The Boston Strangler (1968)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1968
Running Times: 116 mins
Format: colour 35mm
Ratio: Panavision (anamorphic) 2.35:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
Producer: Robert Fryer
Associate Producer: James Cresson
Unit Production Manager: Eric Stacey

SCRIPT
Script: Edward Anhalt
Book: Gerold Frank

DIRECTION
Director: Richard Fleischer
Assistant Director: David Hall

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Richard H. Kline
Colour: DeLuxe
Cameras: Panavision Cameras and Lenses
Labs: DeLuxe

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Marion Rothman

MUSIC
Music: Lionel Newman

SOUND
Sound: Don J. Bassman, David Dockendorf

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Dan Striepeke
Hair: Edith Lindon
Costume Designer: Travilla

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: L.B. Abbott, John C. Caldwell, Art Cruickshank

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Directors: Richard Day, Jack Martin Smith
Set Decorators: Raphael Bretton, Stuart A. Reiss, Walter M. Scott
Production Illustrator: Fred Harpman

MISCELLANEOUS
Technical Advisors: John S. Bottomly, Phillip J. Di Natale

LOCATIONS
Locations: Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

STUNTS
Stunts: Dick Dial, Victor Paul, Charlie Picerni (all uncredited)

CASTING
Casting: Michael McLean

CAST
Tony Curtis (Albert De Salvo)
Henry Fonda (John S. Bottomley)
George Kennedy (Detective Phil DiNatale)
Mike Kellin (Julian Soshnick)
Hurd Hatfield (Terence Huntley)
Murray Hamilton (Sergeant Frank McAfee)
Jeff Corey (John Asgeirsson)
Sally Kellerman (Diane Cluny)
William Marshall (Edward W. Brooke)
George Voskovec (Peter Hurkos)
Leora Dana (Mary Bottomly)
Carolyn Conwell (Irmgard De Salvo)
Jeanne Cooper (Cloe)
Austin Willis (Dr Nagy)
Lara Lindsay (Bobbie Eden)
George Furth (Lyonel Brumley)
Richard X. Slattery (Captain Ed Willis)
William Hickey (Eugene T. Rourke)
Eve Collyer (Ellen Ridgeway)
Gwyda Donhowe (Alice Oakville)
Alex Dreier (news commentator)
John Cameron Swayze (television commentator)
Shelley Burton (David Parker)
Elizabeth Baur (Harriet Fordin)
James Brolin (Sergeant Phil Lisi)
George Tyne (Dr Kramer)
Dana Elcar (Luis Schubert)
William Traylor (Arnie Carr)
Carole Shelley (Dana Banks)
Karen Huston (real name: Karen Ericson) (Pat Bruner)
Enid Markey (Edna)
Dorothy Blackburn (Winnie)
Almira Sessions (Emma Hodak)
Isabella Hoopes (Bertha Blum)
Richard Krisher (Tom)
Arthur Hanson (commissioner)
Walter Klavun (Cambridge Chief of Police)
Tim Herbert (Cedric Ewing)
Matt Bennett (Harold)
Penny Williams (Mae)
Janis Young (Louise Parker)
George Fisher (Mr Taylor)
David Lewis (Judge Schroeder)
Pam McWyler (Grace Lockwood)
Greg Benedict (Dick Matheson)
Tom Aldredge (Harold Lacey - uncredited)
Linda Dano (uncredited)
Gina Harding (Audri - uncredited)
Chuck Hicks (cop - uncredited)
Nancie Phillips (Barbara Wise - uncredited)
Marie Thomas (Gloria - uncredited)
Edward Winter (man in hallway - uncredited)

Boston is being terrorised by a particularly brutal serial killer who seems to be randomly choosing young women for death by strangulation. The police close in on the killer but can they find him before he can kill again?

The consummate example of how to film a true crime story. Curtis is excellent as real-life serial killer Albert De Salvo, a long way from the more jovial, comedy image he liked to project later in his career. The rest of the cast is outstanding too and Fleischer's direction has never been better. Like most films of this kind it skimps on historical verisimilitude but it works well nonetheless. The only fly in the ointment is the distracting and unnecessary use of split screen.

Spain
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

UK
Video Distributor: Fox Video

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Video Distributor: Key Video

Finland
Rating: K-16

France
Rating: U (re-release)

Norway
Rating: 15

Spain
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: R

1969
American Cinema Editors, USA
Eddie: Best Edited Feature Film (Marion Rothman) - nominated

Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Edgar: Best Motion Picture (Edward Anhalt) - nominated

Golden Globes, USA
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actor: Drama (Tony Curtis) - nominated

1968
October
Day Unknown: Austria - theatrical release
16: USA - theatrical release

November
8: West Germany - theatrical release
11: Sweden - theatrical release
29: Finland - theatrical release

2000
August
30: France - theatrical re-release

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

Der Frauenmörder von Boston - Austrian / German title
El estrangulador de Boston - Spanish title
Bostonin kuristaja - Finnish title
L'étrangleur de Boston - French title
Lo strangolatore di Boston - Italian title
Kveleren fra Boston - Norwegian title
Bostonstryparen - Swedish title

SEE ALSO
Copycat (1995)

BOOKS

The BFI Companion to Crime pp.59-60
credits, review

true crime; strangulation; boston; police; serial killers; psychiatrists