Rope (1948)

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.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

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

Stars:

James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger

Top 250 #206 | 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dick Hogan	...	David Kentley
John Dall	...	Brandon - His Friend
Farley Granger	...	Phillip - His Friend
Edith Evanson	...	Mrs. Wilson - Their Housekeeper
Douglas Dick	...	Kenneth - Their Rival
Joan Chandler	...	Janet - David's Girl
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Mr. Kentley - David's Father (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Constance Collier	...	Mrs. Atwater - David's Mother
James Stewart	...	Rupert Cadell

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.

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Plot Keywords:

Party | Friend | Murder | Apartment | Chest | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 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

Although the film lasts 80 minutes and is supposed to be in "real time", the time frame it covers is actually longer - a little more than 100 minutes. This is accomplished by speeding up the action: the formal dinner lasts only 20 minutes, the sun sets too quickly and so on. The September 2002 issue of Scientific American contains a complete analysis of this technique (and the effect it has on the viewers, who actually feel as if they watched a 100-minutes movie).

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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.

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Quotes

Brandon: Now look, I'm not going to get caught because of you or anyone else. Nobody is going to get in my way now.

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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.

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Connections

Version of Rope (1939)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

81 minutes of sheer Hitchcock fear

I just saw this movie for the first time this year. I was amazed. Alfred Hitchcock does an absolutely amazing job of making the audience cringe. I read reviews about this movie saying that it wasn't well accepted by the audience when it first came out. But that is understandable because a lot of great classics aren't accepted when first released. One big example is The Shawshank Redemption, which didn't do as well as it should have in the box office. That doesn't make the content or the worth of the film any less. Rope was the twisted story based on the real life murder case of Leopold-Loeb. Two college students commit the "perfect murder" and invite the friends and family of their victim over for dinner. The acting is superb, especially from everyone's favorite, James Stewart. The fear builds slowly as this movie keeps you interested by morbid discussion that everyone has thought at one time or another. This movie really did creep me out, and although it might not be as thrilling as Rear Window or North by Northwest, it will not disappoint. You will be biting your nails for sure waiting to see what happens to the seemingly "perfect murder". I would easily give this movie an 8 out of 10.