FILM REVIEWS

Brothers Karamazov, The (1958) C

Lee J. Cobb received a second Supporting Oscar nomination for playing the patriarch in Richard Brooks’ flawed version of Dostoevsky’s famous novel about a dysfunctional family, to use a popular term.

The screenplay was by the brothers Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein (“Casablanca”) and Richard Brooks.

Yul Brynner, at the height of his career, is cast as the sensual son Dmitri, and William Shatner makes his film debut.

Writer-director Brooks’ film suffers from an incohesive mixture of various acting styles and a glossy, anachronistic Hollywood production.

Produced by Pandro S. Berman, the film played at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.

Oscar Nominations: 1

 Supporting Actor: Lee J. Cobb

Oscar Context:

 Cobb lost to Burl Ives, who played yet another patriarch in The Big Country.

 

 

Cast

Yul Brynner as Dmitri Karamazov

Maria Schell as Grushenka

Claire Bloom as Katya

Lee J. Cobb as Fyodor Karamazov

Albert Salmi as Smerdyakov

William Shatner as Alexey Karamazov

Richard Basehart as Ivan Karamazov

 

 

Leave a Reply

Film reviews and Internet movie reviews by film critic Emanuel Levy. This film review database contains thousands of movie reviews on many different film genres along with profiles of your favorite movie stars and film directors. You can also find movie reviews of independent cinema shown in festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival, foreign film reviews as well as DVD reviews. Movie critic Emanuel Levy is known for his accurate Oscar predictions, so be sure to visit the Oscar News section.