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.

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".

You may only know Tony Curtis as a matinée-idol with a twinkle in his eye. Hollywood certainly typecast him as that before this movie came out. After it, they didn't seem to know what to do with him and his career as a star faded badly and he ended up doing television.

Nothing can prepare you for the power of Tony Curtis's performance as Albert De Salvo in this movie. He should have won an Oscar for it but didn't. He wasn't even nominated and has never won an Academy Award. (Ironically, Tony Curtis re-dubbed "Spartacus" with Anthony Hopkins the same year he played Hannibal Lecter and won an Oscar for it, a win that would never have been possible without performances like Tony's in "The Boston Strangler" that pushed the boundaries and made playing serial killers worthy of Oscars). It is a complex and extremely honest performance. Tony Curtis said he used emotional memory during the harrowing final scenes, which is method-acting in all but name. It is as good as anything Brando did but is also a performance that is shamefully overlooked and forgotten about these days.

Sure, the split-screen technique is dated, but it was very fashionable at the time (see The Thomas Crown Affair of the same year). Tony Curtis reunites with the director of "The Vikings", Richard Fleischer, for a very different type of movie. Fleischer does a great job of maintaining the air of mystery, suspense and horror throughout with some entertaining comic relief to lighten the mood (just look at the parade of weird perverts the cops shake down in their hunt for the killer).

There is some interesting movie history going on here. Tony Curtis plays the Boston Strangler, his first wife, Janet Leigh, played Marion Crane in Hitchcock's "Psycho" and their daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis became a scream queen in movies like "Halloween" "Prom Night" and "Terror Train." (Jamie Lee and Janet Leigh acted together in the horror movies "The Fog" and "Halloween H20." Sadly, Jamie Lee never got to act with her father Tony.)

"The Boston Strangler" was a film ahead of its time. Censorship was just ending in Hollywood in 1968 and audiences weren't really ready for a film as brutal and realistic as this. Highly recommended...just don't watch it alone!