The Boston Strangler (film)

The Boston Strangler
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Fleischer
Screenplay by	Edward Anhalt
Based on	The Boston Strangler by Gerold Frank
Produced by	Robert Fryer
Starring	Tony Curtis Henry Fonda George Kennedy Mike Kellin Murray Hamilton
Cinematography	Richard H. Kline
Edited by	Marion Rothman
Music by	Lionel Newman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	October 16, 1968 (1968-10-16)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4.1 million[1]
Box office	$17.8 million[2]

The Boston Strangler is a 1968 American true crime thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, based on the true story of the Boston Strangler and the 1966 non-fiction book of the same name by Gerold Frank.^[3] It stars Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo, the man who eventually confessed to being the Strangler, Henry Fonda and George Kennedy as the lead investigators, and Sally Kellerman as one of the strangler's surviving victims.^[4] The cast also features Mike Kellin, Murray Hamilton, Hurd Hatfield, Jeff Corey, William Marshall, George Voskovec and William Hickey.

The film was one of three directed by Fleischer, which were based on real-life murder cases— Compulsion (1959), based on the Leopold and Loeb case; and 10 Rillington Place (1971), based on John Christie. It posits DeSalvo—the suspect who confessed to being the Strangler while in police custody—as being the perpetrator, and suffering from dissociative identity disorder (DID). In reality, the validity of DeSalvo’s confession was disputed and later recanted, and he was never diagnosed with DID.

The Boston Strangler was released in the United States on October 16, 1968, by 20th Century Fox. It was a box-office success, grossing over $17 million, but received mixed reviews from critics, with several deriding it as an exploitation film that featured a number of inaccuracies in its depiction of the actual crimes and of DeSalvo. Curtis was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Drama.