Crime and Punishment U.S.A. Crime and Punishment U.S.A. Crime and Punishment U.S.A. (1959) is an American feature film, directed by Denis Sanders, and is— as the "New York Times" put it, “a beat generation version”—of the novel "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The film was released on November 1, 1959, is 96 minutes in length, and shot in black-and-white. In addition to making some changes in the plot and characterizations, it sets the tale, not in 19th-century Russia, but in mid-20th-century Los Angeles. The script was written by Walter Newman, and stars George Hamilton, in his first screen role, as “Robert Cole,” the
Crime and Punishment sentences of different length for different characters. Those who use artificial language—Luzhin, for example—are identified as unattractive people. Mrs. Marmeladov's disintegrating mind is reflected in her language. In the original Russian text, the names of the major characters have something of a double meaning, but in translation the subtlety of the Russian language is predominantly lost due to differences in language structure and culture. For example, the original Russian title ("Преступление и наказание") is not the direct equivalent to the English "Crime and Punishment". "Преступление" ("Prestupléniye") is literally translated as 'a stepping across'. The physical image of crime as crossing