Le Refroidisseur de dames

Rod Steiger plays a psycho who likes to strangle women to death. George Segal plays a Jewish cop after him. Lovely, young Lee Remick plays Segal's love interest. Unfortunately Steiger is interested in her too.

Very odd movie. The dialogue is crisp, sharp and handled expertly by the cast. It just sounds different--I mean this in a good way. Steiger chews the scenery again & again & again & AGAIN as the killer. Segal is just fine, but he (understandably) pales next to Steiger. Remick is astonishingly beautiful and having a whale of a time in her role. Also Eileen Heckart is a scream as Segal's very Jewish mother. The sequence between her and Remick is a definite highlight.

All in all, a strange, but enjoyable, mix of suspense, humor and romance. Not for everybody but worth a look.

Only debit--more than a few homophobic comments are thrown about as jokes. But then this was made in 1968.

I turned this gem of a film on one afternoon having no idea what it was about. The opening scenes with Rod Steiger as an Irish priest calling on unsuspecting, soon-to-be victim Marline Bartlett was truly startling in its viciousness. Why have I never heard of this movie before and why has it been shelved all these years? This movie is definitely a cut above the rest in the genre of thrillers featuring serial killers. Rod Steiger is brilliant in a tour-de-force as he assumes various identities-- i.e., an Irish Priest, plumber and effeminate hair stylist--as a psycho on the loose who targets middle aged women and whose calling card is to draw a pair of lips in red lipstick on each victim's forehead. Steiger is pitted against underdog detective George Segal, who plays an overworked cop who gets no recognition for his work. Lee Remick plays the love interest who adds spice to the movie and supporting actress Eileen Heckart plays detective Segal's overbearing mother who bureates him for being a cop (and Jewish) every opportunity she gets. Heckart as the overbearing stereotypical Jewish mama is annoying, to say the least. Remick's character is a free spirit who gives museum tours and she is HIP! In fact, her dialogue suffers in part from an effort to be *too hip* and contemporary: in one scene she tells Segal, "I swinged, and I swang until I swung", in explaining a previous relationship. The most interesting victim plays a drag queen in a bar who is scorned by the other bar patrons and met with homophobic comments, but this was, after all 1968. All the acting is good, though the best scenes are those involving Steiger and his unsuspecting victims. One slight flaw is that the idea that the police department could control what the media prints and use it to manipulate the killer is a little too contrived, and the movie's ending is mediocre, doesn't satisfy and wraps it up too quickly. The scene involving Remick and Steiger is also contrived, and it's a little inconsistent with Remick's character that she would let a total stranger into her apartment, especially since she's dating a cop.

In spite of the mediocre ending, this is an excellent movie.

Coming hot off the heels of his Oscar winning role in 1967's "In the Heat of the Night" Steiger gives an acting tour-de-force in this tale of a demented serial killer tormenting a police officer. Steiger pulls out all the plugs as he slips into the persona of a Catholic priest, German plumber, simpering hair stylist...and all with great flare and comic over tones. Segal and Remick provide the love interest in a rather kooky way, and it all makes for great fun, in a serial killer movie!..Gotta see it!

There have been many serial killer films over the years but this was one of the earliest and one of the best. It manages to be witty, suspenseful, funny and shocking in separate portions. Rod Steiger is very good in a role made for him but George Segal takes the acting honours because it's a much harder role and he does it so well. Lee Remick is fine also.

The best scene is the opening pre-credit sequence. It may look rather mundane at first but.....

Rod Steiger is excellent as Christopher Gill, a hammy theater manager and psychotic master of disguise. Gill stalks and kills various women all due to his love/hate relationship with his dead mother, who was a respected stage actress. He uses his talents of disguise as a plumber; a priest; and policeman to gain the confidence of his victims. He starts a cat-and-mouse game with a NYPD detective Morris Brummel(George Segal),who himself is quite the "mama's boy" still living with his mother. At every chance she tries to shame him for being a Jewish cop. Gill begins calling in tips of his crimes to Brummel, who is slowly putting together the clues to the serial killings; and on the back burner trying to figure out his feelings for his new girlfriend(Lee Remick). The Segal/Remick relationship seems no more than a silly teen-aged romance. Steiger is perfect for the role. Segal's character needs a backbone. Remick works effortlessly and is so easy to look at. In supporting roles are:Murray Hamilton and Eileen Heckart. Very interesting to say the least.