Watching Compulsion Again

by Denise Noe

I've seen Compulsion before,
a lot before,
but I watch it again--
I'll always watch it again.
Bradford Dillman is my type
of man, slender and compact,
and so is Dean Stockwell.
(Or at least they were
when they made
Compulsion but that
was a long time ago.)
Because it was made back then
the men don't kiss and
don't say
actually say
"come out" and say
what everyone knows:
that the guys they play are gay;
but they suggest and suggest
and suggest
and suggest
and I've got to admit
the thought of those two
together
titillates me.
So I watch the actors
who play Steiner and Strauss,
(who everyone knows
are really the murderers
Leopold and Loeb)
but I turn the channel
when it gets to the trial
because this part
is mostly Orson Welles
and he's fat.