"Compulsion" is not a masterpiece, but it's involving and suspenseful and will be enough to pique your interest in the Leopold & Loeb murder case. Nathan Leopold & Richard Loeb were two gay Jewish teen-aged geniuses enrolled in the University of Chicago who abducted and killed a 14-year-old boy in 1924 just for kicks. Legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow defended the killers at trial and saved them from execution. "Compulsion" retains all the superficial elements of the Leopold & Loeb case -- geniuses, Chicago, hotshot lawyer -- but changes all the names and purges the story of the more sensational elements to avoid lawsuits and a "Condemned" rating. But even though it's bowdlerized of sex and violence (the murder occurs off camera and the lads' romance is barely hinted at), it's still creepy enough to be an effective crime drama.
Much of that creepiness is generated by Bradford Dillman, who plays "Artie Steiner" (Loeb) as a sociopathic sissy whose myriad dysfunctions are nicely symbolized by the teddy-bear flask he totes around. Artie is clearly the dominant partner in the relationship, and while he's certainly charismatic enough to draw your attention Dillman plays up Artie's lunacy a bit too much to make him more magnetic than repulsive. Still, it's an impressive performance and Artie's Liberace-like devotion to his "Mumsy" is a hysterical touch. "Compulsion," however, is more focused on Dean Stockwell as "Judd Strauss" (Leopold), who has a bit more of a conscience than his dear friend Artie. The titular "compulsion" refers not only to the boys' impulse to commit murder but to Judd's apparent subconscious desire to be caught and punished for his crime. Just like Dillman overplays the psychopathy, Stockwell overplays the earnesty and we spend a little bit of time wondering exactly why these two are hanging out so much, although a scene which establishes that Judd's family hates Artie goes some way towards explaining that, if only because it's the only scene in which Stockwell acts as queeny as Dillman. Since this was a major-studio movie and the central characters are fairly hideous, producer Zanuck hedges his bets by top-billing big name Orson Welleseven though he doesn't show up until the last half of the picture, and second-billing babe Diane Varsi, two years removed from "Peyton Place" and looking like a prettier version of Joanne Woodward. Welles plays "Jonathan Wilk" (Darrow) with a slightly hammy world-weariness but he doesn't chew too much scenery and his plea for the life of the deadly duo is almost compelling. Varsi, two years removed from "Peyton Place" and still loaded with the potential that she would spend the next decade squandering, plays Stockwell's romantic interest (more like a beard) and doesn't have much more to do than look faintly disturbed. She does it plausibly enough, though, to reawaken Stockwell's humanity and make us all sorry that she was too fragile to build a decent career for herself. But instead of competing with Jane Fonda and Faye Dunaway for Oscars, she ended up competing with Tura Satana and Susan Strasberg for bit parts in camp classics. A tragic waste.
Much of that creepiness is generated by Bradford Dillman, who plays "Artie Steiner" (Loeb) as a sociopathic sissy whose myriad dysfunctions are nicely symbolized by the teddy-bear flask he totes around. Artie is clearly the dominant partner in the relationship, and while he's certainly charismatic enough to draw your attention Dillman plays up Artie's lunacy a bit too much to make him more magnetic than repulsive. Still, it's an impressive performance and Artie's Liberace-like devotion to his "Mumsy" is a hysterical touch. "Compulsion," however, is more focused on Dean Stockwell as "Judd Strauss" (Leopold), who has a bit more of a conscience than his dear friend Artie. The titular "compulsion" refers not only to the boys' impulse to commit murder but to Judd's apparent subconscious desire to be caught and punished for his crime. Just like Dillman overplays the psychopathy, Stockwell overplays the earnesty and we spend a little bit of time wondering exactly why these two are hanging out so much, although a scene which establishes that Judd's family hates Artie goes some way towards explaining that, if only because it's the only scene in which Stockwell acts as queeny as Dillman. Since this was a major-studio movie and the central characters are fairly hideous, producer Zanuck hedges his bets by top-billing big name Orson Welleseven though he doesn't show up until the last half of the picture, and second-billing babe Diane Varsi, two years removed from "Peyton Place" and looking like a prettier version of Joanne Woodward. Welles plays "Jonathan Wilk" (Darrow) with a slightly hammy world-weariness but he doesn't chew too much scenery and his plea for the life of the deadly duo is almost compelling. Varsi, two years removed from "Peyton Place" and still loaded with the potential that she would spend the next decade squandering, plays Stockwell's romantic interest (more like a beard) and doesn't have much more to do than look faintly disturbed. She does it plausibly enough, though, to reawaken Stockwell's humanity and make us all sorry that she was too fragile to build a decent career for herself. But instead of competing with Jane Fonda and Faye Dunaway for Oscars, she ended up competing with Tura Satana and Susan Strasberg for bit parts in camp classics. A tragic waste.