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Rope (1948)

8.1
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Ratings: 8.1/10 from 59,165 users  
Reviews: 273 user | 109 critic

Two young men strangle their "inferior" classmate, hide his body in their apartment, and invite his friends and family to a dinner party as a means to challenge the "perfection" of their crime.

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(adapted by), (from the play by), 2 more credits »
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Title: Rope (1948)

Rope (1948) on IMDb 8.1/10

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dick Hogan ...
David Kentley
...
...
Phillip - His Friend
Edith Evanson ...
Mrs. Wilson - Their Housekeeper
...
Kenneth - Their Rival
Joan Chandler ...
Janet - David's Girl
...
Mr. Kentley - David's Father (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Constance Collier ...
...
Edit

Storyline

Brandon and Philip are two young men who share a New York apartment. They consider themselves intellectually superior to their friend David Kentley and as a consequence decide to murder him. Together they strangle David with a rope and placing the body in an old chest, they proceed to hold a small party. The guests include David's father, his fiancée Janet and their old schoolteacher Rupert from whom they mistakenly took their ideas. As Brandon becomes increasingly more daring, Rupert begins to suspect. Written by Col Needham <col@imdb.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

party | friend | murder | apartment | chest | See more »

Taglines:

The guest who's dead on time See more »

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

28 August 1948 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Rope  »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(RCA Sound System)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The picture was filmed entirely in-studio (except for the opening credits). The clouds that you see out the window are made out of fiberglass. For the effect of a police siren coming towards the apartment building at the end, Alfred Hitchcock had an ambulance come at full speed, from several blocks away, straight to the Warner Brothers studio, siren blaring all the way. The sounds were picked up by a microphone suspended from the studio gate. See more »

Goofs

During the tussle between Philip and Rupert, the gun fires and injures Rupert's hand. Following which Rupert takes his handkerchief to tie his wound. But he only manages to loosely hold it in his left arm. Then, when he walks over to the chest and opens it, shot the handkerchief is perfectly wrapped around Rupert's wounded arm. See more »

Quotes

Rupert Cadell: After all, murder is - or should be - an art. Not one of the 'seven lively', perhaps, but an art nevertheless. And, as such, the privilege of committing it should be reserved for those few who are really superior individuals.
Brandon Shaw: And the victims: inferior beings whose lives are unimportant anyway.
Rupert Cadell: Obviously. Now, mind you, I don't hold with the extremists who feel that there should be open season for murder all year round. No, personally, I would prefer to have..."Cut a Throat Week"... or, uh, "...
See more »

Crazy Credits

Most of the characters in the movie are listed in their relation to David, a character who is only seen for a couple of seconds, and has no lines in movie. The only person who isn't listed in reference to David is James Stewart's character. See more »


Soundtracks

"Mouvement perpetuel no. 1"
(1919) (uncredited)
Written by Francis Poulenc
Played on the piano
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Brilliant! The most underrated of the Hitchcock/Stewart collaborations is still as fascinating and entertaining as ever.
13 July 2003 | by (Perth, Australia) – See all my reviews

Alfred Hitchcock directed so many brilliant movies that the best known ones like 'Rear Window', 'Vertigo', 'Psycho' and 'The Birds' overshadow equally worthy films like 'Shadow Of A Doubt', 'Lifeboat' - insert your personal favourite here - and this one, 'Rope'. It was the first Hitchcock movie to feature James Stewart and it is easily the most underrated of the four movies they made together. I think Stewart was brave for taking this part, which was much darker than the usual characters associated with him, and it's difficult to imagine him being able to play Scottie in 'Vertigo' without having done this movie first. Stewart is excellent in the movie, but equally good are Farley Grainger (who subsequently starred in Hitchcock's 'Strangers On A Train') and John Dall as the thrill killers. Dall gives the best performance in the movie. I'm surprised that after making this and the Noir cult classic 'Gun Crazy' he isn't better known. The technical "gimmick" of 'Rope' is usually mentioned more than anything else about it (Hitchcock wanted one long continuous take, which wasn't possible at the time, but compromised by using several long ones, a very innovative approach at the time), but there is a lot more to it than just that. Considering the strict censorship of the period it was a daring look at homosexuality. The word is never used at any time in the script but a sophisticated audience would have no doubt what was really going on. I've only seen about a third of Hitchcock's output but every movie of his I watch or rewatch makes me marvel at him all the more. The greatest and most influential director of suspense movies was also one of the greatest directors of ANY genre ever. 'Rope' deserves to be mentioned in any list of his ten best movies. 55 years after it was originally released it is as fascinating and entertaining as ever. Highly recommended!


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Recent Posts
What I learned from watching Rope melissarogers
Completely missed supposed homosexual vibe darkfyre17
Would you put this among Hitchcocks best? the_crawl4
What was the nature of Brandon and Philip's relationship? resaturate
Chicken strangling--what's the deal? Paul J
Ben Affleck was great in this tebor79
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