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 As she leaves, Raskolnikov asks for her address and tells her that he will visit her soon. At Raskolnikov's behest, Razumikhin takes him to see the detective Porfiry Petrovich, who is investigating the murders. Raskolnikov immediately senses that Porfiry knows that he is the murderer. Porfiry, who has just been discussing the case with Zamyotov, adopts an ironic tone during the conversation. He expresses extreme curiosity about an article that Raskolnikov wrote some months ago called 'On Crime', in which he suggests that certain rare individuals—the benefactors and geniuses of mankind—have a right to 'step across' legal or moral boundaries