Compulsion (1959 film)
| Compulsion | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | Richard D. Zanuck |
| Screenplay by | Richard Murphy |
| Based on |
Compulsion by Meyer Levin |
| Starring |
Orson Welles Diane Varsi Bradford Dillman |
| Music by | Lionel Newman |
| Cinematography | William C. Mellor |
| Edited by | William H. Reynolds |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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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) |
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 and Bradford Dillman, top billing went to Orson Welles.
Close friends Judd Steiner (based on Nathan Leopold and played by ) 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 leaves 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.
Having just completed directing the crime thriller Touch of Evil, which, while overlooked at the time in America, had earned numerous plaudits at European film festivals, Orson Welles was bitter that he had not been hired to direct Compulsion, and, in consequence, his time on the set, contractually limited to 10 days, was fraught with tension, with Welles frequently throwing tantrums and railing against members of the cast and crew. On his final day of production, at a farewell party in his honor, Welles was informed by producer Richard Zanuck that the actor's entire paycheck had been garnished by the Internal Revenue Service.
The film was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, where Dillman, Stockwell, and Welles won the Best Actor Award.
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