Crime and Punishment U.S.A.
Directed byDenis Sanders
Screenplay byWalter Newman
Based onCrime and Punishment
1866 novel
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Produced byTerry Sanders
StarringMary Murphy
Frank Silvera
Marian Seldes
John Harding
George Hamilton
CinematographyFloyd Crosby
Edited byMerrill G. White
Music byHerschel Burke Gilbert
Distributed byAllied Artists
Release date
November 1, 1959 (1959-11-01)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Crime and Punishment U.S.A. is a 1959 American crime drama film directed by Denis Sanders, written by Walter Newman and starring George Hamilton in his first screen role.[1] The film was released on November 1, 1959.

The New York Times called the film "a beat generation version"[2][3] of the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The film differs from the book in some of its plot elements and characterizations, and it takes place in contemporary Los Angeles rather than in 19th-century Russia.

Plot summary

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A California law student murders a pawnbroker, then matches wits with the detective on the case.

Cast

Production

According to George Hamilton, director Denis Sanders "saw his project as a tragedy for the Beat Generation" and cast Hamilton because of his similarity to Tony Perkins.[4]

The film was completed early in 1958 but was released more than one year later.[4]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New Republic, Stanley Kauffmann commented that "modern versions of classics are generally more clever than convincing because the very term 'classic' means a timeless work ... that need not be transplanted. ... [B]y reason of its attendant skills and an innocent, unpretentious earnestness of address, [the film] is a moderately interesting attempt to state the material of a vast symphony with a small jazz combination."[5]

Roger Corman later said that the film "lost me a lot of money."[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ C. Gerald Fraser, obituary of Denis Sanders in New York Times, Dec. 15, 1987. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/88130/Crime-and-Punishment-USA/overview Archived 2012-07-09 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ C. Gerald Fraser, obituary of Denis Sanders, New York Times (December 15, 1987)
  3. ^ Eleanor Mannikka (2012). "New York Times movie database". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09.
  4. ^ a b George Hamilton & William Stadiem, Don't Mind If I Do, Simon & Schuster 2008 p 122
  5. ^ New Republic 140:24 (June 15, 1969), pp. 22–23.
  6. ^ Nasr, Constantine (2011). Roger Corman: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series). University Press of Mississippi. p. 7.

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