JohnHowardReid It is usually fashionable to attack film versions of famous novels for their indifference to their source. Certainly The Brothers Karamazov was not allowed to escape the critical treadmill. However, I do not propose to discuss how much greater the film might have been if it did this or didn't do that, but how it actually is: Virtue number one is John Alton's photography - easily the finest in color yet seen. Notice how he contrives to illumine Katya's face as a pale, waxy texture; how Smerdyakov's features are lined with green, Feodor's with red; how he makes great play with shadows; how pleasingly he always lights the charming contours of Grushenka.Virtue number two is William A. Horning and Paul Groesse's art direction: cluttered claustrophobic interiors contrast muddy streets and drifting snow.Virtue number three: Bronislau Kaper's music with its richly reminiscent aura of Tsarist Russia.Virtue number four: Richard Brooks, though hardly our choice for the production, handles his material with great assurance and considerable competence.Virtue number five: Pandro S. Berman for his decision to film in Technicolor Metroscope rather than CinemaScope.Finally, the acting: Lee J. Cobb's is a juicy amalgam of Johnny Friendly and the Yiddish Art Theatre; Yul Brynner's is forceful and sensually elegant; Claire Bloom's is effective as the somewhat unrewarding Katya. It is nice to see Richard Basehart in a role he can handle (after La Strada and Moby Dick I was beginning to doubt his ability).Maria Schell is superb as the celebrated Grushenka: her hand-kissing scene with Katya is brilliantly realised.Newcomer Albert Salmi makes Smerdyakov a notable example of creative interpretation.As for Alexey, his position is somewhat honorary; he appears as a draped figure of hovering solicitude and some inscrutability; now and then he lays on a restraining hand, tears rise repeatedly in his eyes. He is impersonated, with no pretensions whatever, by a young actor named William Shatner, who, it is safe to guess, will have no truck with the teen-age trade.To sum up: It may not be perfect Dostoveski, but as a film - a definite must.

Psalm 52 I'd heard of the novel and its heavy arguments pro/con on religion, son and father relationships, to really love a woman, etc. Having just seen this production I'm impressed w/ the casting which is well-chosen, but some things in the story-telling left me dumb-founded. For one, Basehart's character witness stand confessional made no sense. For two, Salmi's character's private confession on the eve of Brynner's trail verdict also makes little sense. For three, I enjoyed Schell's character up until she turns sweet and becomes devoted to Brynner's character. I didn't buy it and figure because this is an MGM production the transformation wasn't in the novel (which I haven't read). Finally, the ending w/ the little boy's recovery from whatever ailed him physically was also TOO MGM for my taste.That said ... this is a handsome production with excellent use of colors and lighting. Every actor is believable in his/her role. Especially Ms. Bloom, a pre-Capt. Kirk Shatner, and Mr. Cobb who chews scenery like none other!

Ephraim Gadsby Novels and movies are separate disciplines and each has its own requirements. People who want to read Dostoevsky and people who want to know what one of his books is about also have separate needs. I am a Dostoevsky lover, and have read THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV in several translations (no, I don't know Russian). This film hits all the necessary high notes to cover the book's plot, and so the screenplay serves the film well. The brothers themselves (Yul Brynner, Richard Basehart, Albert Salmi and William Shatner) turn in variable performances. Basehart comes in first place, with Brynner smoldering not far behind. A young William Shatner shows promise, while Salmi's inexplicable whine is almost unbearable, which is a shame because Salmi was a good, though underused, actor. Stealing the show from the brothers in every scene he's in is the wonderful Lee J. Cobb. Fans of the book will be disappointed at the excisions, but they were necessary to pare the story down to a workable movie. And, though I love the book and think it may be the world's great novel, I prefer the ending of the movie! Dostoevsky's book is open-ended as he intended it to be an introduction to characters he intended to use in further book -- but he died before it was written. So the movie wraps everything up nicely. Ivan's end scene is much preferable (no spoilers, though! See the movie and read the book!). Although Alexei is the main character in the book, he's basically an observer. Dmitri (perfectly captured by Brynner) is the powerhouse of the book and should be the focus in a dramatic adaptation, as he is here. A worthy effort in making an unfilmable novel filmable. If you want to know what the book is about but a thick novel is daunting, this film tells you everything you need to know.

graham clarke The optimum method for bringing a major literary work to the screen is the mini series, (though the television adaptation of Dostoyevski's "Crime and Punishment" was not to my liking.) There's no possible way a novel of the length and complexity such as "Brothers Karamazov" can be done justice to by the cinema, even given 145 minutes.This 1959 Hollywood version deserves full marks for summarizing and depicting the plot faithfully, but since so much of the essence of the book is missing one cannot help feeling the pointlessness of the entire exercise.Director Richard Brooks manages to sustain the emotion intensity of the piece, keeping the proceedings on an intimate scale, (David Lean no doubt would have blown it up to epic proportions). The cast are largely satisfactory with Yul Brynner is at his charismatic best as Dmitri and Claire Bloom is spot on as Katya. Iridescent Maria Schell is far too genteel for the earthy Grushenka, a part Marilyn Monroe somewhat misguidedly felt she was born to play, according to Hollywood lore. Lee J. Cobb tends towards hamming it up and an almost unrecognizably young William Shatner is a pleasant surprise as the mystically inclined Alexi.While there is some enjoyment to be gained from this movie, one can only wholeheartedly offer the recommendation – read the book.