Editing Leopold and Loeb (section)

== In popular culture ==
The Franks murder has inspired works of film, theatre and fiction, including the 1929 play ''[[Rope (play)|Rope]]'' by [[Patrick Hamilton (writer)|Patrick Hamilton]] and [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s [[Rope (film)|film of the same name]] in 1948.<ref name="Hinkson">{{Cite web |last=Hinkson |first=Jake |date=October 19, 2012 |title=Leopold and Loeb Still Fascinate 90 Years Later |url=http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/10/leopold-and-loeb-still-fascinate-90-years-later-jake-hinkson-true-historical-film-adaptation-orson-welles-legal-wrangling-suffer-the-children?WT.mc_id=10144&et_cid=29706250&et_rid=497979563&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.criminalelement.com%2fblogs%2f2012%2f10%2fleopold-and-loeb-still-fascinate-90-years-later-jake-hinkson-true-historical-film-adaptation-orson-welles-legal-wrangling-suffer-the-children%3fWT.mc_id%3d10144 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929093300/https://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/10/leopold-and-loeb-still-fascinate-90-years-later-jake-hinkson-true-historical-film-adaptation-orson-welles-legal-wrangling-suffer-the-children?WT.mc_id=10144&et_cid=29706250&et_rid=497979563&linkid=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.criminalelement.com%2Fblogs%2F2012%2F10%2Fleopold-and-loeb-still-fascinate-90-years-later-jake-hinkson-true-historical-film-adaptation-orson-welles-legal-wrangling-suffer-the-children%3FWT.mc_id%3D10144 |archive-date=September 29, 2017 |access-date=October 23, 2012 |publisher=criminalelement.com}}</ref> A fictionalized version of the events formed the basis of Meyer Levin's 1956 novel ''Compulsion'' and its 1959 [[Compulsion (1959 film)|film adaptation]].<ref name="Hinkson" /> In 1957, two more fictionalizations were published: ''Nothing but the Night'' by James Yaffe and ''Little Brother Fate'' by Mary-Carter Roberts.<ref name=Baatz /> ''Never the Sinner'', [[John Logan (writer)|John Logan]]'s 1985 play,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Logan |first=John |author-link=John Logan (writer) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMyxVz3zfmoC |title=Never the Sinner |publisher=[[Samuel French, Inc.]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0573626715 |access-date=August 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818080410/https://books.google.com/books?id=nMyxVz3zfmoC |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> was based on contemporary newspaper accounts of the case, and included an overt portrayal of Leopold and Loeb's sexual relationship.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Christiansen |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Christiansen (critic) |date=September 22, 1995 |title=Revised 'Never the Sinner' An Even More Riveting Work |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/09/22/revised-never-the-sinner-an-even-more-riveting-work/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830154218/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-09-22/news/9509220369_1_nathan-leopold-john-logan-richard-loeb |archive-date=August 30, 2013 |access-date=August 10, 2013 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref>

In his book ''Murder Most Queer'' (2014), theater scholar Jordan Schildcrout examines changing [[Societal attitudes toward homosexuality|attitudes toward homosexuality]] in various theatrical and cinematic representations of the Leopold and Loeb case.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schildcrout |first=Jordan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fa0aBQAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Scene+of+the+Crime%3A+Leopold+and+Loeb+on+Trial%22&pg=PA40 |title=Murder Most Queer: The Homicidal Homosexual in the American Theater |date=2014 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |isbn=978-0472072323 |access-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818080729/https://books.google.com/books?id=fa0aBQAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Scene+of+the+Crime%3A+Leopold+and+Loeb+on+Trial%22&pg=PA40 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Other works said to be influenced by the case include [[Richard Wright (author)|Richard Wright]]'s 1940 novel ''[[Native Son]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Butler |first=Robert |date=2005 |title=The Loeb and Leopold Case: A Neglected Source for Richard Wright's "Native Son" |journal=African American Review |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=555–567 |issn=1062-4783 |jstor=40033693 }}</ref> the ''[[Columbo]]'' episode "[[Columbo Goes to College]]" (1990),<ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Susan |date=December 8, 1990 |title=Falk Still Gets His Kicks From Alter-ego Columbo |url=https://greensboro.com/falk-still-gets-his-kicks-from-alter-ego-columbo/article_fdbb62a1-cbcb-575f-85eb-14eebd7c1673.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930111827/https://greensboro.com/falk-still-gets-his-kicks-from-alter-ego-columbo/article_fdbb62a1-cbcb-575f-85eb-14eebd7c1673.html |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |access-date=September 30, 2021 |work=Greensboro News and Record |language=en}}</ref> [[Tom Kalin]]'s 1992 film ''[[Swoon (film)|Swoon]]'',<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Swoon |url=https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/swoon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930111824/https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/swoon |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |access-date=September 30, 2021 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en}}</ref> [[Michael Haneke]]'s 1997 Austrian film ''[[Funny Games (1997 film)|Funny Games]]'' and the 2008 International [[Funny Games (2008 film)|remake]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lybarger |first=Jeremy |date=July 26, 2018 |title=Reopening the Case Files of Leopold and Loeb |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/07/26/reopening-the-case-files-of-leopold-and-loeb/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127062212/https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/07/26/reopening-the-case-files-of-leopold-and-loeb/ |archive-date=November 27, 2021 |access-date=September 30, 2021 |website=The Paris Review |language=en}}</ref> [[Barbet Schroeder]]'s ''[[Murder by Numbers]]'' (2002),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=April 19, 2002 |title=Murder by Numbers movie review (2002) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/murder-by-numbers-2002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930111825/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/murder-by-numbers-2002 |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |access-date=September 30, 2021 |website=rogerebert.com/ |language=en}}</ref> [[Daniel Clowes]]'s 2005 graphic novel ''[[Ice Haven]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |title=Graphic Novelist Daniel Clowes |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4715648 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930111826/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4715648 |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |access-date=September 30, 2021 |work=NPR.org |language=en}}</ref> the ''[[Murdoch Mysteries]]'' episode "[[Big Murderer on Campus]]", [[Stephen Dolginoff]]'s 2005 [[off-Broadway]] musical ''[[Thrill Me|Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shenton |first=Mark |date=January 15, 2015 |title=Stephen Dolginoff Musical Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story Will Get London Revival |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/stephen-dolginoff-musical-thrill-me-the-leopold-loeb-story-will-get-london-revival-com-340525 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930115651/https://www.playbill.com/article/stephen-dolginoff-musical-thrill-me-the-leopold-loeb-story-will-get-london-revival-com-340525 |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |access-date=September 30, 2021 |website=Playbill |language=en}}</ref> Micah Nemerever's ''These Violent Delights'' (2020),<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 11, 2020 |title=Seattle author Micah Nemerever reinvents the story of homicidal duo Leopold and Loeb in 'These Violent Delights' |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/seattle-author-micah-nemerever-reinvents-the-story-of-homicidal-duo-leopold-and-loeb-in-these-violent-delights/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026134418/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/seattle-author-micah-nemerever-reinvents-the-story-of-homicidal-duo-leopold-and-loeb-in-these-violent-delights/ |archive-date=October 26, 2023 |access-date=October 26, 2023}}</ref> and the [[Ghostface (identity)|Ghostface]] killers in ''[[Scream (1996 film)|Scream]]'' (1996).<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 12, 2022 |title='Scream' Screenwriter Kevin Williamson Confirms Billy and Stu's Queer-Coded Relationship Was Based on Real Gay Killers |url=https://pridesource.com/article/billyandstu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115062737/https://pridesource.com/article/billyandstu/ |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |access-date=January 15, 2022}}</ref>

In the [[Warner Bros. Television Studios|WB]] series ''[[Riverdale (American TV series)|Riverdale]]'', Archie is incarcerated in the "Leopold & Loeb Institute for Delinquent Youth."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reilly |first=Kaitlin |title="Riverdale" Just Made A Wild Connection To Real-Life Murders |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/10/213476/riverdale-leopold-loeb-murders |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130013926/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/10/213476/riverdale-leopold-loeb-murders |archive-date=January 30, 2024 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |website=www.refinery29.com |language=en}}</ref>

Prior to becoming the [[Chief Creative Officer]] of [[Archie Comics]], [[Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa]] wrote an unauthorized play in which the fictional teenager [[Archie Andrews]] had a [[homosexual relationship]] with Nathan Leopold. Before it could open, Aguirre-Sacasa was forced to stop the production after being served a [[cease and desist]] from Archie comics. The production eventually opened under the name ''Weird Comic Book Fantasy''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holman |first=Curt |title=Theater Review - Arch humor |url=https://creativeloafing.com/content-180708-theater-review---arch-humor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617052049/https://creativeloafing.com/content-180708-theater-review---arch-humor |archive-date=June 17, 2021 |access-date=April 13, 2024 |website=Creative Loafing |language=en}}</ref>

In the season six episode titled "[[Plan and Execution]]" from American crime drama series ''[[Better Call Saul]]'', [[Howard Hamlin]] accuses [[Saul Goodman]] and [[Kim Wexler]] of being like Leopold and Loeb due to them framing him as a drug addict for the sole purpose of their own enjoyment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fogarty |first=Paul |date=May 24, 2022 |title=Howard's Leopold and Loeb Reference in Better Call Saul Explained |url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/05/24/leopold-and-loeb-better-call-saul-howard-reference-explained/ |access-date=December 4, 2023 |work=HITC}}</ref>

Leopold and Loeb are also referenced in the season four episode of [[Seinfeld]] titled "[[The Junior Mint]]". [[Jerry Seinfeld (character)|Jerry Seinfeld]] and [[Cosmo Kramer]] bickered over a [[Junior Mints|Junior Mint]] while observing a surgery. The ensuing quarrel led to Seinfeld pushing a mint out of Kramer's hands which landed in the person being operated on. The surgeons were oblivious to what had happened. The patient's condition deteriorated after surgery. Fearing that the mint would kill the patient, Seinfeld wanted to come clean to the doctor. As Kramer resisted the idea, Seinfeld implied they're both complicit by saying they're like Leopold and Loeb.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheJuniorMints.htm | access-date=January 16, 2025}}</ref>