Crime and Punishment (1935)

Man is haunted by a murder he's committed.

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Joseph Anthony, Fyodor Dostoevsky (novel) (as Dostoievsky, Feodor Dostoievsky)

Stars:

Edward Arnold, Peter Lorre, Marian Marsh

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Peter Lorre	...	Roderick Raskolnikov
Edward Arnold	...	Insp. Porfiry
Marian Marsh	...	Sonya
Tala Birell	...	Antonya Raskolnikov
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Mrs. Raskolnikov
Robert Allen	...	Dmitri
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Grilov
Gene Lockhart	...	Lushin
Charles Waldron	...	University president
Thurston Hall	...	Editor
Johnny Arthur	...	Clerk
Mrs. Patrick Campbell	...	Pawnbroker
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
A. Gest	...	Clerk

Storyline

Roderick Raskolnikov, a brilliant criminology student and writer, becomes embittered by poverty and his inability to support his family. When he sees a desperate prostitute, Sonya, degraded by a vicious pawnbroker, Raskolnikov, a proponent of the idea that some people are imbued with such intelligence that the law cannot be applied to them as to other people, decides to rid the world of the pawnbroker and thus save his family and Sonya as well from the fate poverty forces on them. When Porphiry, the police detective investigating the murder, encounters Raskolnikov, he finds a man nearly crippled by the guilt and paranoia his deed has burdened him with. But Raskolnikov clings with as much coldness and calculation as he can muster to his guiding idea, that some crimes ought not to be punished.

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Plot Keywords:

fainting man | garnet | pawnbroker | criminology | prostitute | 

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Taglines:

A Great Masterpiece Becomes a Greater Picture! Thrilling audiences as it has thrilled millions of readers!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1936 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Crimen y castigo

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

B.P. Schulberg Productions, Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Josef von Sternberg was contractually obligated to make this film, and he disliked it, saying in his autobiography that it was "no more related to the true text of the novel than the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower is related to the Russian environment."

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Quotes

Insp. Porfiry: [to Roderick] How long do you think you can keep up this pretense? Forever? For all eternity?
Roderick Raskolnikov: You're wasting your time.
Insp. Porfiry: Then I'm afraid I'll have to send an innocent man to Siberia - vety likely to his death. It's not my doing after all - it's yours. I don't know how you feel about it, but it's a worse crime than the other in its way, more cold-blooded and fiendish. A Napoleon might be able to carry it off, but you're not a Napoleom, my friend. Not hard enough. I'm sorry for you. I wouldn't be ...

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Crazy Credits

One of the credits reads "Story by Dostoievsky". There is an asterisk next to this credit, and at the bottom it says, "Feodor Dostoievsky, Russia's foremost author, wrote 'Crime and Punishment' in 1866'".

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Connections

Version of Crime and Punishment (1917)

User Reviews

Extremely Well Done

Crime and Punishment (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Dostoyevsky's classic novel turned into a classic film by the legendary von Sternberg. In the film Peter Lorre plays a brilliant but poverty stricken criminalologist who resorts to murder when his mom and sister are threatened with being homeless. The crime seems to go off without a hitch until his conscience begins to haunt him and his fear of a detective (Edward Arnold) starts to cause more panic. This is an extremely impressive version of the novel and also features a terrific performance by Lorre but the real beauty here is the vision by von Sternberg. His stamp is all over this film and it's easy to see early on with the beautiful lighting, which creates some wonderful atmosphere and real tension. The way the cinematography picks up each and every shadow just makes the tension in the story build and build and this is especially true right after the murder when Lorre panics and tries to get away without being seen. This entire segments contains some great suspense and the director gets most of the credit. I found Lorre's performance to be one of the greatest of his career because he's actually got quite a bit too do here. Not only must he play a genius but he also must show fear, panic and even a comic tone. When Lorre's character loses his fear it turns into some comic touches and he delivers on all the notes. Arnold turns in another strong performance and his laid back approach is perfect opposite Lorre's breakdown. The one weak spot in the film for me is the final act, which seems to be drawn out too long due to Lorre's relationship with a poor woman (Marian Marsh). Mrs. Patrick Campbell is downright wicked in her role of the murdered pawnbroker. With a little bit of editing this movie could have been a real masterpiece of the genre but as it stands, this is a perfectly entertaining "B" movie that has plenty going for it.