Compulsion (20th Century Fox) (1963)

Bradford Dillman, Dean Stockwell and Orson Welles, starring in the Twentieth Century-Fox release of Darryl F. Zanuck’s Produc tions’ CinemaScope “Compulsion,” opening ....at the .. .. Theatre, are shown in a courtroom scene from the picturization of the best seller. Mat 2A Compos on ‘Compulsion (Column Items) Orson Welles delivers the longest, uninterrupted speech in movie history in Richard D. Zanuck’s “Compulsion,” opening ...atthe.... Theatre. It isa court-room address in which the actor pleads for the lives of Chicago’s infamous teen-age “thrill-killers” and runs approximately 12 minutes long. -O A 1920 Stutz Bearcat, one of three in the United States, will be seen in “Compulsion,” Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope release, produced by Richard D. Zanuck. When bought new, the car cost about $2,700 and is today valued at $6,000. -O A minimum amount of background music will be heard in “Compulsion,” the CinemaScope drama coming soon to the.... Theatre. Reason for this is to heighten the-dramatic impact of the story which deals with the teen-age “thrill-killers” of Chicago who perpetrated ‘“‘the crime of the century.” -O Diane Varsi drove a battered 1952 pickup truck to work every day while performing in Richard D. Zanuck’s “Compulsion,” the CinemaScope drama at the.... Theatre. The truck was registered to Tab Hunter and was borrowed by the young actress from Hunter’s agent, who also is Miss Varsi’s agent. Diane has never met Tab. oO Voltaire Perkins, believed to be the only practicing lawyer in | the Screen Actor’s Guild, has a supporting role in “Compulsion,” Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ CinemaScope drama for Twentieth Century-Fox release. Perkins plays the part of a judge. oO Movie-making is like this. Although it was 100 degrees in Hollywood during the production of “Compulsion,” the drama opening soon at the... . Theatre, beads of perspiration had to be applied to Orson Welles’ face by a make-up artist. The sound stage thermometer read a cool 68 degrees, thanks to an effective air conditioning system. oO “Compulsion,” the drama at the.... Theatre, marks the filmmaking debut of Producer Richard D. Zanuck. He’s the son of Darryl F. Zanuck, for whose independent company the 23-yearold newcomer made the picture. -o Everytime Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman appear on the screen in “Compulsion,” the camera will be tilted slightly to suggest that something is wrong with the pair. They play Chicago’s teen-age “thrill-killers” in this dramatization of the Meyer Levin best-seller. Oo Orson Welles, starring in Twentieth Century-Fox’s ‘“Compulsion,” had to get up every morning at 5:30 a.m. during filming of the story of young thrill killers in order to complete the complicated make-up job required by his role as a defense attorney by the daily 9 a.m. shooting deadline. ‘Just Go Ahead Welles Advice Believing that people have more talents taan they know, Orson Welles explains his theatrical virtuosity by saying, “I never thought about whether I could do tuings — I just went ahead and did them.” Currently portraying the role of the criminal lawyer in “Compulsion,” produced by Richard Zanuck for the Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ banner, Welles says that of his various capacities in the theatrical field he enjoys directing most and acting least. He may, however, change his mind about his preference for acting when the results are in on “Compulsion.” As the man who defends Chicagio’s infamous teen-age “thrill-killers,” the perpetrators of “the crime of the century,” he gives one of the most stirring performances ever seen on the screen. Welles co-stars with Diane Varsi, Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman in the Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope_ release now playing at the.... Theatre. Richard Fleischer directed the drama based on Meyer Levin’s two-year best-seller. “Compulsion,” follows the young killers through the planning, execution, investigation and trial of their crime. It features Welles in the longest monologue ever recorded on film. Attorney... Orson Welles, starring in the Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ filmization of Meyer Levin’s shocking best-seller about youthful “thrill-killers,” “Compulsion,” Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope release now at the.... Theatre, plays the role of a world-famous attorney who defends Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman, admitted killers. Diane Varsi also figures prominently in the Richard Zanuck produced, Robert Fleischer directed shock drama. Mat 1A ‘Compulsion,’ CinemaScope Shocker, Top-Casts Welles, Diane Varsi, Stockwell And Dillman (Advance) “Compulsion,” Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ CinemaScope drama based on Meyer Levin’s daringly realistic account of Chicago’s infamous teen-age “thrill-killers,” will open ...at the.... Theatre. Starring Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman, “Compulsion” marks the film-making debut of its producer, Richard D. Zanuck, and was directed by Robert Fleischer. Dean Matures Dean Stockwell, who for more than ten years captivated movie audiences with a succession of child star roles, is today a goodlooking, mature and_ respected actor, despite only two adult roles in films and one on the Broadway stage. Stockwell has been cast in one of the most unusual films of 1959 in Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ “Compulsion,” the sensational Meyer Levin story about Chicago’s infamous’ teen-age “thrill-killers.”” Dean plays one of the two boys who in Chicago performed what the press called “the crime of the century.” The role is a familar one to Stockwell, however. He played the same part in 170 performances of the Broadway adaptation of the two-year best seller and, as such, is the only member of the cast who also appears in the Richard Zanuck production. Others in the CinemaScope drama are Orson Welles, Diane Varsi and Bradford Dillman. “Compulsion” starts .... at the > oa Theatre: Because of his previous association with the role, he came into the film drama with a clearcut idea of how the role should be played and insisted on, and received, complete explanations of every change made in the movie. This is an accepted practice for big stars but is somewhat strange for a 22-year-old actor just starting his career. However, Dean’s integrity as an artist is beyond question and Director Richard Fleischer agreed to the request. The young star insists that a part have meaning and that it be susceptible to artistic interpretation. This earns him the admiration of actors and the respect of all others who have dealings with him. Brad In Three Few young actors in Hollywood can look back to their first year in the movie capital and consider it a smash success. But as with almost everything else, there are always. exceptions. Bradford Dillman, Twentieth Century-Fox star, is one of these exceptions. In his rookie year in the movie capital, he has come a long way to achieve stardom in a very short period. It was early in 1958 that his studio discovered the young performer in the Broadway stage success, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” and offered him a long-term contract, which he accepted. He made his film debut in the company’s romantic drama, “A Certain Smile,’ followed almost immediately by a starring role in the war drama, “In Love and War.” Now the Yale graduate and former Marine is starred with Orson Welles, Diane Varsi and Dean Stockwell in Richard D. Zanuck’s “Compulsion,” the tense, startling drama opening tomorrow at the... . Theatre. Dillman plays the role of one of Chicago’s infamous teen-age “thrill-killers,” whose brutal and senseless crime made front page headlines as “the crime of the century.” ; Held-Over “Compulsion,” the Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ CinemaScope picturization for Twentieth Century-Fox release of the famous Meyer Levin account of teen-age thrill-killers, currently at the .... Theatre, will be held over for an additional ... ., according to Mr..... , Manager. Starring Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman, the film was produced by Richard Zanuck and directed by Robert Fleischer. Welles Carries Responsibility Orson Welles is no stranger to responsibility. He faces it almost every day of his very active life. But the challenge of his starring role in Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ ‘Compulsion, ” is one that is new even to nim. According to the film’s producer, Richard Zanuck, the success of this drama, trom the standpoint of audience response, rests squarely on Orson Welles. This situation is rare, even for Hollywood. Seldom does the success of a movie depend on one person. But in the case of ‘Compulsion” it is due in large part to the very nature of the story itself. In this Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope release, opening... . at the.. .. Theatre, Welles portrays a criminal lawyer, who is to defend Chicago’s infamous teen-age “thrill-killers,” played in the Meyer Levin story by Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman. What makes this case so unusual is that the two boys already have pleaded guilty and all extenuating circumstances have been eliminated before a lawyer is even consulted. When Welles appears on the scene, therefore, his job is not to defend them, but rather to plead for their lives against strong, even violent public opinion. Since audiences cannot be expected to have much sympathy or understanding for the two young men, Welles’ defense speech, actually a plea for the total abolishment of capital punishment, will be the measure of this film’s success. If he succeeds, audiences will have had an insight into a terrible but fascinating crime. If audiences feel that justice has failed, they will go away dissatisfied and the picture will fail. It is a speech that runs approximately twelve minutes on the screen, the longest, uninterrupted address ever offered in motion picture history. No Peers Orson Welles, starring in “Compulsion” the Darryl F. Zanuck Inc. production released through Twentieth Century-Fox which opens at the.... Theatre on.... reaches a high point in a career which has seen few, if any peers in the annals of show business. Beginning as the “child prodigy’” of the American theatre, Welles organized the famous Mercury theatre players which boasted such renowned performers as Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead and Ruth Warwick. His broadcast on the Air purporting to portray an invasion of the United States by Mars brought Welles international fame. Since then he has acted, directed, produced and written in every medium of the entertainment field. It came then as no surprise when Richard Zanuck, producer of “Compulsion,” signed Welles for the all-important role of “Jonathan Wilk,” the attorney who defends “Judd Steiner” and “Artie Straus” played by Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman. Welles’ speech, based on the speech against capital punishment made by Clarence Darrow in defense cf his clients, Leopold and Loeb, is the longest and one of the most demanding in the long history of motion pictures. When Diane Varsi made her screen debut in “Peyton Place,” a role for which she_ subsequently won an Academy Award nomination, Hollywood’s press corps immediately confronted filmdom’s newest star and found her to be a personable, but very serious-minded girl of 18. Now almost 18 months and three pictures later, she is still assertive and independent. Diane recently completed a starring role with Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman in Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ “Compulsion,” a CinemaScope drama coming.... to the .... Theatre. Her role in this Twentieth Century-Fox release is quite brief, however, and in order to play it, she unhesitatingly accepted a suspension by her studio, rather than do a much bigger part on loan-out to another studio. “T never care how big or small a part is,” she explained, ‘as long as it says something. I think this role says there is something worth saving in the very worst of us; that compassion is not wasted on the wicked.” “Compulsion” is the daringly realistic account of a brutal and senseless crime by two thrillseeking youths and the sensational trial that followed. It is based on Meyer Levin’s two-year best-seller which was dramatized on the Broadway stage. Diane Varsi is quizzed by Orson Welles as to her relationship with one of a pair of youthful “thrill-killers” in a tense courtroom scene from Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ Twentieth Century-Fox release of “Compulsion” now at the . . Theatre. ee Mat 2B! Set in 1924, the story concerns © two young men of high intellect, both law students at a midwestern university. At first they appear to be above average young students but it is soon evident that each suffers from a serious emotional disturbance. The latter leads them to plan and execute a senseless and brutal act, which the newspapers call “the crime of the century.” Fast work by the state’s attorney and the alertness of a young reporter brings forth a confession from the young criminals and the nation’s foremost criminal lawyer is hired to plead their case. Dean Stockwell, former child star sensation, who appeared in a Broadway stage version of : Compulsion,” re-enacts his role in this movie as one of the two boys. Bradford Dillman, a product of the Broadway stage who was last seen in the film, “In Love and War,” plays his partner in crime. Miss Varsi, the sensation of “Peyton Place” fame, portrays a young co-ed who meets one of the boys, senses his inward struggle and feels compassion for him. Orson Welles plays the lawyer who defends the youths. In his characterization, Welles delivers the longest speech ever recorded on film; approximately twelve minutes of dialogue. Against great odds and violent public opinion he pleads for the boys’ lives and for the abolishment of capital punishment in general. Audiences, will note two due le Maar in “Compulion.’ lrector of photograp William C. Mtoe angie. ee camera every time the two youths appear together on the Screen, to suggest that something’ 1s wrong with them. And background music is used very sparingly to heighten the dramatic quality and impact of this black and white photoplay, re leased by Twentieth CenturyFox. Richard Zanuck’s Production Bow After many years of intensive motion picture training, Richard Zanuck, only son of Darryl F. Zanuck, makes his debut as a film producer with the opening ses at the .... Theatre of Compulsion,” made under the banner of Darryl F. Zanuck Productions for Twentieth CenturyFox release. Richard, who is now 23, had been vice-president and general assistant of his father’s independent company when he received word from Africa, where the elder Zanuck was making “The Roots of Heaven,” to commence production on Meyer Levin’s best-selling novel about Chicago’s infamous teenage “thrill-killers’’ who perpetrated “the crime of the century.” He received approval on all casting, primarily Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman, and promptly proceeded with the production of the film. Perhaps no young man has enjoyed the training in motion pictures that Richard Zanuck has enjoyed. At the age of eight, he was selling magazines on the lot at Twentieth Century-Fox; at 10 he was reading scripts for his father to give him the “juvenile reaction.” During summers he worked in the production and sales departments of Twentieth Century-Fox in Hollywcod and New York. He graduated from Stanford University and served as a second lieutenant in the Army. He joined his father as assistant on such productions, as “Tsland in the Sun” and “The Sun Also Rises.” He is married to Lili Gentle, Twentieth Century-Fox contract actress who retired upon her marriage. Page Three