Town Without Pity–Was Justice Really Served?

Town Without Pity (1961), It’s a hot day in post war Germany, four American soldiers drink themselves to a stupor. They brutally rape 16-year-old Karin Steinhof, played superbly and believably by Christine Kaufmann. The girl’s father and the bürgermeister want blood—they demand the death penalty. The death penalty is possible for this crime, but the victim must face her perpetrators on the stand and testify against them.

Kirk Douglas plays Maj. Steve Garrett, the four GI’s attorney. Garrett is a no-nonsense, cut throat lawyer. He does his job and does it well. He seems harden at first, but softens when he meets the victim. But he still has to defend these losers. He can’t settle for less than perfect defense. Because he is conflicted, he warns Karin’s father that putting Karin on the stand will break her. He will subject her to a cross-examination she’d never forget. He’d have to make Karin look bad in order to save these men from the gallows. But her father doesn’t want to accept that, he will risk Karin losing her reputation, everything for the sake of revenge. Eye for an eye… He insists she testify.

At the trial, Garrett uses all the ammunition he can muster. This is a small town in war torn Germany and the locals are out for blood. The opportunity has come to humiliate, degrade, and put to shame a young, beautiful and wealthy girl. Like Garrett said in the movie, he knows he can win because, “the old hate the young, the poor hate the rich, and the ugly hate the beautiful.” Garrett gathers up the scum of the earth as witnesses, prostitutes, a peeping tom, and a lonely and loveless old woman all of which are vindictive. They accuse Karin of being a tease who went around showing her naked body to anyone. They made her look worse than the perpetrators.

Karin is called to the stand and Garrett tears her apart. He taunts her and accuses her of being the seducer of the four GI’s. He asked her questions faster than she think, confusing her, making her doubt herself, making her look really bad. Just as he said he would. The questioning was too much on Karin she passes out on the stand and is taken away before she finishes her testimony. Because she has done this, the death penalty cannot be imposed. The four GI’s received stiff sentences, but Karin got the worse sentence. Her family is torn apart, her reputation has been trashed, she’s the gossip of the town, and the shock of her experience has only just begun to sink in. A desperate, confused, and sad Karin commits suicide. The conflicted Garret gets the news and breaks down if only for a few moments. He packs up his suitcase and leaves the town without pity—it’s on to his next criminal defense. Life goes on…But was justice truly served?

The movie’s depiction of a heinous crime and the horrible effects of the crime on the victim are realistic. This is not as common as in the past, but the victim of a rape was always made out to be the criminal. Many women didn’t report these crimes for fear of exactly that. They were violated not once, but twice, once by the criminal, and then by the courts. The court scenes in the movie are riveting especially when Garrett conducts the cross. It was very hard for me to see American soldiers portrayed as vicious criminals. Hard because they were there to help rebuild a war torn country and instead turned out to be destructive rather than restorative. Hum, I have to wonder if there were a few social messages in this movie. If you have not seen this one, rent it, or buy it you’ll like it.