Town Without Pity

Trailer—Town Without Pity

Kirk Douglas had previously played an army man defending troops in Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory", based on the true story of WWI-era French soldiers charged with cowardice in the face of the enemy. Now, in "Town Without Pity", he has a devil's advocate job: defending American troops stationed in Germany who raped a local girl. Watching Douglas's character, I got the feeling that he was basically testing the townspeople. After seeing how angry they got upon finding out the the troops had raped the girl, they wanted the troops hanged. And then Douglas's character does everything possible to discredit the girl. Of course, we often see people blame rapes on the victim, so this should come as no surprise. But anyway, this is a really good movie. I've never heard of Gottfried Reinhardt, so I'll have to see if I can find any more of his movies. Also starring Christine Kauffmann, E.G. Marshall and Robert Blake.

Probably best known today for it's unforgettable title song by Gene Pitney, which was a huge international hit and sold 3.5 million records that year, this was a courageous film to make in 1961. With dramas about rape something you can see almost every night on TV you may forget that this was almost taboo in those days. A powerful well acted drama from start to finish, my only complaint would be the totally unnecessary narration. Perhaps this isn't on the German version but the film I saw it is a horrible distraction. A female voice tells you everything your seeing as it happens, gives unnecessary explanations, and tells you what the Germans are saying in their native language. Simple subtitles would have been much better. But putting that aside you have a powerful film with an excellent cast. Christina Kaufman should have become a major star. As is, this is her best role. Don't miss it!

This movie has everything, including and above all style. Finally a movie that's every bit as good as the title song! So many movies are inferior to their music. The subject is sleazy, gloriously so. And there is a good dose of compassion too. Great script inspires great acting. The song is quite original and catchy, and the singer, Gene Pitney, is an overlooked and neglected genius, both as a singer and as a songwriter. And let's have a hand of applause for Tiomkin, a Russian who wrote some of the most quintessentially American music!

This was all in all a great film, with riveting performances from all the cast. My problem was the weak,ineffective score, which took a great theme song and beat it like a dead horse. The opening scene and credits placed the song well, but the frequent, unrelenting repeat of the theme both instrumental and with Gene Pitney's great vocals throughout the film in quite inappropriate places "isn't very pretty" at all. Very distracting to the viewer, and certainly took away some of the film's impact.The rest of the score was passable, but nothing special. I think the intended tone of the film could have been maintained or even intensified if there were no further music in the film after the song ran with the opening credits.

This is a very serious movie. A local teenage girl is raped by four US soldiers on a hot summer day in a little German town. Her father wants the criminals to be killed. The soldiers' lawyer (Kirk Douglas) knows he must devastate the girl's seemingly innocent image to free his clients from the death sentence. It looks like this movie never really was produced to be a huge success at the box offices at all. It treats its story with honesty and no compromises. The acting is excellent. Douglas and Marshall give very impressive performances supported by a flawless German/ American cast. Christine Kaufmann is absolutely convincing as the victim which is raped a second, this time by the legal system. Reinhardt almost tends to a documentary style, something that probably doesn't appeal to all viewers. It's exciting, well written and very depressive. A perfect movie which leaves you speechless in the end.