Director: Richard Fleischer.
Set in 1924 Chicago, “Compulsion” is a fictionalized account of the real-life Leopold and Loeb case.
Artie (Bradford Dillman) and Judd (Dean Stockwell) are two wealthy law students who believe themselves intellectually superior and seek to commit the “perfect crime.” They kidnap and murder a young boy as a philosophical experiment in superiority and thrill-seeking. Despite careful planning, Judd accidentally leaves his glasses at the crime scene, which becomes the key evidence leading to their arrest. The trial becomes the centerpiece of the film, where their attorney (Orson Welles playing a fictionalized Clarence Darrow) passionately argues against the death penalty, focusing on their psychological immaturity and moral corruption rather than pure evil.
Remade as “Swoon” by Tom Kalin in 1992.
Leopold & Loeb were used as the basis for the
lovers in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope” (see above).
Leopold and Loeb were lovers, and both Richard Murphy’s screenplay and Richard Fleischer’s direction lend the movie a queer subtext, evident in both dialogue and body language. “Compulsion” uses lingering looks, physical closeness, and Judd’s jealousy of Artie’s interactions with women to suggest suppressed desire. Dillman’s Artie is dominant while Stockwell’s Judd is submissive, and Stockwell, in particular, gives a memorable performance.
Cinematography:
William C. Mellor
TCF
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75 Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code 1934-1967 – TheBrownees
75 Queer Films from the New Hollywood (1968-1980). – TheBrownees
https://thebrownees.net/rope-1948-film-review/
https://thebrownees.net/the-boston-strangler-1968-film-review/
