Produced in 1948, this Hitchcock thriller is quite different from others created by the golden genius of the master of suspense. All the action is confined to one room, and there is a lack of real tension, which is almost unheard of in a Hitchcock production. This film was very loosely based on the real life case of Leopold and Loeb; the two University of Chicago students in the 1920s who committed a murder as intellectuals just to see what it feels like. (And in the manner of intellectuals who commit murder, they were prosecuted.)
The film lasts 80 minutes, but the time frame it covers is a bit longer, a little more than 100 minutes. This is accomplished by speeding up the action; rapid sunsets and conversation and so on. The story is based on the original play written by Patrick Hamilton and its adaptation for the screen, which was written by Hume Cronyn.
Starring James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Douglas Dick, Edith Evanson, Dick Hogan and Joan Chandler, the film centers around two college students who murder an old college chum, stuff him into a trunk and then minutes later, host a dinner party. Hitchcock’s very first color production, all of the filming was done in-studio. There is a definite “play feel” to the movie. It has only nine different takes and Hitchcock managed to shoot only one segment a day. The last four or five segments had to be completely re-shot because the master did not like the color of the sunset.
In this film, Hitchcock appears twice, which is unusual. He is first seen walking down the street during the opening credits and then again about five minutes into the film when his profile appears on a neon sign.
The film was originally banned in a number of American cities because of the implied homosexuality between two of the characters.
How do YOU feel about the movie, “Rope?” What are some of YOUR favorite moments in the film?