Rope [PG]

Roommates and old college chums, Brandon and Phillip, have committed the perfect murder, inspired by the obscure ideology of their former college tutor. To celebrate their great achievement, they throw a party, the guest list being made up solely of the victim’s fiancé, best friend, parents, and Rupert, their old tutor. But during the party, Rupert becomes suspicious and tensions run high as Phillip becomes more and more nervous about being found out. 

This has to be one of the shortest and more interesting of Hitchcock’s films. It successfully balances the line between comedy and drama, and it was filled with brilliant dialogue, one setting, and the perfect murder. Fantastic!

Roommates and old college chums, Brandon and Phillip, have committed the perfect murder, inspired by the obscure ideology of their former college tutor. To celebrate their great achievement, the boys throw a party, one in which the guest lists consists solely of the victim’s fiancé, best friend, parents, and Rupert, their former tutor and inspiration. But during the party, tensions begin to rise as Rupert becomes very suspicious of the two and Phillip becomes more and more fearful about being caught.

When I say that this was one of Hitchcock’s more interesting films, I mean it in the sense of filmmaking. Rope was adapted from a stage play and that theatrical technique is recreated on film, manifesting itself in the form of the one backdrop: the living room of an expensive apartment. This successfully brings to the movie a sense of the “real”, that what is being filmed is being filmed in the moment and is not rehearsed or has been shot over and over again. When you think about it, it poses a bit of a challenge for the actors, as they need to hold a scene for a long amount of time, not just “and action! ... Cut!” As another result of this technique, the film has a great flowing continuity and it’s not jagged in any way, as there are no scene changes to indicate changes in setting or time.
John Dall stars as Brandon and he was brilliant. I instantly fell in love with his coolness, his charm, and his complete belief in his own brilliance. He was just brilliant from start to finish.
Farley Granger stars as Phillip, who provided the moral edge to the film. The chemistry between him and John was absolutely brilliant as they were the complete opposites of one another: Brandon was calm and even gloating about the murder and Phillip was guilt-ridden and extremely nervous. It was this chemistry that brought the dark humour to the film.
James Stewart was the boys’ tutor Rupert, and he delivered a performance that was frank, funny, and sometimes even rude, and he delivered a wonderful monologue towards the end of the movie. A great performance from the moment he walks through the door.
The other thing that really grabbed my attention in this movie was the script. The script played a very heavy part, as the film is set in an apartment and there is not much action until the final climatic scene. One of my favourite scenes is where Rupert and the company are discussing murder and his obscure ideas of the subject (I don’t want to say to much, you’ll have to watch the film).
Starring Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Douglas Dick, Edith Evanson, Dick Hogan, and Joan Chandler, Rope was a really engaging and interesting film that was filled with ideology, booze, plenty of dialogue, and the perfect murder. I found it most intriguing.