Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov is given the Hollywood screen treatment in this sumptuous and colorful film. Lee J. Cobb, in an Academy Award-nominated role plays Fyodor Karamazov, the wealthy father of four grown sons: Dmitri (Yul Brynner), a callous Russian officer; Ivan (Richard Basehart), the intellectual; pious Alexey (William Shatner in his screen debut); and half-brother Smerdyakov (Albert Salmi). Tensions erupt to a murderous end when libertine father and romantic son find themselves vying for the affections of the same woman, the wild Grushenka. Finding themselves adrift without the dark anchor that held them together, the four brothers must now find peace, each in their own way.

In 19th-century tsarist Russia, four very different brothers are scheming against their lecherous and cruel father (Lee J. Cobb). Based on the famous novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, this lavish spectacle beautifully captures the wild life of the Karamazov family. The eldest brother, Dmitri (Yul Brenner), is constantly in search of money, desperate for his rightful inheritance that his father will not allow him. His saintly younger brother Alexey (William Shatner) loves all the brothers equally while Yvonne (Richard Basehart), a dispassionate intellectual, and Smerdjakov (Albert Salmi), an illegitimate schemer, are rivals for their father's attention and money. When Dmitri falls in love with his father's seductive young mistress (Maria Schell) he is driven mad with jealousy as he plots for a way to win her affections and end his father's claim on her. However, another brother kills their overbearing father and accuses Dmitri of the crime, threatening to divide the new lovers forever. This glorious spectacle features wild and tawdry scenes of Gypsy dancing and debauchery opposed by beautiful footage of rural Russia blanketed in pure snow. Schell is magnificent as the luminous and complex Grushenka, both as a seductive mistress and repentant lover.