Rope (1948)

Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Hume Cronyn (adapted by), Patrick Hamilton (from the play by)

Stars:

James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger

3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dick Hogan	...	David Kentley
John Dall	...	Brandon
Farley Granger	...	Phillip
Edith Evanson	...	Mrs. Wilson
Douglas Dick	...	Kenneth
Joan Chandler	...	Janet
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Mr. Kentley (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Constance Collier	...	Mrs. Atwater
James Stewart	...	Rupert Cadell

Storyline

Brandon and Philip are two young men who share a New York City 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.

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Plot Keywords:

gay subtext | rope | long take | murder | perfect murder | 

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Taglines:

It Begins With a Shriek... It Ends With a Shot!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Rope

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Transatlantic Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed January 12 to February 21, 1948. There are ten shots within this movie overall, running 9:34, 7:51, 7:18, 7:09, 9:59, 8:35, 7:50, 10:06, 4:37, and 5:40 minutes and seconds each.

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Goofs

When Brandon is opening the curtains of the long window after killing David, the shadow of an arm can be glimpsed behind the curtain in the upper left corner of the window.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Brandon: [David screams, to Phillip] Open it.
[they put David in the trunk and close it]

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Crazy Credits

In the end credits, the first credit is for the character of David Kentley who is only seen for a couple of seconds and has no spoken lines. Most of the other characters are listed with a descriptive phrase showing their relationship to David Kentley, or relationship among each other, just above the credit line(s) listing the character name and actor. The description and character name pairings are as follows: His friends - Brandon, Phillip; Their housekeeper - Mrs. Wilson; David's rival - Kenneth; David's girl - Janet; His father - Mr. Kentley; His aunt - Mrs. Atwater. The last character listed, Rubert Cadell, is the only one besides David Kentley without such a descriptive phrase. Also, David Kentley and Rupert Cadell are the only characters listed with both first and last names.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Continuous Uninterrupted Shots in Movies (2014)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Colorful and intriguing Hithcock film , totally developed into an apartment

This excellent Hitch's film deals with two young men (Farley Granger as Phillip and John Dall as Brandon , though Montgomery Clift was the original choice to play him) who murder a pal . Then , they are inviting a dinner party to relatives (Cedric Hardwicke) and friends (James Stewart , though Cary Grant was the first choice to play him, Joan Chandler , among others) , to their flat and while the corpse is hidden into a large chest . Of course , an intelligent guest (James Stewart who makes his first entrance 28 minutes into the film) is growing suspicion but there isn't one perfect crime .

The movie contains suspense , tension , intrigue and plot twists. The picture packs long set pieces with continuous intrigue maintained throughout and suspenseful ending . The film displays superb performances from main characters and supporting roles . Besides , it has a literately witty dialog by screenwriter/actor Hume Cronyn and based on Patrick Hamilton's play that after being adapted in films as ¨Compulsion¨ (by Richard Fleischer with Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman) and ¨Swoon¨ . Alfred Hitchcock's The rope (1948) is very different from Patrick Hamilton's play of the same name, although the basic plot is followed rather faithfully. Hitchcock made his own adaptation with Hume Cronyn and they created new dialogue and characters for their rendition . Alfred Hitchcock's inspiration for the long takes came from a BBC Television broadcast of Rope (1939) , as the producer decided on the technique in order to keep the murder chest constantly in shot . During filming, the cast had to avoid tripping on cables that laid over the floor, because of the moving cameras and lighting.

The picture is visually interesting and mostly involving and mysterious . The movie is shot in eight sequences of ten minutes and is his first film in color , being wonderfully photographed by Joseph Valentine and William V. Skall . Exceptional James Stewart in the first of the four movies which filmed with the master of suspense . However , this was the only movie James Stewart made with Alfred Hitchcock that he did not like , Stewart later admitted he felt he was miscast as the professor . The film was banned in a number of American cities because of the implied homosexuality of Phillip (Farley Granger) and Brandon (John Dall). The couple inspired on true characters : Leopold and Laub in Chicago the 1920s and being magnificently played by Farley Granger (Nicholas Ray's fetish actor) and John Dall (1918-1971 , an usual stage actor who only made eight films until his early death). And Hitchcock cameo as a man walking in street after opening credits . Rating : 8.5/10 , above average . Essential and indispensable watching for the Hitch lovers , although he said in the famous interview with Francois Truffaut that he wasn't proud but he considered a stupid experience .