Compulsion (1959) | Classic Movie Full HD | Bradford Dillman, Dean Stockwell, Orson Welles
Two wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case. – Orson Welles
Compulsion (1959)
Two wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case. – Orson Welles
Compulsion is a 1959 American crime drama film directed by Richard Fleischer. The film is based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Meyer Levin, which in turn was a fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb murder trial. It was the first film produced by Richard D. Zanuck. Although the principal roles are played by Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman, top billing went to Orson Welles.
Close friends Judd Steiner (based on Nathan Leopold and played by Dean Stockwell) and Artie Strauss (based on Richard Loeb and played by Bradford Dillman) kill a boy, Paulie Kessler, on his way home from school in order to commit the “perfect crime”. Strauss tries to cover it up, but they are caught when police find a key piece of evidence — Steiner’s glasses, which he inadvertently left at the scene of the crime. Famed attorney Jonathan Wilk (based on Clarence Darrow and played by Orson Welles) takes their case, saving them from hanging by making an impassioned closing argument against capital punishment.