of malevolence and danger, with Steiger at times coming across as a benevolent clown with a butcher knife behind his back. The vast majority of the murders here occur offscreen, but the aftermath provides a disturbing snapshot of the killers' crimes.
The romance subplot between Segal and Remick's character provides some humorous melodrama, and while Remick's performance is solid, the subplot pales in effectiveness when compared to the darker elements at work. The film is well-shot, showcasing a post-war, pre-sleaze New York City; many of the psychothrillers that followed in the subsequent decade and beyond showcased the city's grittier downslide (i.e. "Klute", "The Fan", "Cruising", and "Maniac"). Andrew Belling and Stanley Myers's musical score is also effective and occasionally haunting.
The film's finale attempts to clarify the killer's psychological motives in a rather hamfisted manner, and the film ends rather abruptly, but it still manages overall to be an effective and unusual work. If nothing else, it straddles the line between humor and horror in a way that is as peculiar as it is uncomfortable. 8/10.
Adapted from the thriller novel by William Goldman, this late-'60s effort from comedy director Jack Smight ("Airport 1975") stands as an unusual tongue-in-cheek mixture of fluffy humor and macabre psychology. A lot of the humor here derives from Steiger's eccentric performance and ever-changing costumes, which range from Irish priests to drag queens, as well as the lighter subplot involving Segal's character and his overbearing Jewish mother, who treats him as a failure for his lack of a college education and decision to join the NYPD.
While there are a lot of humorous moments throughout the film, they are undercut by the often harrowing scenarios in which Steiger's character infiltrates the homes of his impervious victims, like a true wolf in sheep's clothing. Sitting uncomfortably amidst the comedy is a sense of malevolence and danger, with Steiger at times coming across as a benevolent clown with a butcher knife behind his back. The vast majority of the murders here occur offscreen, but the aftermath provides a disturbing snapshot of the killers' crimes.
The romance subplot between Segal and Remick's character provides some humorous melodrama, and while Remick's performance is solid, the subplot pales in effectiveness when compared to the darker elements at work. The film is well-shot, showcasing a post-war, pre-sleaze New York City; many of the psychothrillers that followed in the subsequent decade and beyond showcased the city's grittier downslide (i.e. "Klute", "The Fan", "Cruising", and "Maniac"). Andrew Belling and Stanley Myers's musical score is also effective and occasionally haunting.
The film's finale attempts to clarify the killer's psychological motives in a rather hamfisted manner, and the film ends rather abruptly, but it still manages overall to be an effective and unusual work. If nothing else, it straddles the line between humor and horror in a way that is as peculiar as it is uncomfortable. 8/10.