Compulsion (1959)

Directed by

Richard Fleischer

Genre

drama film, film noir, crime film, trial film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 43m

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 168 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two wealthy college students plan and carry out a murder. A renowned lawyer defends them in a high-profile trial, arguing against the death penalty.

tensebroodingintellectualsomberclaustrophobicdeliberateunnervingcerebral

What happens

Compulsion is a 1959 American crime drama film directed by Richard Fleischer, based on the 1956 novel by Meyer Levin, which in turn is a thinly-fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb murder trial. The film stars Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman as the perpetrators (called Judd Steiner and Artie Straus in the film), and Orson Welles as their defense attorney Jonathan Wilk (based on Clarence Darrow). Diane Varsi, E. G. Marshall, and Martin Milner play supporting roles. The film was released by 20th Century-Fox on April 1, 1959. It received positive reviews from critics, who singled out the lead performances. At the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or and Welles, Stockwell, and Dillman collectively won the Best Actor Award. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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