021874 Movie studies rape

By JERRY BUCK

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Rape is probably the only crime for which the prosecution must not only prove the defendant guilty but prove the victim innocent.

It is a situation which most women find outrageous and it is explored in an uncompromising and frank new television film., "A Case of Rape."

IN THE FILM, a young housewife played by Elizabeth Montgomery is forcibly raped - not once but twice - by the same man. When she reports the crime she finds that her own morality and sex life are on trial with the defendant.

"A Case of Rape," from Universal Studios, will be seen on the NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies.

Rape is the fastest-rising crime of violence in the United States - up 93 per cent in the past decade according to The producer Louis  Rudolph - and authorities say that many rapes are never reported..

THE FILM addresses itself to what women's organizations regard as inequitable and antiquated laws concerning rape.

Rep. Yvonne B. Burke, DCalif., and Rep. H. John Heins, R-Pa., are cosponsors of legislation to establish a national center for the prevention and control of rape. Mrs.Burke attended a special showing of the film.

. The center would be located within the National Institute of Mental Health and would finance research into the causes. consequences, prevention, treatment and control of rape. It would work with the Department of Justice in drafting model legislation that would be aimed at protecting women's rights and dealing with the defendant.

RUDOLPH GOT the idea for the movie from an article on rape in the Los Angeles Times by staff writer Bella Stumbo. He spent months researching it talking to police, prosecutors and more than 30 women who had been raped.