Rope (1948)
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VHS Movie Reviews of Rope (1948)
Movie Review: Good mid-period Hitchcock
Summary: 4 Stars
Rope is an excellent experimental film from the master of suspense. Hitchcock decided for this film to try and make it look like one continuous take. This is quite cleverly done, but once you've seen it you will always spot where the cuts are. For a film made in 1949 the colour print is very good.
Loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murder case from 20 or so years earlier, it centres around one room where 2 students murder a fellow student. Nothing given away here this is the opening scene. James Stewart plays the professor who begins to suspect there might be something going on. As always Hitchcock produces a couple of classic scenes, perhaps the best of which is where it looks as the housemaid might might find the body. This is brilliantly filmed and a typical piece of Hitchcock magic.
The lack of justification for the murder also raises moral issues that James Stewart's character ultimately firmly rebuts. So as always there is more going on in a Hitchcock film than first meets the eye. This is well worth buying.
Movie Review: Too gimmicky
Summary: 2 Stars
A very gimmicky film on a couple of levels. First it's shot all in one long shot, actually several shots spliced together more or less unobtrusively to look like one shot. Second, it all takes place in real time in one location. This, along with the plot, make it seem like an Agatha Christie play. Two young men (supposedly homosexual, but I didn't notice) murder a friend because they are "superior" creatures. Then they invite the murdered man's fiance and relatives over and serve dinner on a large chest where the murdered man is stashed. Gee, I wonder where David is tonight? He was supposed to be here. Stewart plays their old schoolmaster who taught them the Nietzschean doctrine, but who discovers the murder and is horrified. Hitchcock's first color film.Movie Review: bighting off more than you can chew
Summary: 5 Stars
Two idealistic young students commit a crime thinking they are following the ideas of their former teacher - only to see everything slowly fall apart... Hitchock's stage-like technicolor debut does not move the camera very far, but like 'rear window' and 'dial m for murder' - just enough because we do not need to move very far to face basic and suspensful plot elements, in fact, they are all the more poignant when we see them magnified in a particular setting..
Rope is not Hitchcock's best film.. but it is a great film nontheless, featuring great performances and witty dialogue.. James stewart is always fun to watch and his understated performance drives the show.. I would highly recommend 'rope' as one of hitchcock's more interesting film expeditions..
Movie Review: "You're quite a good chicken strangler as I recall"
Summary: 4 Stars
"Rope," Alfred Hitchcock's first color film, is an adaptation of the play by Patrick Hamilton, which was re-named "Rope's End" when it hit Broadway. It is also loosely based upon the real-life Leopold/Loeb case. Like Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder," "Rope" feels like it was created for the stage, using only one set and virtually no music. One of the most intriguing aspects of the film is that it was filmed in "real time," meaning that the 80 minutes which the film spans is intended to be a straight 80 minutes for the characters, though it has been discussed that the storyline actually occurs over about 100 minutes. Nevertheless, it's the continous takes which make the film so spectacular. The movie was edited from about seven 10-minute takes. At the end of each of these takes the camera focuses on some dark or black spot, originally intended to give theater operators a chance to change the reel and to mask the fact that there was any editing done at all. It works well.
The story is classic Hitchcock: two prep school pals decide to commit a murder just for the sake of doing so. They plan everything to perfection, and for the finishing touch, they invite a group of people to dinner, feasting upon the chest in which the corpse is contained. Among those invited are the parents of the deceased, his would-be fiance, his best friend, and the murderous duo's eccentric old professor, who they think would approve of their scheme. John Dall is the driving force behind this whole ghastly operation, and he overplays his role with a reckless pompousness. His best friend and reluctant partner-in-crime is Farley Granger, who is constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Unquestionably the highlight of the cast is James Stewart as their former professor, Rupert, who states that murder is not a crime, but a priveledge. This is one of my favorite performances from Mr. Stewart. He plays his part with a devilishly easygoing, intelligent suavete and far more reserve than you would usually see from Stewart.
Considering the movie was released in 1948, the fact that the script retains the implied homosexuality between the murderers from Hamilton's play is a bold move. The script does omit the knowledge that Stewart's character had an affair with one of his old students, a good move because if it had been kept the audience would feel considerably less sympathy for Stewart than they do at the film's end. Interestingly, Hitchcock chose to open the film with the murder, leaving no doubt that a murder was in fact committed, while in Hamilton's play we don't know whether the duo actually went through with the murder or not until its end. It seems uncharacteristic of Hitchcock that he should decide against so artful and suspenseful a technique as leaving his audience questioning whether the murder is real or not.
Don't begin your exploration of Hitchcock's works with this movie. Opt instead for something like "Vertigo" or even Hitchcock's previous masterpiece, "Notorious," which is cleverly referenced at one point in the film when Stewart's character names the one film he enjoyed, "that new thing with Ingrid Bergman." One of the 5 "lost Hitchcocks," "Rope" is not one of the Master's masterpieces, but it is one of his finer and most interesting works. The "real time" technique is fascinating, the story is unmistakably Hitchcockian, and Stewart's performance is among his best, and that alone is enough to make the film worth a watch.
Movie Review: one of hitchcock's finest.
Summary: 5 Stars
Rope is a smart murder-mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I was pleasantly surprised with the acting, the plot, and the dialogue. This movie is not only suspenseful, but funny too! There are so many one-liners that I want to quote. Hitchcock is a master at his craft and so are the actors he chooses for his films. This film is a must-see!