Cry Rape (1973 TV Movie) User Reviews

Starts off well...

[preppy-3 · 6/10 · 23 April 2002]

then becomes a standard cop drama.

A woman is raped (not shown) and in shows in graphic (for TV) detail the indignities she goes through with the police to prove she was attacked. This part is very good, well-acted and interesting.

SPOILER AHEAD!

Then it turns into a standard wrong guy gets convicted story. When they throw in his evil twin at the end I gave up completely. So, it's good until about the halfway mark.

For early 1970s TV this was pretty strong stuff.

How did Peter Coffield pass away?

[celayner · 9/10 · 29 November 2006]

I was a big fan of the movie Cry Rape and the actor Peter Coffield since I first saw the movie as a teenager. This was a very significant movie for a seventies TV movie. I was shocked at the time for the graphic detailed police questioning of a rape victim. I thought the rape scene itself was handled very well without being to frightening. The camera switching from the clock ticking and the her cat drinking milk added fear and suspense to the scene. It also was the first time that a movie looked at the the male as possible victim when accused of this crime. Although, I believe that the twist of the suspect's having a double was satisfying, it took away from the seriousness of the rape issue. I believe it was added for it's entertainment value. I was so impressed with Peter Coffield and the lead actress. Does anyone know how the actor Peter Coffield passed away or any website that would post details of that information? I have known very little about him except for seeing him on some old television shows years ago. I would appreciate any information.

Close, But No Cigar

[Sargebri · 1 December 2003]

This was one of the first films to deal with the once taboo subject of rape. In fact, it beat the acclaimed A Case of Rape, featuring Elizabeth Montgomery, by a few months. However, while the latter film is remembered by audiences and critics alike, this one is very much forgotten. As another commentator said, it starts off fine by showing what a woman goes through during and after a rape, but the thing that killed this film was that it seemingly forgot about the victim and concentrated on the man that was wrongly accused of the crime. No wonder more people remember the Elizabeth Montgomery film. That film will always be remembered for helping to take away the stigma of such a horrific crime, while this film will only be remembered as just another 1970's movie of the week.

Unexpected twist at the end

[ejp-68271 · 10/10 · 26 August 2020]

Interesting made for TV movie that aired on November 27, 1973-garnered high ratings for the CBS network....Directed by Corey Allen and with good actors, featuring Andrea Marcovicci, Peter Coffield, Greg Mullavey, Joseph Sirola, Lesley Woods and a young Patricia Mattick-was only 22 then. A young woman is violently raped - and she is pretty much traumatized by the ensuing legal process and sometimes it feels like the victim is not treated with compassion by the legal system; one feels like the system let her down, and things get more complicated as the action progresses; these were the days before DNA testing! The movie is a hard-hitting Emmy nominated drama- (1974 Primetime Emmy- Best Teleplay.) Indeed one of television's early attempts to deal with this controversial issue. I enjoyed it, just because it takes place in very different times- the early seventies. I saw it last year for the first time, the movie came out the day I turned five.

"I'm Doctor Lang...how are you feeling?"

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 31 May 2020]

"Cry Rape" is one of the earliest television programs that dealt with rape. It took a lot of guts to go there....and it's sad to see how victims were treated back in the day. Hopefully, it's gotten a bit better.

The film begins with a violent rape where a woman is attacked and beaten in her home. He even robs her to boot. Amazingly, when she goes to the police, they are pretty nasty and keep implying it must have been consensual! To make it worse, everyone involved are men--the doctor examining her as well as all the police and detectives. It's really shameful how this poor lady was treated.

Eventually, the police seem to believe the woman....because her story and composite drawing of the rapist matched that of several other recent cases. And, soon after this, another rape occurs...and in this case, her husband is a monster, as he blames her for the rape. Fortunately, she insists on pressing charges and won't let her awful husband stop her. Even more fortunate is that the police soon find a man matching the description.

At this point, the focus in the film changes. Instead of focusing on the women, the story focuses more on the accused. In many ways, the story tries to make you feel sympathetic towards him...and you wonder if he actually was the actual rapist. After all, eyewitness testimony is notoriously weak. What's next when all this comes to court?

While some might watch this film and get angry at the filmmakers, I appreciate how they didn't sanitize the story. First, the police weren't very nice...which often has been the case. Second, the film has very adult language and doesn't use euphemisms to talk around the assault. Third, the defense attorney's tactics are slimy and evil...which, sadly, was the norm back in the day. He also didn't seem to care in the least if his client was innocent...he just wanted to 'win'...a real sociopath! Fortunately, courts don't allow this much leeway in cross-examining the victims....and I would hate to see the story sanitize things by having the attorney be nice.

So is the film worth seeing? Well, it is NOT a good film to watch if you've been a victim of sexual assault as it might be very traumatic watching the story. If you have and do watch, watch it with someone you love....and have some Kleenex handy. Also, there is a twist late in the film that might be tough on these viewers. It might be especially tough because it turns out that the accused is a lookalike for the REAL rapist! Overall, however, it's an excellent film....way ahead of its time.

It may be nearly 50 years old, but this film really sticks it to the still horrible legal system.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 23 November 2021]

For anybody who has doubted the impact of rape on a victim and the suffering that they go through, this film really dig deep into that suffering, and the performance of Andrea Marcovicci is excellent. We know she is not lying about the rape because it happens within the first 10 minutes of the film, and it's quite horrifying. What she goes through as far as questioning it's even worse even though it's the legal system and understandable to make sure that they have all the facts. But that doesn't make it any easier.

When the young Peter Coffield is arrested from a compository sketch, he insists that he is innocent, even though his wife (Patricia Mattick) and mother (Lesley Woods) have conflicting feelings. And while the accused certainly could be innocent, the focus switches between him and the victim, yet you don't want to offer any sympathy towards Coffield until you're sure. It's certainly horrible for Marcovicci, yet the script is clever enough to make you doubt whether or not he was responsible for the rape five women.

Greg Mullavey is cleverly ruthless as the defense attorney whom you're never sure is absolutely on his client's side. So even though there is plenty of doubt, it's a difficult emotional you are my cookie dough with simply because you want to see the guilty found, but not at the expense of an innocent man just to have someone put away for an unsolved crime. That means that there are many different emotions that run through in this emmy-nominated script, and while it will create some controversy because of the questions that follow, the points are still serious.