No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)
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89% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
62% of users liked it
(825 ratings)
New York detective Moe Brummell (George Segal) is assigned to track down a serial killer who has been preying on lonely middle-aged ladies. Each of the bodies is discovered with a lipstick kiss drawn on the forehead. We know (but Brummell doesn't) that the murderer is Christopher Gill (Rod… More New York detective Moe Brummell (George Segal) is assigned to track down a serial killer who has been preying on lonely middle-aged ladies. Each of the bodies is discovered with a lipstick kiss drawn on the forehead. We know (but Brummell doesn't) that the murderer is Christopher Gill (Rod Steiger), a round-the-bend actor whose hatred for his mother has driven him to his killing spree. Gill is fond of adopting a different personality and costume with each killing (a priest, a homosexual, a plumber etc.), making him doubly difficult to trace. When Brummell comments to the media that he's up against a criminal genius, he finds himself the reluctant recipient of Gill's anonymous phone calls, wherein the killer plants cryptic clues leading to his next crime. It may not be readily apparent from the previous sentence, but No Way to Treat a Lady is a comedy-albeit a jet-black one. Moe Brummell is hampered with an archetypal Jewish mamma (Eileen Heckart), who in her own way is as deadly as the elusive Christopher Gill. Lee Remick plays Brummell's girl friend, who, as the only person who might be able to identify Gill, is placed in harm's way at the film's climax. A curious by-product of No Way to Treat a Lady is the fact that Rod Steiger was cast in the lead in the 1976 biopic W.C. Fields and Me on the basis of the third-rate Fields imitation he offers to George Segal during one of his taunting phone calls. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Jack Smight
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Mar 20, 1968 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Steiger is fine in tricky mystery directed by Jack Smight.
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Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily
A terrific mystery thriller that's both suspenseful and human. Segal is especially winning.
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Lori Hoffman, Atlantic City Weekly
Amazing performance by Rod Steiger
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Nell Minow, Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies
First-class thriller with a deliciously twisty William Goldman script and a deliciously twisted murderer.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A thoroughly enjoyable film about a pitiless serial killer of middle-aged women, that is played for laughs at the expense of the women victims.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Featured Audience Ratings
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Cast
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Rod Steiger
as Christopher Gill
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Lee Remick
as Kate Palmer
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George Segal
as Morris Brummel
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Eileen Heckart
as Mrs. Brummel
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Murray Hamilton
as Inspector Haines
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Michael Dunn (I)
as Mr. Kupperman
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Martine Bartlett
as Alma Mulloy
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Barbara Baxley
as Belle Poppie
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Irene Dailey
as Mrs. Fitts
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Doris Roberts
as Sylvia Poppie
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Ruth White
as Mrs. Himmel
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Val Bisoglio
as Detective Monaghan
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David F. Doyle
as Lieutenant Dawson
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Kim August
as Sadie
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Tom Aheame
as Father O'Brien
- Sam Coppola
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James Dukas
as Police Artist
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Joey Faye
as Superintendent
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Glenn Kezer
as Officer
- Al Nesor
- Bob O'Connell
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Patricia Ripley
as Woman
- Vincent Sardi
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Zvee Scooler
as Old Man
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P. Jay Sidney
as Medical Examiner
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Burr Smidt
as Detective Sergeant
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Don Koll
as Detective
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Louis Basile
as Customer
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John Gerstad
as Dr. Shaffer
- Tony Major
