Compulsion (1959)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Richard Murphy (screenplay)
Meyer Levin (novel)

Release Date:

May 1959 (West Germany)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Thriller

Tagline:

Sometimes murder is just a way to pass the time.

Plot:

Two wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Trial | Murder | Defense Attorney | College Student

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Orson Welles	...	Jonathan Wilk
Diane Varsi	...	Ruth Evans
Dean Stockwell	...	Judd Steiner
Bradford Dillman	...	Arthur Straus
E.G. Marshall	...	Dist. Atty. Harold Horn
Martin Milner	...	Sid Brooks
Richard Anderson	...	Max Steiner
Robert F. Simon	...	Lt. Johnson (as Robert Simon)
Ed Binns	...	Tom Daly (as Edward Binns)
Robert Burton	...	Mr. Straus
Wilton Graff	...	Mr. Steiner
Louise Lorimer	...	Mrs. Straus
Gavin MacLeod	...	Padua

Runtime:

103 min | 99 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm optical prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #19194) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles High School - 4650 W. Olympia Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Darryl F. Zanuck Productions

Trivia:

In his 1948 treatment of the Leopold-Loeb case, Hitchocock used his famous "ten minute takes" and segued from one to the other with a "natural wipe" generally focusing on the back of one of the character's suit jackets. Perhaps as a l'homage to The Master, Compulsion (1959) director Richard Fleischer uses a "natural wipe" focusing on the front of Bradford Dillman's suit to end a scene.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Judd Steiner: To the perfect crime!
Arthur Straus: Crime. Oh, my wealthy fraternity brothers. 67 dollars, and a second-hand typewriter.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Apartment Zero (1988)

A strangely misshapen, although consistently entertaining film

The movie starts powerfully, as Stockwell and Dillman run down a drunk man; shot in glistening close-up, the combination of the instantly off-kilter performances and the lurid opening title design promises an extremely edgy, expressionistic work - a prospect borne out by the opening scenes that add further depth to the boys' relationship (intriguing because Stockwell appears to have the philosophical upper hand, whereas Dillman carries the greater effective weight through sheer goading and twisted charisma).

Gradually though the mechanics of the case take over, and such digressions as Varsi's plaintive affection for Stockwell (while her own boyfriend is a reporter who stumbles on the lead about the glasses) add very little. And then Welles totally takes over the movie with his grand performance, conjuring up oceans of world-weariness and theatrical wiliness in relatively few scenes - yet the closing focus on the immorality of the death penalty and the quality of mercy, presented as though the entire moral future of the world rested on this one verdict, barely coalesces with what came before it, resulting in a strangely misshapen, although consistently entertaining film.