Review of Town Without Pity (1961) by Monica A — 03 Sep 2013

A very powerful tale of unrelenting hate towards a young girl by the burghers of a small German town.

The real culprit in the crime the girl endures is not just the four soldiers who raped her, but the German town, with all its nasty people, who condemn a girl who endured a horrifying experience. From the nosy neighbor who watched her exercise to a nosy old busybody who repeated every word and action the young couple did, to the parents of both the girl and the boy that turned against their own flesh--they were all as guilty as the rapists in the girl's eventual suicide.

The part of Karin is played by Christine Kaufmann, who was only 16 at the time, and the audience is at first brought to think she is the town slut, when in fact she is just a normal girl who is violated first by the rapists, and then by the narrow-minded people (even her parents) that by the end of the film, the audience feels nothing but pity for what the girl has endured,.

Even the Army attorney defending the doldiers involved who tears her apart in the courtroom (Kirk Douglas) becomes so disgusted at what he had to do to break her down, throws up violently when he hears she committed suicide.

The haunting Gene Pitney song closes with "Town Without Pity", reflecting the ugliness of the act of rape and the town that abandoned a troubled young woman.