''A Case of Rape'' is a 1974 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

starring

Elizabeth Montgomery Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery (April 15, 1932 – May 18, 1995) was an American actress whose career spanned five decades in film, stage, and television. She is best remembered for her leading role as the witch Samantha Stephens on the televisi ...

and

Ronny Cox Daniel Ronald Cox (born July 23, 1938) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. His best-known roles include Drew Ballinger in ''Deliverance'' (1972), George Apple in '' Apple's Way'' (1974–75), Ozark Bule in '' Bound for Glory'' (1976), C ...

. It premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on February 20, 1974. The film tells the story of a wife and mother who is

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

d twice by the same man and her ordeals dealing with the actual rape and her subsequent dealing with the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

and the trial.

Plot

Ellen Harrod appears to have a happy marriage to David, although his frequent work-related absences are beginning to take a toll on her. While taking

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...

classes with her neighbor and best friend, Marge Bracken, she is introduced to Larry Retzliff. Ellen and Marge accept a ride home from Retzliff the same night while David is away. Once Ellen is in her apartment, Retzliff arrives claiming car trouble and asks to use the phone. When Ellen lets him in, he overpowers and rapes her. Unable to reach David by phone, and emotionally unable to report the crime, Ellen decides to put the attack behind her, and tries through three showers to literally wash away the rape. When David returns, she is still unable to get his attention long enough to tell him about the attack. Having had an anonymous blood test, Ellen makes a serious effort to forget the attack and resume her life. This attempt comes to a crashing halt four days after the initial attack in a parking garage when Retzliff, who has been waiting for Ellen behind the front seat of her car, rapes her again, this time beating her viciously. After reporting the attack, the treatment that Ellen receives from the police, doctors, and detectives is anything but sympathetic. While the District Attorney, Leonard Alexander, appears to have her best interests at heart, he clearly has his reservations. Defending Retzliff is ruthless attorney Muriel Dyer who bullies and interrogates witnesses and Ellen herself on the stand in an attempt to get Retzliff off. Dyer's efforts succeed and Retzliff is found not guilty. Following the trial, attorney Alexander comments, "Never try a rape case unless your victim is a 90-year-old nun with at least four stab wounds." After this, Retzliff mockingly apologizes to Ellen, saying "no hard feelings", but Ellen calmly but coldly tells him, "If you ever come near me again, I'll kill you." A voiceover narration at the end of the movie reveals that shortly after the trial, Retzliff attempts to rape someone else. While trying to escape from the police, he is shot and wounded, and ends up pleading guilty to the rape and sentenced to prison. Ellen and David's marriage is strained by the events of the film, and the narration reveals that Ellen later files for divorce.

Cast

as Ellen Harrod *

as David Harrod *

Cliff Potts Cliff Potts (born January 5, 1942 in Glendale, California) is an American television and film actor whose roles include John Keenan in the 1972 science fiction film, ''Silent Running'' starring Bruce Dern. Potts starred as Sergeant Eugene Allar ...

as Larry Retzliff *

William Daniels William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor, who is best known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig in the drama series '' St. Elsewhere'', for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT in the t ...

as Leonard Alexander *

Rosemary Murphy Rosemary Murphy (January 13, 1925 – July 5, 2014) was a German- American actress of stage, film, and television. She was nominated for three Tony Awards for her stage work, as well as two Emmy Awards for television work, winning once, for h ...

as Muriel Dyer *

Ken Swofford Kenneth Charles Swofford (July 25, 1933 – November 1, 2018) was an American film and television actor often cast as a villain or a police officer. Between 1962 and 1995, Swofford's film credits included '' Thelma & Louise'', '' Skyjacked ...

as Detective Riley *

Jonathan Lippe Jonathan Goldsmith (born September 26, 1938) is an American character actor. He began his career on the New York stage, then started a career in film and television. He appeared in several TV shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known ...

as Detective Parker * Patricia Smith as Marge Bracken *

Antony Carbone Antony Deago Carbone (July 15, 1925 – October 7, 2020) was an American film and television actor. Biography Carbone was born as Antonio Giuseppe Carmelo Carbone in Calabria, Italy on July 15, 1925. His family moved to Syracuse, New York when ...

as Officer Carbone

Broadcast

The film was broadcast on February 20, 1974, over the

Television Network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...

, which had some reservations about showing the second rape scene, which was considered strongly graphic at the time. As reported by the A&E series ''

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

'', Montgomery believed so strongly in the story that she threatened to leave the project if the scene was cut. Montgomery prevailed, and the film was shown in its entirety along with warnings of the mature subject matter. This was the first issue-oriented TV-movie of its time and helped to change

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and legislation for rape victims. It was NBC's highest rated TV-movie in history with a

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

of 33.1 and an audience share of 49%.Wagner, Joyce (6 March 1974)
NBC's 'Case of Rape' Leads Nielson (sic) Ratings
''Kansas City Times''

Awards

Montgomery, who had become a household name during her eight-year tenure on '' Bewitched'', received an Emmy nomination for her performance.

References

External links

*
A Case Of Rape
at the 26th Primetime Emmy Awards
TV Fiction sticks close to fact
at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Case Of Rape American crime drama films NBC network original films 1974 television films 1974 films American courtroom films 1970s English-language films Films about rape Films directed by Boris Sagal American drama television films 1970s American films