When Laird Cregaresque actor Victor Buono more than held his own
as the opportunistic pianist in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane",
the die was cast and no matter how much he explored characterization,
he was doomed to a series of oddball roles. But how fantastic he was in
"The Strangler" - he dug deep to give Leo Kroll sympathy and understanding. "The Boston Strangler" killed his last victim in January,
1964 and this movie was the first depiction of the crimes, most of the
victims were nurses, the killer always uses a victim's stocking and in a
brief scene where he and his work colleague are chatting (well, she is
chatting, Les couldn't be less interested if he tried) she details a lot of
the fear that people around the area were feeling, including putting
bottles and glasses outside so the strangler will be heard!!
The film opens imaginatively with a victim seen through the strangler's
fixated pupil, he is already hiding in the flat so the victim doesn't stand
a chance. She is Helen Lawson who once worked at the centre where
the lonely, over weight Leo Kroll works as a laboratory technician, so along
with everyone else he is hauled in for questioning. He has a very unconcerned demeanour and is dismissed as unimportant but in reality
he has a lot of problems. He is under the thumb of his over bearing
mother who even though at a nursing home still manages to make Leo's
life a misery. (Ellen Corby is good but it's Buono's movie all the way). Many
of the victims have at one stage nursed his mother who in her smothering
desperation has confided to Leo that the latest nurse was responsible for
saving her life. The scenes between Leo and his mother are gripping - she
belittles him about his weight, his poverty (he couldn't afford to finish
medical school and lives a poverty stricken existence, all because he is
paying his mother's nursing home fees). He is a broken man but Leo
cannot relate in a normal way. He is attracted to a nice girl who runs a
pitch and toss booth. She is nice to him because he is a customer but he at
once reads too much into it and at the end bombards her with marriage
proposals and his mother's engagement ring.
The last victim is killed in a fit of passion, different from the others and
all loose ends seem to be leading to Leo. The police doctor who is a
renowned psychologist feels the killer is a psychopath who can dissociate
themselves from the crimes and Leo lets his blasé guard down when he
expresses admiration for the doctor's book detailing abnormal killers.
Despite his nuanced playing in this and "Baby Jane", Buono, even though
praised, intelligent films were sparse and he turned more and more to
the stage before his death at the age of 43.
Highly Recommended!!
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