IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
Man is haunted by a murder he's committed.Man is haunted by a murder he's committed.Man is haunted by a murder he's committed.
Edith Arnold
- Nastasya
- (uncredited)
Michael Arshasky
- Clerk
- (uncredited)
George Blagoi
- Clerk
- (uncredited)
Nana Bryant
- Madam
- (uncredited)
Davison Clark
- Cop
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJosef 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."
- GoofsRaskolnikov asks for "30 rubles, not a penny more, not a penny less". A penny is equal to 1/100th of such currencies as the dollar and the pound. What he meant was "kopek", the Russian unit of currency equal to 1/100th of a ruble, something he and other characters would know.
- Quotes
Landlady: Good afternoon. We haven't seen much of you these past two days. Have you been praying or only fasting?
Roderick Raskolnikov: I've been contemplating life.
Landlady: You better contemplate the rent! I haven't had a penny out of you in six months! How much longer do you expect me to wait?
- Crazy creditsOne 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'".
- Alternate versionsThere is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA srl, "UN UOMO PERDUTO (1951) + CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Ho ucciso!, 1935)" (2 Films on a single DVD), re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Love and Death (1975)
Featured review
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Josef von Sternberg, 1935) ***
For his first Hollywood movie, Peter Lorre – billed as "the great international star" – personally chose to play the lead in an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's masterpiece, although he is curiously second billed to the film's nominal star Edward Arnold (appearing in the film's latter half as his nemesis, the Chief of Police). The film has been justifiably criticized for being a greatly oversimplified and condensed version of Dostoyevsky's mammoth novel but, not having read the book myself, I was satisfied with (and found much to admire in) von Sternberg's typically pictorial direction which highlights Lucien Ballard's atmospheric chiaroscuro lighting. Peter Lorre is perfectly cast as the arrogant genius Roderick Raskolnikov whose tracts on criminology has made him a household word with the police authorities but, perhaps due to an excess of pride, apparently also reduced him to a bottom-of-the-barrel social status; a casualty of the film's ruthless editing of the original source is the fact that Raskolnikov's fall from grace (from a master pupil to a bum) is never properly explained. Meeting up with a lovely gamine (Marian Marsh) at a heartless pawnbroker's and fully confident in his own superiority 'above the law', he soon puts his theories into practice by doing away with the latter; picked up for questioning by the Police, Arnold (also excellent) soon requests his assistance on the murder investigation itself upon learning of Lorre's true identity and, before long, an innocent neighbor (FRANKENSTEIN [1931]'s Michael Mark) is brought before them as the prime suspect. The cast also includes Gene Lockhart (as Lorre's pompous brother-in-law-to-be) and Douglas Dumbrille (as a former employer of Lorre's sister who is now seemingly hounding his steps). Reportedly, von Sternberg did this merely as a contractual assignment and is said to talk disparagingly of it in his famous autobiography, "Fun In A Chinese Laundry"; whatever the case, it was a good start for him after the termination of his celebrated long-running collaboration with Marlene Dietrich. There have been several film adaptations of the Dostoyevsky novel over the years but the most intriguing one that I would like to catch up with is Robert Wiene's 1923 German Expressionist Silent version RASKOLNIKOV which, for better or worse, was recently released on DVD by Alpha under the novel's more recognizable title.
helpful•122
- Bunuel1976
- Jul 5, 2009
- How long is Crime and Punishment?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Raskolnikov
- Filming locations
- Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(pawnbroker's apartment)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold, and Marian Marsh in Crime and Punishment (1935)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYmJkMWYwYzktYWMwOS00OGFlLWIwZDAtZWQ1ZjkzYmYxNDY5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,3,90,133_.jpg)