Story of movie Compulsion 1959 Film : 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.
| Compulsion | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | Richard D. Zanuck |
| Screenplay by | Richard Murphy |
| Based on | Compulsion by Meyer Levin |
| Starring | Orson Welles Diane Varsi Dean Stockwell Bradford Dillman |
| Music by | Lionel Newman |
| Cinematography | William C. Mellor |
| Edited by | William H. Reynolds |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 minutes 99 minutes (FMC Library Print) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,345,000 |
| Box office | $1.8 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) |
Although the principal roles are played by Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman, top billing went to Orson Welles.
Screenplay
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 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.
- Orson Welles as Jonathan Wilk
- Diane Varsi as Ruth Evans
- Dean Stockwell as Judd Steiner
- Bradford Dillman as Artie Strauss
- E. G. Marshall as District Attorney Harold Horn
- Martin Milner as Sid Brooks
- Richard Anderson as Max Steiner
- Robert F. Simon as Police Lt. Johnson
- Edward Binns as Tom Daly
- Robert Burton as Charles Straus
- Wilton Graff as Mr. Steiner
- Louise Lorimer as Strauss's mother
- Gavin MacLeod as Padua – Horn's Assistant
- Terry Becker as Angry Reporter (uncredited)
Welles, whose recent thriller Touch of Evil was overlooked in America (though appreciated in Europe), was bitter at not being selected to direct Compulsion. His time on the set was tense, and he threw frequent tantrums.
At the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, Dillman, Stockwell, and Welles won the Best Actor Award. The film was nominated for the BAFTA best picture of the year, Richard Fleischer was nominated for best director by Directors Guild of America, and Richard Murphy was nominated for best screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.
- Leopold and Loeb
- List of American films of 1959
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