CLASSIC MOVIES: COMPULSION (1959)

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Brief Movie Synopsis [courtesy of The Internet Movie Database]:

Two wealthy law-school students go on trial
for murder in this version of the real-life
1924 Leopold-Loeb murder case.

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REVIEWS:

"Compulsion...has the rare attribute of gripping one's attention throughout its dark proceedings. Its artistry lies in the outstanding performances by the leads, the crisp and natural dialogue...and the highly efficient direction of Richard Fleischer. .... A bright and fascinating picture. .... In his performance
as the defense lawyer, Orson Welles contributes a comparatively short but the finest portrayal to this searching drama. Heavy-set, beetle-browed, gray hair descending in a drooping cowlick, he is the personification of a wise humanitarian who strongly projects, in one of the longest of film speeches,
the need for mercy in the face of public demand for execution."

-- Excerpt from The New York Times; April 2, 1959