''Crime and Punishment'' is a 1935 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg (; born Jonas Sternberg; May 29, 1894 – December 22, 1969) was an Austrian-American filmmaker whose career successfully spanned the transition from the silent to the sound era, during which he worked with most of the major ...
for
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
. The screenplay was adapted by Joseph Anthony and S.K. Lauren from
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
's 1866
novel of the same title. The film stars
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
in the lead role of
Raskolnikov
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Родион Романович Раскольников, Rodión Románovich Raskólʹnikov, rədʲɪˈon rɐˈmanəvʲɪtɕ rɐˈskolʲnʲɪkəf) is the fictional protago ...
(here named Roderick instead of Rodion).
Von Sternberg, who was contractually obliged to make the film, disliked it, later writing 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."
The Library of Congress holds a print.
Synopsis
The American Film Institute provides a summary of the film's narrative:
Cast
*
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
- Roderick Raskolnikov
*
Edward Arnold - Inspector Porfiry
*
Marian Marsh
Marian Marsh (born Violet Ethelred Krauth; October 17, 1913 – November 9, 2006) was a Trinidad-born American film actress and later an environmentalist.
Early life
Violet Ethelred Krauth was born on October 17, 1913, in Trinidad, British ...
- Sonya
*
Tala Birell
Tala may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tala (comics), a fictional character in DC comics
*''Tala'', a 1938 volume of poetry by Gabriela Mistral
*Tala (music), a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music
* "Tala" (song), by Sarah Geronimo, ...
- Antonya Raskolnikov
*
Elizabeth Risdon
Elisabeth Risdon (born Daisy Cartwright Risdon; 26 April 1887 – 20 December 1958) was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1913 and 1952. A beauty in her youth, she usually played in society parts. In later ...
- Mrs. Raskolnikov (as Elisabeth Risdon)
*
Robert Allen - Dmitri
*
Douglas Dumbrille - Grilov
*
Gene Lockhart
Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)["Gene Lockhart"](_blank)
''The ...
- Lushin
*
Charles Waldron
Charles Waldron (December 24, 1874 – March 4, 1946) was an American stage and film actor, sometimes credited as Charles Waldron Sr., Chas. Waldron Sr., Charles D. Waldron or Mr. Waldron.
Early life
He was born and grew up in Waterford, New ...
- University President
*
Thurston Hall
Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187.
Career Stag ...
- Editor
*
Johnny Arthur
Johnny Arthur (born John Lennox Arthur Williams; May 20, 1883 – December 31, 1951) was an American stage and motion picture actor.
Early years
Born in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Arthur was a veteran of twenty-five years on stage before he made ...
- Clerk
*
Mrs. Patrick Campbell - Pawnbroker
Production
![Crime and Punishment (film) 1935](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Crime_and_Punishment_%28film%29_1935._Josef_von_Sternberg%2C_director._L_to_R_Edward_Arnold%2C_Peter_Lorre.jpg)
Sternberg and Paramount studios ended their eight-year affiliation with the completion of
''The Devil is a Woman'', the director's seventh and final collaboration with actress
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
.
Producer
B. P. Schulberg
B. P. Schulberg (born Percival Schulberg, January 19, 1892 – February 25, 1957) was an American pioneer film producer and film studio executive.
Biography
Born Percival Schulberg in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he took the name Benjamin from the ...
, recently expelled from Paramount, joined
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation.
Life and career
Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, wa ...
's
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
and quickly brought Sternberg on board in a two-picture contract with the "poorly financed" studio.
Dostoyevsky's psychological exploration of a murderer, his remorse and redemption posed an immense challenge for cinematic rendering "as there could be no visual equivalent
orthe author's detailed reasoning and elaborate description of
is charactersmental attitudes." Harry Cohn approved the project in part because ''
Crime and Punishment
''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...
'', first published in 1866, was in the public domain and would require no copyright fees. ''Crime and Punishment'' exemplifies a trend in Hollywood of the 1930s towards elevating feature film credentials through adapting classical literature "to lend an air of prestige" to the film industry.
The "odd cast", bestowed upon Sternberg, included a mix of Columbia contract artists as well as "supers"—freelance players engaged without a contract, for a modest fee—that satisfied Columbia's budgetary constraints.
Production code officials had reviewed a recent stage adaption of the novel and warned that the narrative describes "a failure of the police to arrest and prosecute the young college student
askolnikov and that "serious thematic difficulties will be encountered because of the characterization of the heroine
onyaas a prostitute. This characterization is a definite part of the plot."
Sternberg, recognizing the complexities inherent to the novel, prudently chose to compose a straightforward genre film "about a detective and a criminal."
Critical reception
Writing for ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'' in 1936,
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
gave the film a poor review, noting that despite the fine acting of Peter Lorre, this version of ''Crime and Punishment'' was entirely too vulgar. Greene commented that the original Russian story of "religious and unhappy mind" had been altered in this picture into a "lunch-bar-chromium version" with idealism, ethics, and optimism "of a salesman who has never failed to sell his canned beans". He recommended ''
Crime et Châtiment'' as a much better version of the story.
[ (reprinted in: )]
References
Sources
*American Film Institute. 2017. Crime and Punishment (1935). Movie details, History section. Retrieved 2 July 2018. https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/4127
*Beltzer, Thomas. 2004. Crime and Punishment: A Neglected Classic. Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2 July 2018. http://sensesofcinema.com/2004/cteq/crime_and_punishment/
*
Baxter, John. 1971. ''The Cinema of Josef von Sternberg''. The International Film Guide Series. A.S Barners & Company, New York.
*Beltzer, Thomas. 2004. Crime and Punishment: A Neglected Classic. Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2 July 2018. http://sensesofcinema.com/2004/cteq/crime_and_punishment/
*Sarris, Andrew. 1966. ''The Films of Josef von Sternberg''. Museum of Modern Art/Doubleday. New York, New York.
*Supten, Tom. 2006. ''Auteur in Distress: On Wallace Beery, von Sternberg, and Sergeant Madden''. Bright Lights Film Journal. Retrieved 12 July 2018. http://brightlightsfilm.com/auteur-distress-wallace-beery-von-sternberg-sergeant-madden/#.W0ea_ZCWyUk
*Swanbeck, Laura. 2013. The Crank: 'Crime and Punishment' Program Notes. UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved 2 July 2018. http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/blog/the-crank-crime-and-punishment-program-notes-41113-screening/
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crime And Punishment
1935 films
Films directed by Josef von Sternberg
1935 drama films
Films based on Crime and Punishment
American drama films
Films produced by B. P. Schulberg
American black-and-white films
Films scored by Louis Silvers
Columbia Pictures films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films