In 1924, Judd Steiner and Artie Straus,
two young University of Chicago law school geniuses from socially
prominent families, steal a typewriter from a campus fraternity
house and then drink to the execution of the perfect crime, which
they consider a true test of their superior intellect. In
their jubilation, they nearly run over a drunk, and when the man
yells at them, the domineering, sadistic Artie orders Judd to turn
around and run him down, but Judd swerves at the last minute,
allowing the drunk to jump out of the speeding car's path.
The next day in class, Artie challenges
his professor's conception of justice, and instead advocates the
Nietzschean idea of a superman detached from all human emotions.
After class, Sid Brooks, one of the poorer students who works as a
reporter to pay for his education, goes to the newspaper office and
is assigned to cover a story about a drowned boy found in the park.
Once the medical examiner pronounces that the boy was killed by a
blunt instrument, Sid matches the victim's description to that of
the unsolved kidnapping of Paulie Kessler and notifies Tom Daly, the
reporter covering the kidnap story. A pair of glasses were
found near the body, and when Paulie's uncle states that his nephew
never wore glasses, Sid realizes that they must belong to the
murderer.
Afterward, Sid joins his girl friend,
Ruth Evans, Artie, Judd and a few other students at a nightclub, and
after he reveals that a pair of glasses were found near the body,
Judd discovers that his own glasses are missing. Upon
returning home, Judd frantically searches for his spectacles as he
and Artie blame each other for their loss. The boys then
concoct an alibi in which Judd will say he dropped his glasses while
bird watching in the park and that on the night of the murder, they
were cruising for girls in Judd's Stutz Bearcat.
The next day, the police are questioning
potential witnesses at Paulie's school when Artie intrudes and
volunteers his help as a former student. Lieutenant Johnson
then inquires if there were any odd teachers at the school, and
Artie relishes impugning the reputation of several of his old
instructors. Later, Ruth meets Judd at a diner and is
intrigued when the introverted boy invites her to go bird watching
with him.
Artie, meanwhile, delights in phoning in
false leads about the murder and pumps Sid for news about the case.
When Sid mentions that the typewriter on which the ransom note was
written has been identified, Artie, who had been avoiding Judd's
calls, hurries to the Steiner house, where he berates Judd for
failing to dispose of the typewriter. After Artie learns that
Judd has a date with Ruth to go bird watching, the diabolic Artie
orders Judd to rape her, thus "exploring all the possibilities of
human experience."
Later, while in the park with Ruth, Judd
begins ranting about beauty in evil and then tries to sexually
assault her. When Ruth responds not with fear but compassion,
Judd breaks down in tears of shame. Soon after, the police
come to question Judd about the glasses found at the murder scene
and escort him to see State's Attorney Harold Horn. After Horn
informs Judd that the glasses have been identified as his because of
their unusual hinges, he interrogates the boy throughout the rest of
the afternoon until Judd finally recounts his alibi.
Summoned to Horn's hotel suite, Artie
asserts that he was at the movies alone that night, thus
undercutting Judd's alibi. Artie then cleverly recants his
story and admits that he was with Judd, thus convincing Horn of
their veracity. Horn is about to release the boys when the
Steiner's chauffeur inadvertently mentions that the Stutz was out of
commission on the day of the murder. Determined to get the
truth, Horn tricks Judd into confessing by claiming that Artie named
him as Paulie's killer. Crazed by betrayal, Artie blurts out
that Judd is the real murderer.
After each of the boys accuses the other
of murder, famed attorney Jonathan Wilk is hired by their families
to defend them. The state's doctors have decreed that the boys
are sane, thus depriving Wilk of an insanity plea. When Horn
argues that the death penalty can be the only just verdict, Wilk,
realizing that he has no chance of a jury acquittal, unexpectedly
enters a plea of guilty with unmitigating circumstances, thus
avoiding a jury trial and putting the verdict in the judge's hands.
After the psychiatrists testify that Judd is paranoid and Artie
schizophrenic, Wilk calls Ruth to the stand, and when Ruth voices
her empathy for Judd, Judd passes out in the courtroom. In his
lengthy summation, Wilk appeals to the judge's conscience and regard
for human life. In an emotional plea, Wilk argues that cruelty
only begets cruelty and that mercy is the highest attribute of man.
After careful consideration, the judge sentences Judd and Artie to
life in prison, but Artie remains bitter and unrepentant.
_01.jpg){kind=small}
