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Town Without Pity | 
 enlarge | Director: Gottfried Reinhardt
Actors: Kirk Douglas, Barbara Rütting, Christine Kaufmann, E.g. Marshall, Hans Nielsen
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $2.40
You Save: $12.58 (84%)
New (25) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $2.40
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 19578
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D1003140D
ISBN: 0792851994
UPC: 027616873040
EAN: 9780792851998
ASIN: B00005S8KS
Theatrical Release Date: 1961
Release Date: February 5, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New in box! Factory sealed.
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Description
Three-time OscarÂ(r) nominee* Kirk Douglas is downright brilliant (The New Yorker)in this honest and gripping drama about a sleepy, occupied German town suddenly shocked awake by the brutal actions of four American soldiers. As timely today as it was shocking upon its release, Town Without Pity is an excellent productionone of the decade's finest jobs of filmmaking (Limelight) and will keep you on the edge of your seat! Attorney Steve Garrett (Douglas) is brought in to defend four enlisted men accused of attacking a 16-year-old girl. But if he's going to prevent their death sentences, he will have to turn the spotlight on the victim, Karin. Already immeasurably traumatized, Karin suddenly finds herself on the witness stand, attempting to justify her actions to Garrett, her stern father and a Town Without Pity. *Actor: Champion (1949),The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Lust for Life (1956)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Truth at what price? September 1, 2008
Stratiotes Doxha Theon (Richmond, Missouri)
Classic courtroom drama challenging the methods that must be used to expose truth at the cost of relationships and reputations. Well done with intense drama fitting to Mr. Kirk Douglas' talent. Very highly recommended.
great movie March 27, 2008
C. Hansen (illinois)
Wonderful movie, enjoyed it very much. If you love old movies as I do,This is a keeper.
Still Relevant After All These Years February 21, 2008
S. D. Clemett (Astoria, NY United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Town Without Pity could have been the ultimate exploitation film, if it didn't go beyond the sensationalism of the trailers. Instead it is an excellent character study of a conflicted military lawyer with an impossible job, a victim whose suffering doesn't stop, and a father whose position is endangered by the prejudices or envy of the townspeople. Their attitudes toward poor Karin are poorly explained; we have only Major Garrett's speculation on why they turn against this innocent girl. They tell outrageous lies, repeat rumors, and do whatever they can to sully her reputation. Their motives, however, are less important than how this film indicts a legal system that allows an accused rapist's counsel to blame the victim.
Kirk Douglas gives a stellar performance as the officer who does the dirty job he is assigned and later feels a remorse he isn't permitted to show. Frank Sutton and the other actors playing the defendants paint a picture of pure evil. The best performances are by Christine Kaufmann as the tragic Karin, Hans Nielsen as Karin's deceived father, and Gerhart Lippert as her justifiably outraged boyfriend. Tieing it all together is Barbara Rutting as the German journalist who may be the only person to see through what is going on, but who is straitjacketed by the journalistic responsibility to remain neutral, if only in print.
It is shocking that this film didn't provoke earlier passage of rape shield laws, and for this reason should be mandatory viewing whenever those laws are threatened.
Powerful Kirk Douglas Movie March 30, 2007
Terence Allen (Atlanta, GA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Town Without Pity is a signature Kirk Douglas performance. He plays a JAG lawyer in Germany charged with defending a group of soldiers who are accused of raping a local girl.
Douglas' character knows that to properly defend his clients (who include Richard Jaeckel, Robert Blake, and Frank Sutton), he will have to destroy the girl on the stand. He doesn't want to do it, but circumstances seem to point to its inevitability.
Douglas always seemed to play one of two character types. As the villain, he was ruthless, ambitious, arrogant, and willing to do whatever and sacrifice whomever to achieve his goal. As the hero, he seemed to specialize in playing men who are decent, honorable, noble people who are trying to do the right thing despite overwheliming obstacles like bureaucracy, intolerance, and cruelty. In both, he excelled at playing the tortured soul who suffers despite his motivations.
This is a great film, and worthy of many viewings.
A wonderful courtroom drama and period piece May 23, 2006
Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an excellent film and a story well told. The time is 1960, the place, West Germany, in a town in which a large US Army contingent is based. The story deals with a tragic rape of a young German girl by four GIs.
Of course, the entire town is howling for the death penalty to be meted out to the four soldiers, three of whom are clearly guilty. The American command is equally horrified and determines that the crime of the four soldiers is an outrage and will be tried and treated as one, with an open trial in the center of town. Much of the town attends.
The film brilliantly develops the theme of the story--the town is riven by hatreds and divisions of wealth and class. Its outrage over the crimes of the soldiers becomes overshadowed by the rivalries and resentments involving the young victim's family. Soon the trial becomes a forum for ridiculing the girl and her family, and ruining what should have been a spotless reputation.
Kirk Douglas turns in a fine performance as the defense counsel, who is both sympathetic to the victim, and ruthless in his tactics aimed at sparing his four clients the death penalty. The courtroom drama here is superb and for once, generally true to life. This is a fascinating film, but unfortunately not a happy or uplifting one.
This film has a special attraction to me, as it was set in postwar Germany, where I served as an Army officer in the 1970s. This film very accurately captures the attitudes and interactions of American soldiers and officers, and German citizens, during the postwar period. The on-location filming adds tremendously to the authenticity of the piece.
This is a dark drama which will nevertheless not fail to move and impress the viewer.
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