Notorious murderers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb inspired numerous films, including Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) and Tom Kalin's Swoon (1992). Richard Fleischer's Compulsion (1959) presents a straightforward telling, stylishly directed but somewhat sloppy.Chicago teens Artie Strauss (Bradford Dillman) and Judd (Dean Stockwell) murder a young Chicago boy for kicks. Domineering Artie enjoys tormenting Judd, boasting of his superiority and misleading police. Judd grows scared of his partner, wracked by guilt and disgust. Soon a key piece of evidence - Judd's glasses - draws police attention, and they're both arrested. The boys' family bring in crack lawyer Jonathan Wilk (Orson Welles) to defend them. Finding it impossible to argue their innocence, Wilk decides to place capital punishment on trial.
Drawing on Meyer Levin's novel, Compulsion presents the familiar story with only the names changed. Artie and Judd prattle about Nietzsche, two narcissists united in self-love. Both young men are brilliant (Judd can speak dozens of languages), handsome and rich, their self-regard boiling into sociopathy. The world becomes a playground for philosophical musings, people becoming mere rhetorical pawns. Artie even orders Judd to rape a classmate, to demonstrate Artie's dominance. Too bad these "supermen" make an imbecilic mistake.
Stylistically, Compulsion is one of Fleischer's better movies. It opens violently, with joyriding Artie and Judd riding down a drunk. William C. Mellor provides brooding photography, with some neat visual tricks. One great shot has a time elapse on the telltale glasses, with Judd and the District Attorney (E.G. Marshall) reflected in the lenses. Violence is kept off-screen yet Fleischer's oppressive atmosphere (enhanced by Lionel Newman's driving score) leaves a strong impression.
Compulsion unfortunately suffers from a shaky screenplay. Richard Murphy's story begins after the murder, an awkward approach scrimping on back story and context. The strongest segments come as the crafty DA (E.G. Marshall) unravels Artie and Judd's deception. Then Wilk belatedly arrives, shoving our protagonists into the background. His climactic harangue (12 minutes that seem like 12 hours) throws the movie completely off-balance. Drawing on Clarence Darrow's real-life defense, it's powerful in isolation but clunks dramatically.
Frankly, using Leopold and Loeb to denounce capital punishment is just gauche. Leaving aside their sick crime, they escape death because their families are rich enough to hire a great attorney. Since Artie and Judd regard humans as playthings, some viewers will ask why they deserve such decency. Fleischer did much better in 10 Rillington Place, allowing bare facts (an innocent man's conviction) to persuade without comment. In films as in life, simple arguments are preferable to pompous peroration.
Bradford Dillman dominates with a snide, silky performance - aggressively smart, too clever for his own good. Dean Stockwell's equally solid conveying Judd's personal torment, submerged morality mingling with misplaced affection. E.G. Marshall scores playing another unflappable lawyer. Martin Milner and Diane Varsi are less convincing as Artie and Judd's school chums. While Orson Welles is certainly preferable to his usual paycheck cameos, his character is poorly fitted into the drama.
Compulsion is worthwhile for the acting, the style and the story's inherent interest. But the awkward structure and anti-death penalty oratory undermine our good will. It's not that Compulsion can't make that argument, but the incongruity is headscratching.
