Tom Kalin directed this black-and-white study of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case a case told before in two previous films -- Rope (Alfred Hitchcock 1948) and Compulsion (1959 starring Orson Welles). In 1924 in Chicago Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb two 18-year-olds kidnapped and murdered the 13-year-old Bobby Franks immediately killing him and then stuffing his naked body up a culvert. The motive for the crime was simply that they wanted to prove to themselves that they were smart enough to get away with it. The previous film versions downplayed Leopold and... Loeb's homosexuality but Kalin's version explores their possible psychosexual motivations. Loeb (Daniel Schlachet) is calculating intellectual while Leopold (Craig Chester) the amateur ornithologist is emotional and weak. In love with Loeb Leopold is willing to do anything for him and when Leob uses the withholding of sex as a prompt Leopold is even willing to commit murder to have his sexual desires satisfied by Loeb. Swoon is a chilling yet fascinating film. [show more]
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Leopold and Loeb, two homosexual lovers who murdered a 14 year old boy in 1924, are the subject of Tom Kalin's atmospheric black-and-white study of the relationship between the two killers, their crime and subsequent trial. The case served as the inspiration for two other films, Hitchcock's 'Rope' (1948) and Richard Fleischer's 'Compulsion' (1959).
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