Cast |
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|---|---|---|
| Director: | alfred hitchcock | Runtime: 1 hrs 20 min (80 min) |
| david kentley | ..... | dick hogan |
| brandon | ..... | john dall |
| phillip | ..... | farley granger |
| mrs. wilson | ..... | edith evanson |
| kenneth | ..... | douglas dick |
| janet | ..... | joan chandler |
| mr. kentley | ..... | sir cedric hardwicke |
| mrs. atwater | ..... | constance collier |
| rupert cadell | ..... | james stewart |
| man walking in street after opening credits | ..... | alfred hitchcock |
I plan to review several movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock in the future. This presents a unique dilemma for me as a critic. Although the Hitchcock library is well-known by movie enthusiasts such as yourself, it is possible that there is an ending, or even an entire premise with which you are not familiar. Therefore, in the spirit of Hitch, my plot summaries for these movies will be minimal and more basic than usual.
For Rope, this means extremely terse explanations. With its roots in the real-life story of two students at the University of Chicago, this movie tells the story of Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Granger). They are two college students who decide they are going to commit the perfect murder. In this case, ‘perfect’ is read ‘getting it done without getting caught.’
No spoiler here; within the first few minutes, the victim, classmate David Kentley (briefly portrayed by Dick Hogan) is dead by strangulation. He spends the rest of the movie unseen in a wooden box.
So far, Brandon and Phillip have achieved their goal. However, the duo (especially Brandon) wants to throw a little more excitement into the scheme. They throw a party at their apartment for family and friends of David, with him in a box right there in the living room! In fact, at the last minute, Brandon decides it would be even more interesting if the buffet table for the party would do double duty as the coffin.
Among the few guests at the party are David's father (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) and Rupert Cadell (James Stewart), a professor from the college. Cadell holds the belief that the idea of murder may in certain circumstances, actually be a privilege rather than a crime. (That's forced irony, folks!)
The majority of the movie is a period of suspense to see if or when David's body will be discovered, in effect rendering the boys' experiment a failure. I can almost guarantee that you will not be certain of the duo's fate until the very last few minutes of the movie. I will even go as far as to say that even when the movie is over, a definitive outcome is not apparent.
Interesting fact—If it were not for Alfred Hitchcock and the many other authors whose stories made it to his cameras, seats would not have edges! Of course, with Alfred Hitchcock films, the only consistencies are the inconsistencies!
Rope uses a little-used technique of shooting which attempts to make the film appear as though the entire movie was filmed in one continuous shot. Of course, this is not really the case. For one thing, in 1948 when the film was made, one reel of film only allowed for a maximum of 10 minutes before another reel would need to be started.
Hitchcock overcame this problem by taking a camera behind a actor's dark jacket or a wall. This blacks out the screen, giving the opportunity for a cut to go unnoticed.
The absence of music (background) gives the movie a feeling of closeness with the viewer. Try this to see how this works: Watch a sitcom on television, then watch a motion picture. The sitcom usually has some sort of musical riff between scene transitions (not always welcome, e.g. Seinfeld), but is otherwise silent in the background. You feel like the action is right there in your living room. The movie has background music throughout most of the film. Turn off the sound on the movie and notice how strange it feels…almost makes you squeamish.
Most movies are not famous for their directorial qualities. Even with movies associated with director (e.g. John Carpenter, Martin Scorsese), often the audience does not realize exactly what aspect of the movie is being lauded. In fact, when someone asks, for example, who wrote Christine, it is not surprising if the answer comes back, "John Carpenter." (BTW…If you are one of these people, the correct answer is Stephen King.) The creator of the story often gets ousted of due recognition. Unfortunately, it is a great story that is popular, but because of the popularity and familiarity of the director's name, it is that name that receives the praise and often, the awards.
This is almost the case with Rope and many other movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock. However, in this case, the direction actually is the hot point of the film. Sure, it is an intriguing story; very suspenseful. But I believe it could have been rather dull without the talent brought in by Hitchcock. I would be interested to see the play onstage, directed by someone else.
MEMORABLE DIALOGUE & NOTABLE ENCOUNTERS
Finally, a short list of quotes and verbal exchanges I think are worth repeating.
You may recognize some if you've seen the movie, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:
- brandon :
Now the fun begins.
- phillip :
Rupert only publishes books he likes, usually philosophy.
janet :Oh. Small print, big words, no sales.
- brandon :
[Rupert] thinks murder is a crime for most men, but —
phillip :A privilege for the few.
- mrs. atwater :
[Cary Grant] in that new thing with Bergman. What was it called now? 'The some thing of the something',…No, no, that's the other one. This was just plain 'something'.
- mrs. atwater :
I must say I've had a perfectly dreadful time getting tickets for that new musical…what's it called? You know…?
rupert :‘The Something’ with what's-her-name?
mrs. atwater :Mmm-hmm.
- mrs. atwater :
When I was a girl, I used to read quite a bit.
brandon :Oh, we all do strange things in our childhood.
- rupert :
You know, Phillip, I wish I could come straight out with what I want to know. Unfortunately, I don't know anything…I merely suspect.
- rupert :
It's not what I'm going to do, Brandon, it's what society's going to do. I don't know what that will be, but I can guess.
Here is some interesting trivia from this movie⇒
- Inspiration for the 1929 play Rope by Patrick Hamilton, and subsequently, this movie, came from a murder case in 1924 involving two college students from the University of Chicago named Nathan Leopold, Jr. and Richard Loeb. The duo kidnapped and murdered a 14-year-old boy named Robert Franks. The motive was determined to be simply the desire to commit the perfect crime. The original murder, however, was committed with a knife.
- It is well-known that Alfred Hitchcock purposely inserted himself in a cameo appearance in all but a few of his films. In Rope, he can be spotted right after the opening credits, walking along the sidewalk with a woman.
In the earlier stages of filming, his famous profile was shown as a neon sign outside the apartment window. That cut was rejected and changed to the scene on the sidewalk.
10/10 Please comment below
Another effect of the camera moving through the scene without visible edits is that it makes the viewer feel like we are a character in the room. The camera is our eyes spying on events as we wonder through the action.
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