Leopold and Loeb

There was a reference in last night's episode (Jr. Mint), where Jerry
exclaims to Kramer "We gotta tell them:  We're not Leopold and Loeb!" In
case you don't know who this reference: Leopold and Loeb were two
wealthy young men who contrived a plan to murder their seven year old cousin.
This was to be the perfect crime; it would prove their intellectual and
moral superiority.  They murdered the boy and shortly thereafter were
caught.  The nation (1930's) was enraged.  L&L were both Jewish and
wealthy, which aroused resentment among the working people. Leopold was
an heir to the Sears and Roebuck fortune. Loeb - I'm not sure where his
money came from.  They were tried and convicted of murder but were spared
death due to the efforts of the famous trial lawyer and social advocate,
Clarence Darrow (Scopes trial, etc...).  Leopold was stabbed in prison
and died.  Loeb took up nursing in prison and after he was release spent
the rest of his life in the service of others.
	The Alfred Hitchkock film Rope may have been based on this
incident.  The plot involves rich ivy league students who kill a friend
just to prove to themselves that they can get away with it.  Another
reason was the ideas of Frederich Neitzche which were fashionable at the
time.  Neitzche's idea that the superman was above the morality of the
slave and that it was almost a moral imperative for the Master race to
violate these petty rules in order to demonstrate their falsity.
	Anyway, a long way for a joke.  Who says Seinfeld is not literary?

For anyone who may be interested, there is an excellent movie from the '50s called "Compulsion" which was a dramatization of the Leopold & Loeb case. Bradford Dillman and another excellent young actor who became very well-known (whose name ironically escapes me right now) played the principals. Orson Welles portrayed Clarence Darrow and did an absolutely marvelous job, concluding with an incredible summation that, to this day, is arguably the best in any courtroom movie. In fact, the image of Newman in his shirtsleeves and suspenders, mopping his brow while cross-examining Kramer in the second part of "The Pitch/The Ticket," is a visual quote of Welles in this movie (I knew there was a "Seinfeld" connection here somewhere!). Well worth renting if its available on video.

Another good movie about Leopold and Loeb is called "Swoon" from about 4 years ago maybe.