good back-story, and good acting

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Elizabeth Montgomery's clout and talent is unquestionably what got this film made for TV in the early 1970's. Up until this point, rape was a taboo subject and to see a studio invest so much money and risk so many affiliates for what would ultimately become a legend in Made-for-TV-films is refreshing and brave.The story is about Ellen Harrod a married woman with two children who is raped twice by the same man. She takes herself to the hospital and we see her go through the steps of a routine medical exam to a routine legal proceeding. Harrod is treated worse by culture and society than she was by the rapist.Montgomery's performance is remarkable; not just the horrific scenes, which are done very carefully for a 1974 television audience, but the scenes that follow; the many showers, the slight grimace of her eye muscles on the medical exam table as the camera stays with her eyes and not with the pelvic exam, the manner in which Montgomery's performance begins to display a wearing down of strength as well as soul and resilience as the film proceeds (this film was NOT made in scene order- most films are not- so that for consistency Montogomery had to know this script very well.) The subject of rape itself remains "untouchable" within the cinema. Jodie Foster's remarkable, Oscar Winning performance in "The Accused" in 1984 was the next that we saw such a powerful performance (that was the year that everyone was shocked that "little Jodie Foster" had beaten Meryl Streep for an Oscar; this would happen again in 1992 for "Silence of The Lambs").The film "Sleepers" deals peripherally with the issue of male rape, but this is a film about vengeance and doesn;t do much to teach the frequency and situation of boys who are raped. Statistically, one out of four girls and one out of six boys will be sexually abused by the time they reach age eighteen. This is one out of five children. Hold out your hand, randomly select a finger and cut it off. It doesn't matter which finger; the choice should be as random as a child. Rape is a serious crime and has been seen as a female crime (It was only in January of 2012 that President Obama changed the law to include men as potential victims) for centuries. Subsequently it was only the women's rights movement that brought about awareness.Elizabeth Montgomery left "Bewitched", a sickening housefrau who should have turned Darrin into a ashtray, and went on to create television movies that represented women in a much different light. Lizzie Bortden, Etta Place, many roles that are typically male leads and as such she should be credited right along with Mary Tyler Moore as a pioneer in the Wokmen's Movement using television for her voice. Jodie Foster has achieved the same through the motion picture industry which is about twenty years behind with films such as "Silence of The Lambs", "The Brave One" and, again, "The Acused." A Case of Rape is impossible to find on DVD which is a pity since historically it's of great importance. More so than that, it;s a film that teaches a great deal about the horrors of this crime and the horrors of how our culture deals with it. There is not much difference statistically in 2012 than there was in 1974. in fact, I seriously doubt that one of the Networks would ever make this film today. For those of us who were there and saw it, we are still affected by it, for those who cannot see it, there are still ways to learn about it; certainly Ms Foster's Award winning performance (based on a real case in- of all places- Fall River, Massachusetts) But none the less, this lesson has to be taught. Rape is a serial crime, it is about violence and control and not about sexual gratification and far too many citizens of the world suffer this crime in silence.As for the ending to this film, I shall not spoil it because my voice is one of thousands who continuously ask that this film be released. And when it does, I don;t wish to be the critic who spoiled the end for you.

Liz Montgomery, who doesn't seem capable of a dishonest performance, really pulls out all the stops in this Movie of the Week from '74 that pulls no punches, literally or metaphorically.What makes her performance so fantastic is how repressed, pain filled, and thus realistic it is. It's almost hard to watch at times. A less accomplished actress would be tempted many, many times to go for the over-the-top hysterical money shot. She works up to it at the end, but she earns every bit of it.Ronny Cox and William Daniels give visceral, vivid supporting performances, the directing is journeyman competent and the script is raw, unforgiving, and immediate in its urgency.It's hard to imagine a less cozy movie about our legal system and some of the archaic laws that still drive it...kudos to all involved who brought a really bright light to a horrendous system of injustice that, hopefully with the advent of rape shielding laws and DNA testing, will be less needed in the future. Still, this film contains a lot of very valid lessons in protecting oneself that are helpful even today. Highly recommended...catch it on YouTube.

I must concur with the previous posters regarding this landmark NBC TV movie that changed the genre forever and initiated a new career and more sophisticated image for the late Elizabeth Montgomery. This television classic starred Montgomery (in a performance that should have won her an Emmy)as a housewife who gets raped twice by the same man. She does not report the 1st rape but she does report the second and the film shows the indignities this woman suffers from the courts and the insensitivity and mistrust she experiences from her husband (Ronny Cox) and her best friend (Patricia Smith). There is actually a horrific scene where Montgomery meets with best friend Smith, who actually wants details about what happened and implies that her friend might have enjoyed it. This movie pulls no punches, makes no compromises or apologies, and promises no happy endings. It was reported that when the script was first submitted to network executives, they wanted to cut the second rape. A long time friend of Ms. Montgomery stated that she responded by submitting a list of names of other actresses who might be interested in appearing in the film because she would quit if they changed the script. This is a mature, disturbing, adult movie that is so well-crafted, it could have merited theatrical release and I find it amazing that this movie is not available on video. An intelligent script, uncompromising direction by Boris Sagal, and solid supporting performances by Cox, Rosemary Murphy and Williams Daniels as the attorneys involved, and Cliff Potts as the unapologetic rapist, made this film an instant classic and it's truly criminal if this film is not available on video. All serious students and connoisseurs of great drama and superb acting should see this important and disturbing movie.

Elizabeth Montgomery plays a rape victim who, when going for help, is further abused by the court system. This movie broke every rule in Hollywood and just portrayed it as it really was, and as is today in many cases. If this would have been a theatrical film, Elizabeth Montgomery would have won an Oscar. She was nominated for an Emmy, but lost out to Cicely Tyson's role in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." While Tyson is good in the role, I feel the Emmy should have gone to Elizabeth Montgomery. Her performance blows away everything then and now on television. I wish since her tragic passing that she be given an honorary Emmy and be presented to her husband. Surprisingly, this is not been made available on video.