SnoopyStyle The Boston Strangler is on the loose and the cops are without a suspect. They throw a wide dragnet for "the peepers, the men's room queens, the exhibitionists, subway jostlers, the dirty word specialists." Atty. Gen. Brooke assigns scholarly lawyer John Bottomly (Henry Fonda) to head the fractured investigation scattered in several jurisdiction. Det. DiNatale (George Kennedy) and Det. Frank McAfee (Murray Hamilton) investigate. Suspects include gay Terence Huntley, disturbed Lewis and compulsive liar Lyonel Brumley. Dianne Cluny (Sally Kellerman) survives an attack by family man Albert DeSalvo (Tony Curtis). He is caught after trying to break into an apartment.This movie is basically split in two halves. The first half is the police investigation which I find very fascinating. They are hopelessly without a clue. In that part, even Henry Fonda isn't the star of the movie. It's the investigation and the many dead-ends that is the true star. I like the split screen in this section which give a scattered feel to the police work.The second half starts with the introduction of Tony Curtis. It becomes a lot of psycho-babble trying to dig into DeSalvo. I'm not convinced of its authenticity and I don't think it's that compelling. The second half could have continued the idea of the first half. It could have made DeSalvo less definitive as the killer. Instead there is no mystery. The audience is simply waiting for him to admit his guilt which is not in doubt. The first half is a terrific crime movie and the second half is much less compelling.

Leofwine_draca THE BOSTON STRANGLER tells the true-life story of a serial killer who terrorised the women of Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1960s. I came to this film as somebody totally unaware of the facts surrounding the case, so watching the story unfold and develop made for an interesting film. My only complaint really is with the style; director Richard Fleischer insists on using various split-screen techniques to tell his story, and I think they detract from it.This isn't just brief, de Palma-level split screen; the entire film is full of shots which roll on and off the screen, and are manipulated in various ways. To be honest, it's fairly distracting, and comes across as dated more than anything else; I get the impression that split-screen was a bit of a fad, and I'm happy it hasn't taken off to a great degree.Otherwise, the movie is a mixed bag. Casting pretty boy Tony Curtis as the killer was a good stroke, as the star acquits himself well with the role, while Henry Fonda and George Kennedy are fine as the dogged cops on his tail. However, it's fair to say that this film is a bit overlong, with over an hour before we get to meet the killer himself. It becomes more interesting towards the end, when it takes more of a psychological approach to the proceedings, but it's never electrifying in the same way the likes of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS were electrifying. An interesting curio, then.

dougdoepke Surprisingly, the movie's neither gory nor especially violent, except for one segment. It is, however, chilling to the bone. Serial killer DeSalvo (Curtis) is really two dissociated personalities inhabiting one body. On one side is the ordinary blue-collar family man; on the other is a gruesome strangler of women. The odd thing is that the one time we see the killer, his low-key personality seems not too different from that of the family man. I guess I was expecting a Jekyll and Hyde. But that's definitely not the case, which makes the outcome even more unnerving. Curtis delivers a finely calibrated, low-key performance as DeSalvo, resisting temptation to over emote. Instead, he registers DeSalvo's inner state through twitches and quick grimaces. These understatements hint chillingly at an inner turmoil, in which the family man slowly comes to realize a second, unknown personality abiding murderously within. These flashes of self-recognition are very well done, pulling us along with the star-crossed DeSalvo.The movie itself comes in two parts. The first part concentrates on police pursuit of the killer as the bodies pile up. Nothing much happens, but interest is kept up by the colorful suspects that are pulled in. The second part is mainly DeSalvo and the effort to bring out his suppressed side, which a head doctor assures investigator Bottomley (Fonda) is lurking within. On the distaff side, Sally Kellerman delivers a wrenching turn as one of the victims. If the movie has a short-coming, I would think it's the otherwise anonymity of his many victims. Unfortunately, we know very little about them, except as cadavers. Then too, I'm no fan of split-screen, a frequent source of distraction. Here, however, the technique is used sparingly.All in all, it's a riveting film, made more so by the career central performance. Clearly, Curtis is a long way from the pretty boy fluff.(In passing—DNA evidence eventually incriminated DeSalvo in one of the murders though the other 10 remain officially unsolved. The killings however stopped after his arrest, and authorities have no doubt he was responsible for all of them. In 1973, he was stabbed to death by another prisoner.)

MartinHafer My background is not typical of the average viewer. Years ago, I used to be a psychotherapist and I worked with some very, very sick people. In addition, I taught psychology. So I have some idea what I am talking about when I say this film is probably a lot of psychological mumbo-jumbo. Let me explain. Back in the 1950s, the book and movie "The Three Faces of Eve" created a sensation. Suddenly this new diagnosis of Multiple Personality Disorder (now called Dissociative Identity Disorder) was identified and the number of cases was very large for a newly named mental illness. And, when the TV mini-series "Sybil" came out, the number of cases increased dramatically. Then came the bombshell--the lady who identified herself as 'Eve' admitted that her illness was a hoax--and there was good reason to doubt the account in "Sybil" as well. And, each time a movie or book came out on the subject, the number of cases increased! Something was clearly amiss. Today many counselors and psychologists doubt that the disorder actually exists. I am not sure I'd go that far, but do know that many folks who claim to have it do so in order to avoid prison--as there is clearly a gain for them to be 'sick'. So, in light of this (and so much more I haven't the space for here), it's very doubtful that the killer in "The Boston Strangler" actually had the Multiple Personality you see in the film. He more likely used this as an excuse for his sick behaviors. Instead, sex offenders often 'compartmentalize'--in other words, while they KNOW what they did, they often deny it to themselves and others--treating their sick behaviors like it happened 'to another part of them'. Despite the distinct possibility that MPD does not exist, it does NOT make "The Boston Strangler" a bad film. First, at the time, MPD was seen as a very real thing by most therapists. Second, the film is very well constructed, finely acted and interesting throughout.The film is about a real series of rape/murders in the Boston area and the man who is assumed to have been the perpetrator, Albert DeSalvo. The entire first hour is about the investigation and furor over the killings and you don't even see DeSalvo (Tony Curtis) until this hour is complete! This makes this movie perhaps the only one I know of where you wait this long to see the star! I liked the investigation portion the most, as it was NOT glamorized but seemed rather realistic. As for Curtis, soon after he enters the film, you see him committing one attack---and you can clearly see it's him for the first time. This attack doesn't go as he planned, however, and for the first time he's left a living witness. Soon after, he's caught while trying to break into another home. The problem is not whether or not he did the crimes but whether or not he's even competent to stand trial for them. Overall, a fascinating portrait of the investigation and the killer. Well worth seeing and a quality production despite the strong possibility DeSalvo was NOT a Multiple Personality.By the way, the first portion of the film consists of a bizarre multi-paned screen--with several scenes occurring in little windows. The only other film of the time that I can think of that did this is "The Thomas Crown Affair".