The Boston Strangler

"Why did 13 women willingly open their doors to the Boston Strangler?"

1968 1h 56m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 258

DramaCrimeThriller

Synopsis

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Boston is being terrorized by a series of seemingly random murders of women. Based on the true story, the film follows the investigators path through several leads before introducing the Strangler as a character. It is seen almost exclusively from the point of view of the investigators who have very few clues to build a case upon.

“Why did 13 women willingly open their doors to the Boston Strangler?”

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Cast

Tony Curtis
Albert DeSalvo
Henry Fonda
John S. Bottomly
George Kennedy
Det. Phil DiNatale
Mike Kellin
Julian Soshnick
Hurd Hatfield
Terence Huntley
Murray Hamilton
Det. Frank McAfee
Jeff Corey
John Asgeirsson
Sally Kellerman
Dianne Cluny

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Fleischer
Writers: Edward Anhalt
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Fleischer, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lionel Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Marion Rothman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda and George Kennedy carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Why did 13 women willingly open their doors to the Boston Strangler?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0062755 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Fleischer directs. Richard H. Kline behind the camera. Lionel Newman scores. Marion Rothman cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

158 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Richard Fleischer, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Lionel Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Marion Rothman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda and George Kennedy carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Why did 13 women willingly open their doors to the Boston Strangler?".
7IMDB entry: tt0062755 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 11 themes, including "police brutality", "double life", "boston, massachusetts", "detective".

The technical file

Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Original score: Lionel Newman
Editing: Marion Rothman
Makeup / hair: Edith Lindon
Sound: Don MacDougall
Stunt coordinator: Victor Paul
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Boston Strangler (1968)

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Richard Fleischer

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-03-01
★ 9/10
Impressive procedural skin crawler. It's a very impressive film from start to finish, the cast are excellent, George Kennedy & Henry Fonda portray the men pursuing the culprit with much believability, with enough moments of frustration and revulsion brought to life with style. Of course this is Tony Curtis's show all the way, though, he is all bulked up and nothing like the handsome icon that people had grown accustomed to. He is convincingly menacing and handles the dual personality confusion scenes adroitly. One of the films' chief plus points is that the first hour only shows us the aftermath of the murders, it shows the desperate panic it creates among the people of Boston, and of course we get to know the detectives following this miserable trail. At the hour mark we are introduced to Tony Curtis as Albert De Salvo, here he is in his family home, his daughter all radiant around her father, it's a masterstroke from director Richard Fleischer, and it creates maximum impact. The use of multi screens to show various aspects of scenes is deft and manages to make the film seem all too real, which of course is given weight of impact since it is based on actual events. Smashing film that gnaws away at the skin some time after the silent credits have rolled. 9/10
Nutshell2019-07-16
★ 10/10
A frighteningly unique film, made all the more frightening by it being a true story. This is hands down the best performance ever by Tony Curtis (in the title role), why he got snubbed by the academy at awards time is a complete mystery, he was not even nominated...