This movie was the most controversial and intense courtroom drama in the history of cinematography.
This movie was originally a story written by Manfred Gregor, and it was made into a film in 1961. It was filmed in black and white.

The story takes place in postwar Germany in the village of Neustadt. The story goes like this: A group of four drunken American soldiers that are stationed in this town come upon a teenage girl, Karin Steinhof in the woods outside of town. She had been trying to seduce her boyfriend, Frank Borgmann, but he got overwhelmed and left her there.

The soldiers have witnessed this and took advantage of the situation and gang rape her. They are picked up and charged with rape.

Karin’s father of course wants the death penalty. Major Steven Garrett (played by Kirk Douglas), is the attorney that the military brings in to defend those animals. He intimidates Karin’s parents by telling them that he will put Karin on the witness stand. His aim is to discredit her in order to save the soldiers from the death penalty. He also talks to the townspeople and finds out that Karin has a reputation for standing undressed in front of windows as people pass by. Of course, he uses this against the girl in order to build his defense.

The other actors in this movie were, E.G. Marshall, and Robert Blake (when he was a good guy in real life). This was an excellent courtroom drama for its time. Although the victim was blamed, it cleared the way of getting the issue of rape out in the open. This may have been the first time that it was handled on film. Those were the sixties.

It has been a long time since I have seen this movie, and I don’t remember what the ending was, so if anyone remembers, please leave a comment ! But most likely the bastards were typically found innocent and released.

townwithoutpity2.jpg picture by lstlightThis is the courtroom scene in “Town Without Pity.”

deletereply redheadgirl4 wrote on Jan 6, ’08 I haven’t heard about this movie, but it sounds as if it would be interesting, based on your wonderful review. I’ll add it to my growing list of movies to look for. Big hugs!

deletereply starfishred wrote on Jan 6, ’08 I loved the theme song from this movie-a very good movie thanks

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jan 7, ’08 This movie was an interesting way to see how Hollywood handled the issue of rape.