Imagine the audacity of Richard Brooks to write a screenplay and to direct a 1958 Hollywood version of Dostoevsky’s 1880 classic novel The Brothers Karamazov. But in 2 hrs. and 25 mins., he manages the impossible and, despite some stereotyping, manages to keep the plot on a realistic, entertaining path with the unexpected episodic turns of the original book.
Plot is a main strength of this movie and Brooks does his best to recreate the atmosphere of a nineteenth-century Russia town by use of set design, costumes, and music by a Russian composer.
The acting is uniformly strong. Yul Brynner makes a good mysterious protagonist Dmitri. His middle brother Ivan is nicely, ambiguously played by Richard Basehart who communicates the angst, confusion, and mental breakdown of this intellectual character. Albert Salmi is a sufficiently malevolent Dickensian character who effectively plays the bastard brother who is the alter ego of Ivan and causes chaos and ruin for the Karamazov family.
William Shatner’s casting is a pleasant surprise from his pre-Capt. Kirk Days; he plays the young Karamazov brother, a priest, who is the purest member of the family. Lee J. Cobb is wonderfully over-the-top (he was nominated for an AA) at his slimiest as the corrupt buffoon father who has no love for his sons, which, in turn, contributes to the tragedy and his fate.
The women actresses steal the show with fine, unpredictable, morally ambiguous performances by Claire Bloom as Dmitri’s frustrated intended (she thinks) and by Maria Schell whose wild, convincing performance as a loose, uncentered bawdy-house madam who is Dmitri’s true love. Both actresses give portrayals of changeable, believable women who don’t know themselves, have no stability, and are unable to control their emotions, which causes havoc in Dmitri’s life. As I’ve said, the women characters do much to steal the show and keep the plot constantly and nicely askew.
Dostoevsky’s views of God, man, human suffering, and truth transfer reasonably well to this adaptation. I didn’t feel Brooks–a bright man himself–ever shortchanged the main elements and philosophy of the original and the author.
The Brothers Karamazov is a surprise and a throwback to older Hollywood larger canvases and the practice of adapting great books. Warner Brothers have done right by Brooks in releasing this DVD, of one of his best films–a labor of love high in dramatic, entertainment value.