John Dall, Farley Granger, James Stewart, Joan Chandler, Douglas Dick, Edith Evanson, Constance Collier, Cedric Hardwicke, Dick Hogan, Alfred Hitchcock
Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.
Can't believe I'm only seeing this now. It's great. Basically a play. There couldn't have been more than 15 shots. Ending had me in tears. Shouts out
Rope was the first Alfred Hitchcock/James Stewart collaboration. They would go on to do "Rear Window", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", and finally, "Vertigo". This being the first, and also a kind of experimental film on Hitchcock's part, it is the weakest of the four. Shot as a play, mainly in one room, and with only a handful of cast members, the concept of how it was done is intriguing even tod...
Now I may be completely off beam here, but there is something ever so slightly homo-erotic about the relationship between John Dall ("Brandon") and Farley Granger ("Philip") in this rather clunky murder tale that is less of a mystery and more of a bragging exercise. The two, having murdered their college friend "David" invite some folks round for a dinner party that shows the pair - especially Dal...
Somebody should have stopped Hitchcock from all this innovating business…
**It ends with a shot** Like no film ever did that.
_Rope_ is often praised for its technical ambition but falls flat in genuine suspense. The single-take gimmick overshadows the storytelling, leaving it feeling more like a stage play trapped in a cinematic format. Jimmy Stewart’s earnest charm feels misplaced here; his usual gravitas is oddly muted, making his presence more distracting than commanding. John Dall is the real standout, injecting a s...