Film Review: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope

Psychological Thriller Stars James Stewart - Stands the Test of Time

Dec 11, 2008

At the time of its release, even Hitchcock called Rope "A failed experiment." The result of a new filming method didn't turn out as he'd hoped.

This new method Hitchcock was trying involved filming for ten minutes at a time, which was much longer than usual. The result was a movie shot in real time, with very little editing.

The film begins with a pleasant, scenic view of a town. As the camera drifts lazily from buildings to sky, a man’s scream penetrates the calm. The camera switches to two men strangling another, and then heave his corpse into a nearby trunk.

One of the men, Philip Morgan (played by Farley Granger) is clearly shaken as the other man, Brandon Shaw (actor John Dall) begins to turn on the light, he asks him to wait a minute. Morgan is clearly rattled and shaken, while Shaw is nearly orgasmic with delight at having committed murder.

Rope is the first Technicolor film Hitchcock made. The screenplay, written by Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents, is based on the 1929 play of the same name, written by Patrick Hamilton. Both the play and film are loosely based on the “Leopold and Loeb” murder case in 1924.

Leopold and Loeb were two intelligent, rich college students who murdered a 14-year-old neighbor and distant cousin of Loeb, Bobby Franks. Like in the film, the motive was the desire to commit the perfect crime. Also similar was the “superior” attitude the killers had over their victim, and most people in general.

In the film, Morgan and Shaw are having a dinner party that evening, for Mr. Kentley, David’s father - the friend they have just strangled. Shaw throws a tablecloth over the trunk containing David’s body, and decides to serve the food and drinks on it for the party. The idea seems to sicken Morgan, but he goes along with it anyways.

Like Leopold and Loeb, Morgan and Shaw have an obsession with Nietzsche. One of their guests for the dinner party is their former housemaster, Rupert Cadell. Many of Shaw’s ideas that led to David’s murder stem from debates and discussions with Cadell about the superior man. In Shaw’s opinion, David was inferior and he and Morgan were superior. This superiority complex convinced Shaw that he was not only in the right, but untouchable for killing someone inferior to himself.

Rope is one of the most psychologically disturbing and thought-provoking films of Hitchcock’s career. The viewer is drawn into the “Will they get caught?” game played by Morgan and Shaw with the dinner guests. Like Morgan exclaims, " "Cat and mouse, cat and mouse. But which is the cat and which is the mouse?" Rope is an exciting ride that is worth a look by any fan of thrillers and mysteries, and especially for anyone who considers themselves a fan of Hitchcock.

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