- Compulsion (film)
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Compulsion 
Directed by Richard Fleischer Produced by Richard D. Zanuck Written by Richard Murphy Starring Bradford Dillman
Orson Welles
Diane Varsi
Dean StockwellMusic by Lionel Newman Cinematography William C. Mellor Editing by William H. Reynolds Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation Release date(s) April 1, 1959 Running time 103 mins/ 99 mins (FMC Library Print) Country USA Language English Box office $1.8 million (US rentals)[1] Compulsion, directed by Richard Fleischer, was a film made in 1959, based on the 1956 novel Compulsion by Meyer Levin, which in turn was based on the Leopold and Loeb trial. It was the first film Richard D. Zanuck produced.
Contents
Plot
Artie Strauss and Judd Steiner (Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell) 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 left at the scene of the crime. Famed attorney Jonathan Wilk (Orson Welles) takes their case, and saves them from hanging by making an impassioned closing argument against capital punishment.
Cast and crew
- Orson Welles - Jonathan Wilk
- Diane Varsi - Ruth Evans
- Dean Stockwell - Judd Steiner
- Bradford Dillman - Artie Strauss
- E. G. Marshall - District Attorney Harold Horn
- Martin Milner - Sid Brooks
- Richard Anderson - Max Steiner
- Robert F. Simon - Police Lt. Johnson (as Robert Simon)
- Edward Binns - Tom Daly
- Robert Burton - Charles Straus
- Wilton Graff - Mr. Steiner
- Louise Lorimer - Mrs. Strauss aka 'Mumsy'
- Gavin MacLeod - Padua - Horn's Assistant
Awards
The film was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, where Dillman, Stockwell and Welles won the Best Actor Award.[2]
References
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p228
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Compulsion". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3423/year/1959.html. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
External links
- Compulsion at the Internet Movie Database
- Compulsion (film) at the TCM Movie Database
- Compulsion (film) at AllRovi
Films directed by Richard Fleischer 1940s Child of Divorce (1946) · Banjo (1947) · Bodyguard (1948) · The Clay Pigeon (1949) · Follow Me Quietly (1949) · Make Mine Laughs (1949) · Trapped (1949)1950s Armored Car Robbery (1950) · The Narrow Margin (1952) · The Happy Time (1952) · Arena (1953) · 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) · Violent Saturday (1955) · The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) · Bandido (1956) · Between Heaven and Hell (1956) · The Vikings (1958) · Compulsion (1959) · These Thousand Hills (1959)1960s Crack in the Mirror (1960) · The Big Gamble (1961) · Barabbas (1961) · Fantastic Voyage (1966) · Doctor Dolittle (1967) · The Boston Strangler (1968) · Che! (1969)1970s Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) · 10 Rillington Place (1971) · Che! (1971) · The Last Run (1971) · See No Evil (1971) · The New Centurions (1972) · Soylent Green (1973) · The Don Is Dead (1973) · The Spikes Gang (1974) · Mr. Majestyk (1974) · Mandingo (1975) · The Incredible Sarah (1976) · Crossed Swords (1977) · Ashanti (1979)1980s The Jazz Singer (1980) · Tough Enough (1983) · Amityville 3-D (1983) · Conan the Destroyer (1984) · Red Sonja (1985) · Million Dollar Mystery (1987)Categories:- 1959 films
- American crime drama films
- Films based on novels
- Films based on the Leopold and Loeb murder
- 1950s drama films
- Films directed by Richard Fleischer
- Films with a capital punishment theme
- Courtroom dramas
- Crime film stubs
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