AllMovie

Together with Les Miserables, Hunchback of Notre Dame and A Christmas Carol, Dostoyefsky's Crime and Punishment is one of the most frequently filmed novels in literary history. This 1947 version emanates from Sweden, a country uniquely attuned to the "guilt trip" which dominates the latter portions of the novel. Director Hampe Faustman also stars as Raskolnikov, the misguided intellectual who endeavors to prove his superiority to his fellow man by murdering an elderly pawnbroker. Because he considers himself bereft of such bourgeois attributes as a conscience, Rasklonikov is certain that he'll get away with the killing. But he hasn't reckoned with the kindly, methodical detective Samlotov (Sigurd Wallen), who knows that there's still a glimmer of humanity left in the arrogant murderer-and intends to exploits that glimmer to bring Raskolnikov to justice.