Town Without Pity (1961)

Four American soldiers stationed near a German village face death in the rape of a local girl and are defended by outside counsel Major Steve Garrett.

Director:

Gottfried Reinhardt

Writers:

Manfred Gregor (novel), George Hurdalek (screenplay),

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Barbara Rütting, Christine Kaufmann

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Douglas	...	Maj. Steve Garrett
Barbara Rütting	...	Inge Koerner
Christine Kaufmann	...	Karin Steinhof
E.G. Marshall	...	Col. Jerome Pakenham
Hans Nielsen	...	Karl Steinhof
Ingrid van Bergen	...	Trude
Robert Blake	...	Cpl. Jim Larkin
Richard Jaeckel	...	Cpl. Birdwell "Birdie" Scott
Frank Sutton	...	Sgt. Chuck Snyder
Karin Hardt	...	Frau Steinhof
Gerhart Lippert	...	Frank Borgmann
Mal Sondock	...	Pvt. Joey Haines
Alan Gifford	...	Gen. Stafford
Max Haufler	...	Dr. Urban
Rose Renée Roth	...	Frau Kulig

Storyline

When four young American soldiers are accused of raping a girl from a German village near their camp, Major Steve Garrett is assigned the distasteful task of defending them. It soon becomes clear that the Army, the villagers, and even the girl's family are more interested in revenge than in the welfare of the distraught victim. Garrett is faced with the dilemma of destroying the girl on the witness stand in order to save the lives of his clients.

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Plot Keywords:

village | soldier | rape | reputation | social injustice | 

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Taglines:

The Story of What Four Men Did To a Girl... And What the Town Did To Them!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA West Germany Switzerland

Language:

English German

Release Date:

March 1961 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Stadt ohne Mitleid

Filming Locations:

Atelier Sievering, Vienna, Austria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The, Osweg, Gloria-Film GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christine Kaufmann's American film debut.

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Goofs

Frank swims across the river to be with Karin. However, when he is standing by her, his swim trunks are partially wet and partially dry.

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Quotes

Sgt. Chuck Snyder: I guess I'm a little nervous about how this will look on my record.
Maj. Steve Garrett: [Slams coffee pot down on table] Record! I've seen it. It's enough to gag a hyena. Personally I hate your guts, but I have to defend you.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Town Without Pity"
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Lyrics by Ned Washington
Sung by Gene Pitney

User Reviews

Gripping, powerful, shocking for its time.

When this film was released in 1961, I remember the ads saying this film was for "Adults Only". (The MPAA rating system didn't exist then.) A film about four soldiers stationed in Germany who gang rape a 16 year old girl and the trial that followed was pretty heavy stuff for audiences back then. I recently saw the film on Turner Classic Movies, and it still holds up very well. It is still startling and powerful, even without nudity and foul language, which should show Hollywood it can be done. You can be "adult" without being unnecessarily vulgar or obscene. As it stands, I would still give this film an "R" rating today.

And, of course, there is the memorable title song, sung by Gene Pitney, which accounted for the film's only (surprisingly) Oscar nomination. Even that lost out to the syrupy "Moon River" from "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

My one complaint about Turner's presentation was with the film's aspect ratio. Instead of showing a widescreen version, they showed a full-frame version with the framing "squeezed" so that faces were somewhat elongated and cars appeared "stubby" and compacted. This became very annoying. Even a pan & scan version would be better than this.

Nonetheless, for sheer power, as well as excellent acting by Kirk Douglas, E.G. Marshall, Christine Kaufmann, and a very young Robert Blake, I highly recommend "Town Without Pity".