FAQ

The Boston Strangler is very loosely based on the book The Boston Strangler (1966) by American author Gerold Frank.

'The Boston Strangler' is a name given to the person (or persons) who sexually-assaulted and murdered (by strangling or stabbing) 13 women in the Boston, Massachusetts area between June 14, 1962, and January 4, 1964. The murders were eventually attributed to 35-year old Albert DeSalvo [1931-1973]. Although DeSalvo confessed to the murders, his guilt/innocence has never been proven, he was never charged with the murders, and his confession is, to this day, being disputed.

DeSalvo (played by Tony Curtis) is portrayed as suffering from multiple personality disorder, a diagnosis that was never ascribed to the real Albert DeSalvo. The movie also assumes that DeSalvo was guilty whereas the real Albert DeSalvo was never charged with the murders.

DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison in 1967. He spent six years in maximum security at Walpole (Massachusetts) State Prison and was found stabbed to death in 1973. His killer or killers were never identified.

The split screen technique was a popular trend in the 1960s. Split screens were used previously in such movies as Confidences sur l'oreiller (1959) (1959), Grand Prix (1966) (1966), and A Place to Stand (1967) (1967), a documentary produced for the Ontario pavilion at Expo67, the Montreal World's Fair. Split screen was used the same year in L'Affaire Thomas Crown (1968) (1968) and again in Goodbye Columbus (1969) (1969), Airport (1970) (1970), and American Graffiti, la suite (1979).

There have been at least four other movies portraying the story of the Boston Strangler. These include Le tueur de Boston (1964) (1964), The Boston Strangler (2006) (2006), The Hunt for the Boston Strangler (2007) (2007), and L'Étrangleur de Boston (2008) (2008).