No Way to Treat a Lady [Blu-ray]

Director: Jack Smight Jack Smight

Overview

John Gay adapted William Goldman's novel for this black comedy about a New York police detective who is trying to catch a serial killer that preys on women. Rod Steiger has a field day as the murderer, a master of disguise (appearing as an Irish priest, a German plumber, a gay hairdresser, a woman) who delights in telephoning and tormenting the cop who's out to nab him.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/21/2021
UPC:	0826663221114
Original Release:	1968
Source:	Shout Factory
Language:	English
Sales rank:	24,615

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Rod Steiger	Christopher Gill
Lee Remick	Kate Palmer
George Segal	Morris Brummel
Eileen Heckart	Mrs. Brummel
Murray Hamilton	Inspector Haines
Michael Dunn	Kupperman
Kim August	Sadie
Martine Bartlett	Alma Mulloy
Barbara Baxley	Belle Poppie
Irene Dailey	Mrs. Fitts
Doris Roberts	Sylvia Poppie
Ruth White	Mrs. Himmel
Val Bisoglio	Detective Monaghan
David Doyle	Lt. Dawson
Joey Faye	Superintendent
Tom Aheame	Father O'Brien
Patricia Ripley	Woman
Don Blair	Reporter
P. Jay Sidney	Medical Examiner
Tom Ahearne	Father O'Brien
Richard Nicholls	Man in Sardi's
R. Bernard	Indignant Man
John Gerstad	Dr. Shaffer
Bill Fort	Staff Editor
Zvee Scooler	Old Man
Eddie Philips	News Vendor
John Dutra	Man with Dog
Burr Smidt	Detective Sergeant
Linda Canby	Teenage Girl
James Dukas	Police Artist
Don Koll	Detective
Vincent Sardi	Himself
J. Molinski	Himself
Bob O'Connell	Officer
Tony Major	Officer
Glenn Kezer	Officer
Al Nesor	Customer
Sam Coppola	Customer
Louis Basile	Customer

Technical Credits

John Gay

Jack Smight	Director
Sol C. Siegel	Producer
John Gay	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Nowadays, when it seems that a successful film has to be either a big holiday or summer special-effects blockbuster, or a cheap independent circuit success, it makes one long for the days when good films with good stories were made for modest budgets and provided a decent piece of entertainment without overloading the senses. This dying breed of the movies is still around, however, and although often under appreciated, should be sought out. One case in point is No Way to Treat a Lady, a black comedy that combines a crime drama with the often humorous relationships men have with their mothers. In spite of the film being a thriller, we know from the beginning who the bad guy is. It's Rod Steiger, who gets to really stretch and ham it up as a theater manager/serial killer who murders each of his victims in some outlandish disguise to win their trust. George Segal is the cop who must crack the case and, at the same time, fend off his wonderfully annoying mother, Eileen Heckart (whose running gag line, "Who ever heard of a Jewish cop?" gets repeated over and over again throughout). Steiger's character is one of those vain killers who checks the newspaper for reports of his exploits and who takes to calling Segal when the facts are reported wrong or when he wants to taunt the authorities. Segal is rather bland, although it's not really his fault since the role doesn't give him much to do other than to react to the other characters, particularly his mother, Steiger, and Lee Remick, as his love interest and would-be victim of the murderer. Steiger goes way, way over the top, but it works because the film has set him up to be not only flamboyant, but overreactive to mother issues of his own. His various disguises get odder and odder as the film moves along, and when it shifts from comedy into resolution of the crime mode, his character becomes that much more menacing, not because he's funny but because we learn, as Segal puts the pieces together, that he is honestly and truly deranged. Remick serves as the breath of fresh air, only because her character is the only one who isn't dealing with some sort of emotional crisis. The scene where she meets and charms Heckart is an overlooked comedic gem.