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Compulsion Overview:

Compulsion (1959) was a Crime - Drama Film directed by Richard Fleischer and produced by Richard D. Zanuck.

SYNOPSIS

A tough dramatization of the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case in which two college students kidnapped and killed a boy purely for kicks. Welles plays the defense attorney who knows the truth and hopes only to forestall the death sentence. An adaptation of reporter Meyer Levin's novel.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Compulsion BlogHub Articles:

Orson Welles: Mr. Arkadin (1955) and Compulsion (1959)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 28, 2023 From 4 Star Films

Mr. Arkadin (also known as Confidential Report) has the abundance of canted angles and striking visual flourishes one usually attributes to the films of Orson Welles. It also boasts his ever more disorienting sense of space and shot-reverse-shot even as the international cast, financing, and locales... Read full article

The Leopold and Loeb case is the basis for “Compulsion”

By Stephen Reginald on Mar 5, 2021 From Classic Movie Man

The Leopold and Loeb case is the basis for “Compulsion” Compulsion (1959) is an American crime drama directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Dean Stockwell, and Brandford Dillman. The film is based on a novel written by Meyer Levin, which was a fiction... Read full article

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Compulsion Quotes:

Arthur Straus: When we made the deal, you said you could take orders. You said you wanted me to command you.
Judd Steiner: I do - as long as you keep your part of the agreement.
Judd Steiner: Please, Artie - I'll do anything you say.
Arthur Straus: Anything?
Judd Steiner: Not tomorrow afternoon.
Arthur Straus: Oh, you got another date?
[in disbelief]
Arthur Straus: Are you ditching me for some girl?
Judd Steiner: I haven't been able to find you for three days.
Arthur Straus: The neighborhood is swarming with kidnappers and degenerates!
Jonathan Wilk: If there is any way of destroying hatred and all that goes with it, it's not through evil and hatred and cruelty, but through charity, love, understanding.
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Compulsion Facts
Made in 1959, some 35 years after the real murder.
For some reason the appropriately gravelly voice of actor/wrestler Henry Kulky, nicknamed "Bomber" playing the part of a speakeasy waiter, is dubbed by another actor.
The first film ever produced by Richard D. Zanuck.
In later years, Richard Fleischer would make two more films about real life notorious murders - The Boston Strangler and 10 Rillington Place.
Average Shot Length & Median Shot Length = ~11 seconds.
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