Douglas and Lancaster's duet seems more ironic in view of the films they made in 1957. Together they starred in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, John Sturges' very entertaining western. 1957 was also the year that Douglas produced and starred in Paths of Glory, while Lancaster produced and starred in Sweet Smell of Success.

Stangers When We Meet and Town Without Pity were the films Douglas starred in before and after Spartacus. Strangers' novel and screenplay were by Evan Hunter. It is a bit incongruous to see Kirk Douglas and Kim Novak introduced in the film as suburbanites and parents. More interesting that the story about adultery between housewife Maggie Gault and architect Larry Coe, is the film's exploration of artistic expression in a commericial context. Coe is designing a house for best selling author Roger Altar (a very subdued Ernie Kovacs). Coe is caught between the demands of his client, Altar, and the ability of his builder to create a dream house that all are happy with. Altar is encouraged to write a novel that is more true to himself at the risk of commercial success. While Hunter is undoubtedly writing about himself, he wrote as Evan Hunter for his more literary works and as Ed McBain for his police procedurals, this part of the narrative is also clearly a commentary on the compromises of film making. In an interview Evan Hunter praised Richard Quine for being faithful to his screenplay. The dream house built for the movie was not only real, Quine bought it and lived there with his real life love, Kim Novak.

The most memorable aspect of Town Without Pity is still the theme song. Lyrics by Ned Washington, music by Dimitri Tiomkin, wailing by Gene Pitney, the song was rightly nominated for an Academy Award. The movie makes an interesting contrast to The Young Savages made the same year. Douglas plays a military attorney in what appears to be a clear case of rape. The Young Savages was about a seemingly clear case of murder. Douglas' defense lawyer and Lancaster in The Young Savages both go through a crisis of conscious which leads to the defendants in both movies being saved from death sentences. Town Without Pity is one of those films that isn't bad but should have been better. Of interest is seeing a young Robert Blake and Gomer Pyle's future Sergeant Carter, Frank Sutton, take the stand. But the best part is the music, hearing variations of the theme song, including a twist version.

For those keeping notes on where Burt and Kirk cross each other: In addition to Stranger When We Meet, Evan Hunter wrote the novel that The Young Savages was based on, and Disney ingenue Roberta Shore appeared in both films. Town Without Pity was the English language debut of Christine Kaufmann, who would later star in Taras Bulba, a film produced by Burt Lancaster's former production partner, Harold Hecht. Kaufmann would marry her Taras Bulba co-star, Tony Curtis. Curtis, of course, acted in several films with Lancaster and Douglas. Curtis, Douglas and Lancaster also were in the same film, though not all three together, in The List of Adrian Messenger. Town Without Pity is about a small town in Germany where everyone seems to know everyone else, kind of like Hollywood.