No Way to Treat a Lady No Way to Treat a Lady Paramount Home Video 1968 / Color / 1:78 anamorphic 16:9 / 108 min. / Street Date September 3, 2002 / $24.99 Starring Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal, Eileen Heckart, Murray Hamilton, Michael Dunn, Martine Bartlett, Barbara Baxley, Irene Dailey, Doris Roberts, Ruth White Cinematography Jack Priestley Art Direction George Jenkins, Hal Pereira Film Editor Archie Marshek Original Music Stanley Myers Written by John Gay from a novel by William Goldman Produced by Sol C. Siegel Directed by Jack Smight
	Reviewed by Glenn Erickson If it weren't for its bright and winning performances, No Way to Treat a Lady would be a standard whodunnit. It is an early serial killer show, and better than some in its mechanics, but the charm is in what George Segal, Lee Remick and Eileen Heckart do with their characters. Rod Steiger's showcase performance, adopting a score of personalities and voices to perfect his diabolical disguises, gets the most attention. Synopsis: Mad killer Christopher Gill (Rod Steiger) uses a variety of guises and accents to gain the confidence of his victims, before strangling them and painting lipstick on their foreheads. He monitors his progress in the papers and frequently calls detective Morris Brummel (George Segal) to boast or threaten, which not only puts Morris in a bad way with his superiors, but upsets his mother (Eileen Heckart). Morris starts a relationship with an early murder witness, Katherine Palmer (Lee Remick), but it soon gets tangled up in the strangler's game of cat and mouse. The serial killer subgenre has become very popular in the last 15 years or so, evolving into a horror staple that strives for realistic chills, even as the plots become more bizarre and the psychology more dense. Savant is waiting for the kid's film about a 6 year old detective 'channeling' the psyche of a demented killer: demonic figures of madmen like Hannibal Lecter have supplanted less credible boogeymen like Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Cultural analysts 50 years from now will probably look back on these frightened years and say that fear icons like Lecter represented the terror of the times. So it's kind of refreshing to see a thriller about tracking down a mad strangler, made before we were dunned by amateur terrorists (like the Beltway Sniper) amusing themselves though mass murder. The strangler in No Way to Treat a Lady is such a novelty to George Segal's pleasant office of workaday detectives, and the rest of the city is so stable and secure, that confidence man Rod Steiger's deadly antics seem almost quaint. Segal isn't alterted to any particular danger when a known murderer makes bizarre calls to his home phone. This perpetrator understands phone tracing, has a diabolical knack for knowing when he's safe and when he's not, and a personal interest in detective Segal, but Segal never thinks that his mother or girlfriend might be in danger. If Jack Smight dwells lightly on the hardboiled aspect, he gives lots of attention to his characters. Virtuoso actor Steiger has the center spotlight, and makes the most of his Irish brogue and his mincing gay wig salesman, and pretty much takes care of himself. His victims, played by an assortment of adorable old ladies (Martine Bartlett, Barbara Baxley, Ruth White) make for a variety of cute scenes, all ending in bloodless murders that are practically benign compared to the nastiness of Buffalo Bill & company. A couple of years after this, The Honeymoon Killers took the details of merry widow killing to even greater lengths, in a more realistic vein. For the record, Steiger's derangement is explained by a rather theatrical mother complex. Clearly aware that their roles needed to be fleshed out, veteran Remick and relative newcomer Segal give it their all. Jewish detective Morris Brummel, a nice guy with a harping mom, is Segal at his most winning. He's impossible not to like, shy around Remick and bubbles with enthusiasm when he thinks a phone conversation with her has gone well. Remick gives her vivacious Kate character the works - at first we don't know if she's a nut or a hooker, but she just turns out to be a very spirited woman. The teasing and awkwardness between them looks generated from chemistry and improvisation; Segal is intimidated by her at first but learns how to assert himself, on a sweet 'yacht' ride on an NYPD boat, and kidding her by flashing his gun while she's trying to conduct an art tour. (spoiler) All of this - the romance, Eileen Heckart's engaging mom and Steiger's Killer Lite - is so refreshing, that when the film finally gets down to the third act suspense, it isn't all that suspenseful. Frustrated by the mutual manipulation between cat and mouse, Steiger targets the detective's girlfriend (surprise!) and stretches his luck too far, allowing the cops to trace him down. The perfunctory finish shows off Steiger's star moves, and not much else, but it's still a pleasant and diverting picture. Michael Dunn has an amusing scene where he tries to turn himself in as the killer. The movie cheats a little bit in one spot, by substituting Segal's voice for Steiger's when the killer is presenting himself as a cop to a prospective victim in an apartment doorway. Paramount's DVD of No Way to Treat a Lady is another of their plainwrap but nicely transferred discs, never a bad deal. The color and framing are fine and only a few shots have much in the way of grain. There's no title tune (the pop song is unrelated and came a few years later) but the soundtrack has a nice 60s NY feel, and there's always Savant's favorite game to play in urban movies like this, freezing the picture to see what's playing on the movie marquees on the New York streets. A lot of people remember this as a favorite show from when it was new, and the disc will certainly please them. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, No Way to Treat a Lady rates: Movie: Very good Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: none Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: October 20, 2002 [Savant Main Page] [Savant Links] [Article Index] [Review Index] [Savant 5 Year Report] DVD Savant Text © Copyright 2007 Glenn Erickson Advertise With Us Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum Copyright © MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use