Review of Compulsion (1959) by Samuel S — 25 Jun 2007

My first Richard Fleischer film and certainly not my last. Ethics is called into question here and this film questions the policies and attitudes held toward the death sentence.

Welles graces the screen with absolute dignity. His heart-felt performance as the defense lawyer should leave anyone in emotional tatters. Welles delivers one of the greatest speeches in film history as his last ditch effort to save two lives from the clutches of redemption.

Compulsion is based on the novel by Meyer Levin (which was loosely based on the Loeb/Leopold case in 1924). The case has inspired three films: this, Inherit the Wind and Hitchcock's Rope. With the latter filming the actual murder as oppose to the aftermath as Compulsion does.