No Way To Treat A Lady (1968)

Author: Old Mother Hubbard

“No Way To Treat A Lady” (1968)

There once was a lady named Red
Who had an ache in the back of her head
Although nothing would ease it
The strangler did squeeze it
Now the aching Red’s head is all dead

Christopher Gill (Rod Steiger) is a well respected theater owner who is part of the high society crowd in New York. Super rich Mr. Gill has many friends in high places. Mr. Gill is also a deranged serial killer who murders middle aged woman because of issues he had with his deceased mother. Detective Moe Brummel (George Segal) is assigned to the “strangler” case and meets Kate Palmer (Lee Remick) who saw the suspect dressed as a priest just before the first murder. Kate is drop dead beautiful and Moe is smitten as soon as he sees her ripe tits peaking out of her nightgown. Mr. Gill, who prides himself on his impersonations and considers himself to be a master of disguise, becomes more demented with each murder, leading up to an edge of your seat, race against time to save the absolutely gorgeous Kate.

“No Way To Treat A Lady” is a psychological thriller with some black comedy thrown in. There are some really funny scenes. One LMFAO moment occurs when Mr. Kupperman (Michael Dunn), a 3 foot midget, confesses to being the strangler and ends up getting in to a heated argument with Detective Moe Brummel.

The 3 lead characters are all superb. Great performances by George Segal and Lee Remick but it is Rod Steiger’s absolutely unhinged portrayal of Mr. Gill that puts this film head and shoulders above its contemporaries. Instead of this film just being a black comedy about a serial killer, Steiger’s masterful performance turns this film in to something much darker and frightening. I’ve seen this movie at least 20 times. I just love it. Highly recommended. 5 stars.