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Compulsion
USA 1959
produced by Richard D. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox
directed by Richard Fleischer
starring Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Dean Stockwell, Bradford Dillman, E.G. Marshall, Martin Milner, Richard Anderson, Robert F.Simon, Ed Binns, Robert Burton, Wilton Graff, Louise Lorimer, Gavin MacLeod, Terry Becker, Russ Bender, Gerry Lock, Harry Carter, Simon Scott, Voltaire Perkins
screenplay by Richard Murphy, based on the novel by Meyer Levin, music by Lionel Newman
review by Dale Pierce
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This is a classic thriller based on the real-life murder case of Leopold and
Loeb, who killed a young boy simply because they believed themselves so
intelligent, no one would catch them. Yet get caught they did, with famed
attorney Clarence Darrow working the miracle of a lifetime to keep them off
death row, which he somehow managed to pull off, to the outrage of the general
public, who wanted both murders sent straight to hell.
Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell are at their psychopathic best in this, with
Orson Welles
playing the attorney trying so hard to save them from execution, yet repulsed
by them as clients. The names have all been changed, but it is obvious what
this movie is based on.
An interesting cast of supporting actors makes the film all the better,
including Martin Milner, Terry Becker, E.G.Marshall, Gavin MacCloed and others.
There was reportedly some bad blood between Dillman and Welles for real in the
making of this movie, which evidently came through as they went about their
respective parts on the screen. You can pick some resentment in their voices
and expressions, going beyond acting, as you watch this vehicle, even today.
It might well have been due to Welles and his reported ego, his looking down
on the other actors, or his need to overshadow everyone, but Dillman gives him
a run for his money performance-wise. He has played many maniacs, psychos and
crazies over the years, be it Bug, The Man Outside, Lords Of the
Deep, The
Lincoln Conspiracy and the like, but here, he outdoes himself. He is just so
arrogant, so uncaring and so detestable, especially when he can laugh and joke
after murdering a person and facing the consequences. Stockwell, as his
submissive partner in crime, remains wimpish, less certain and certainly
convincing in his role. Both ooze craziness throughout the movie.
In real life and in the film, a stupid screwup (I won't reveal it for you who
may want to watch this and have not seen the movie before) caused these two to
be captured and convicted. Poetic justice. While looking to cover all the big
things, they forgot something small and got screwed for it.
The real killers were homosexual lovers, something touched upon or loosely
implied in the movie, but not too much as this was taboo for the big screen at
the time. It is there for those who pick it up, but nothing flamboyant.
A great film, a great cast and two of the most chilling screen psychopaths
ever presented.
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review © by Dale Pierce
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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