i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I just saw the musical theater production of "No Way to Treat a Lady" last week. When I found out that there was a 1968 film that preceded this musical version (with music, book and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen) which debuted in 1987, I wanted to see and compare how the film and theater versions interpreted the story. Both movie and play were based on a well-reviewed 1968 novel by William Goldman (who also wrote "The Princess Bride").The two versions had the same story of course. There was a failed actor named Kit Gill who had an oppressive relationship with his Broadway diva mother. Upon her death, his twisted mind turned to killing senior women who reminded him of his mother, wearing various disguises to gain their trust. On his tail was a NYC detective Mo Brummell, who was still tied to his overbearing mother's apron strings. There is a side plot of Mo meeting and falling in love with pretty museum hostess. While the theater version was a musical and had a heftier amount of lighthearted comedy, this film was definitely a more serious telling, with the comedy so much darker in tone. I noted that the play echoed a lot of situations and lines from the film, especially those that involved the female characters. I felt the play actually told the story much better. The ending of the movie felt very contrived and relied too much on coincidence, unlike the play when the resolution was a lot more logical.Rod Steiger really played Kit Gill very sinisterly. He was excellent in his various disguises, quite over the top, especially the plumber and wig-maker. George Segal does well as the mama's boy Jewish cop. He played it quite laid back. The stereotypical annoying Jewish mom was played with glee by Eileen Heckart. Mo's love interest in the film was named Kate Palmer (played by Lee Remick), while in the play the name was Sarah Stone. The musical version had an additional conceit that all the victims of the killer were all played by the one actress who also played the mother! This of course brings to fore that these victims reminded Kit of his mom. Now I want to read the book! By the way, as a bonus, this film version also features a young David Doyle (of the Charlie's Angels TV series) playing a cop! It was good to see him here.

ROD STEIGER has an actor's field day assuming many different disguises when he decides to play a cat-and-mouse game with detective GEORGE SEGAL who is hot on his trail to capture a serial killer. That about sums up the plot contrivances of NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, which has Steiger donning various make-up disguises so that he can gain entry into unsuspecting female's apartments and promptly strangle them.The dark humor is always on the surface of this comic showcase for actor Steiger, who dons each disguise with relish and gives a performance you're not likely to forget.EILEEN HECKART is his overbearing (ultra so) Jewish mother who has unwittingly driven her son to the brink of madness. She's so good at "overbearing" that she almost drives the audience mad too, but LEE REMICK is rather wasted in a colorless role as a dame who's been around the block a few times and likes to spout smart talk. It's not a well developed role and Remick can do little with it but look good in plenty of make-up and mascara.For pure titillation and subject matter, this is way ahead of its time, a comic thriller that is largely forgotten and deserves some attention, if only for Rod Steiger's tour de force role, all played in tongue-in-cheek manner.

As far as I know, this was only ever shown once on Italian TV; I had always wanted to watch it, due to Leonard Maltin's ***1/2 rating but also because I find the subject matter of a serial killer using a number of disguises fascinating, so when Paramount's bare-bones DVD (why, not even the theatrical trailer is included!) was on sale at "DVD Empire", I decided to order it - along with about 15 other titles from the same studio...Though somewhat patchy and verbose, the plot (adapted by John Gay from a novel by William Goldman) is undeniably compelling and the performances of the entire cast - including George Segal, Lee Remick and Eileen Heckart - are faultless; still, Rod Steiger as the flamboyant murderer (this is no spoiler, since the killings start from the very first scene!) dominates the proceedings and obviously relishes the opportunity of sinking his teeth into such a juicy role: his disguises - including a priest, a plumber, a gay hairdresser, a police officer, a chef and, at one point, he even turns up in drag! - also incorporate various accents and imitations, among them that of W.C. Fields, whom Steiger would eventually play in a biopic of the great comic some years later! Diminutive actor Michael Dunn has a hilarious bit in which he shows up at Segal's police station and confesses to the crime spree.While the film displays no particular evidence of technique (Jack Smight was, at best, a journeyman director), it emerges unequivocally as a product of the late Sixties with the added qualities of good location photography and an effective score by Stanley Myers (best known for composing the "Cavatina" theme utilized in THE DEER HUNTER [1978]); as a matter of fact, it reminded me of PRETTY POISON (1968), another black comedy I watched only recently for the very first time - but also of EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (1962), a classic black-and-white film noir I caught up with during the past few weeks which also features Remick as a potential victim of a formidable villain (who, like Steiger's character here, is not above adopting a female disguise in order to get what he wants!).Among the film's most successful elements is the murderer's relationship with flustered Jewish cop Segal, whom he phones and teases prior to each killing. Also notable is the climax set in a theatre, where the fatally wounded Steiger goes into each one of his 'personalities' before expiring, as well as the subtle contrast the film creates between the two characters' mothers: Segal's is a typically nagging Jewish woman who always puts him down while praising her other businessman son, whereas Steiger's late mother (who is only shown in portraits) had been a great theatrical actress - whose talent for larger-than-life roles was adopted to its extremes by her unbalanced son!

During a hot Summer day in New York City, in the Theatre District around 44th Street, I noticed a large crowd and decided to find out what was going on. I noticed a man getting his hair brushed and make-up being applied to his face and it was Rod Steiger who was getting ready to walk into a theatre as (Christoper Gill),"W.C.Fields & Me",'76. Steiger played a very mentally disturbed actor who was abused by his mother and decided to perform perfect murders, playing roles as Priest, Plumber and many other roles, using plenty of lipstick. Lee Remick,(Kate Palmer)," Days of Wine & Roses",'62, looked very charming and sexy. Kate meets up with detective Morris Brummel,(George Segal),"For the Boys",'91, who is investigating all these murders. This film has comedy between Kate and Morris and it is a great entertaining film.