The Boston Strangler (film) journalism and movie technique, and yet—through certain prurient options that it does not take—it is not quite the popular exploitation film that one might think. It is as though someone had gone out to do a serious piece of reporting and come up with 4,000 clippings from a sensationalist tabloid. It has no depth, no timing, no facts of any interest and yet, without any hesitation, it uses the name and pretends to report the story of a living man, who was neither convicted nor indicted for the crimes it ascribes to him. Tony Curtis 'stars'—the program credits word—as what
The Strangler which Kroll obtains a doll. Topper also drew on the "Burt Topper Stock Company" – an unofficial group of actors he worked with regularly – to fill some supporting roles, including Baynes Barron, Russ Bender and Wally Campo. Producers Samuel Bischoff and David Diamond originally planned to make a movie called "The Boston Strangler", capitalizing on the ongoing interest in the real life serial killer of the same name. The setting was later changed to an unnamed US city. Burt Topper was hired in the wake of his work on "War Is Hell" (1963) and production commenced mid-September 1963. Topper