Compulsion is a 1959 American crime drama film directed by Richard Fleischer, based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Meyer Levin, which in turn is a thinly-fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb murder trial.

Close friends Judd Steiner[a] and Artie Straus[b] each believe they fit Nietzsche's philosophy of a "superman" (Übermensch) and thus are above the law.

To restore himself in Artie's regard, Judd proposes to demonstrate their "superior intellect," by killing a boy, demanding a ransom, and outwitting the police.

When police question Paulie's neighbors, a cocky Artie "helpfully" engages with the investigators, spitefully giving them false leads.

Asked about suspicious characters around the neighborhood, among others, Artie suggests a teacher at Paulie's school—which he and Judd attended four years previously—who always told the kids they were spoiled brats who had too much money.

Famed attorney Jonathan Wilk[c] takes their case, saving them from hanging by making an impassioned closing argument against capital punishment.

[3] [4] Welles, whose recent thriller Touch of Evil was overlooked in America (though appreciated in Europe), was bitter at not being selected to direct Compulsion.

"[6] In 1959, Leopold sought unsuccessfully to block production of the film on the grounds that Levin's book had invaded his privacy, defamed him, profited from his life story, and "intermingled fact and fiction to such an extent that they were indistinguishable.

"[7][8] Eventually the Illinois Supreme Court ruled against him,[9] noting that Leopold, as the confessed perpetrator of the "crime of the century" could not reasonably demonstrate that Levin's book had damaged his reputation.

In The New York Times, A. H. Weiler gave the film a positive review, especially praising the performances of the actors: "In Compulsion they have made a dark deed into a bright and fascinating picture.