Crime drama starring Harry Bauer and Pierre Blanchar. A Russian student plans the murder of a pawnbroker to help his mother and sister. After the crime is committed he feels considerable remorse but believes he has got away with the perfect crime, especially when the police do not seem to suspect him.
In a year that saw the release of two film versions of Dostoyevsky's classic tale of guilt and pursuit, two actors had varying degrees of success in the principal role. While Peter Lorre enhanced his reputation in Josef von Sternberg's Hollywood rendition, Pierre Blanchar walked away with the best actor prize at Venice for his portrayal of Raskolnikov, the angst-ridden student whose killing of a pawnbroker brings the relentless police inspector Porphyre (Harry Baur) down on his head. Blanchar is matched all the way by the brilliant Baur, but this is as much a triumph of art direction as it is of acting, with the doom-laden sets superbly capturing the poverty and despair that make Raskolnikov the most sympathetic of murderers.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Porphyre | Harry Baur |
| Raskolnikov | Pierre Blanchar |
| Sonia | Madeleine Ozeray |
| Madame Raskolnikov | Marcelle Géniat |
| Dounia | Lucienne Lemarchand |
| Raxoumikhine | Alexandre Rignault |
| Aliona | Magdelaine Berubet |
| Loujine | Alme Clariond |
| Catherine Ivanovna | Sylvie |
| Marmeladov | Delaitre |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Pierre Chenal |
