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Rope (1948)

Director(s) Alfred Hitchcock
Producer(s) Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited), Sidney Bernstein (uncredited)
Top Genres Crime, Drama, Film Noir, Mystery, Romance, Thriller/Suspense
More Films Directed by Alfred Hitchcock More Films Produced by Sidney Bernstein More Films from 1948 More Films from the 1940s Top Classic Movies of the 1940s

Rope Overview:

Rope (1948) was a Crime - Mystery Film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein.

SYNOPSIS

This is one of the most famous technical achievements in movie history, a Hitchcock mystery that seems to unfold in a single, continuous shot (though there are two brief reverse-angle shots). The story of a thrill killing (based on the 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder) takes place as two pseudo-intellectuals (Granger and Dall) murder a friend and then host a dinner party. The guests include the victim's father (Hardwicke), his fiancee (Chandler), and Stewart, a professor whose lectures on Nietzsche inspired their deed. Dall toys with the guests, daring them to uncover the secret of the body that he's hidden in the chest from which they serve dinner. To his chagrin, Stewart begins to understand Dall's taunts. The technical challenge appealed to Hitchcock's formidable production-planning skills. The set consisted of wild walls that could move out of the camera's path, and the set-dressing had to move silently as well. As night falls, the light had to change both on the set and on the carefully rendered Manhattan skyline that serves as a backdrop. Hitchcock organized a massive army of technicians and crew, and the resulting film (which Hitchcock referred to as a "stunt") consists of eight apparently seamless 10-minute takes.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Rope BlogHub Articles:

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope starring James Stewart, John Dall, and Farley Granger

By Stephen Reginald on Jul 11, 2024 From Classic Movie Man

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope starring James Stewart, John Dall, and Farley Granger Rope (1948) is an American crime thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, John Dall, and Farley Granger. Other members of the cast include Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Dougla... Read full article

Book Review: Perpetual Movement – Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rope’

By Devon Powell on Aug 7, 2021 From Hitchcock Master

Publisher: State University of New York Press Release Date: July 2021 “I wondered while planning this book if I should divide Rope into hundreds of brief fragments for examination. I quickly realized, however, that Hitchcock’s film… has a textual form that suggests a convenient way in which to... Read full article

Noir Nook: Ripped from the Headlines – Rope (1948)

By Karen Burroughs Hannsberry on Jul 10, 2019 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Noir Nook: Ripped from the Headlines – Rope (1948) Rope is a 1948 feature directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, John Dall, and Farley Granger. It may not be necessarily categorized as film noir, but it is undeniably imbued with a feeling of trepidation and inevitable doom tha... Read full article

5 things I love about Rope (1948)

By Carol Martinheira on Mar 31, 2018 From The Old Hollywood Garden

5 things I love about Rope (1948) On March 31, 2018March 31, 2018 By CarolIn Uncategorized I adore Rope. I know that feels like a rather insipid statement, but it’s Hitchcock, so there’s not a whole lot left to say. I blame film students. So instead I’ll just ran... Read full article

Murder by Rope (1936)

By John Grant on Mar 3, 2018 From Noirish

UK / 63 minutes / bw / Ambassador Film Productions, British & Dominions Film Corporation Dir: George Pearson Scr: Ralph Neale Story: Ralph Neale Cine: Ernest Palmer Cast: D.A. Clarke-Smith, Sunday Wilshin, Wilfred Hyde-White (i.e., Wilfrid Hyde-White), Dorothy Hamilton, Constance Godridge, Guy B... Read full article

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Rope Quotes:

Brandon: The good Americans usually die young on the battlefield, don't they? Well, the Davids of this world merely occupy space, which is why he was the perfect victim for the perfect murder. Course he, uh, he was a Harvard undergraduate. That might make it justifiable homicide.
Phillip Morgan: I never strangled a chicken in my life!
Brandon: We killed for the sake of danger and for the sake of killing.
Rupert Cadell: Did you think you were God, Brandon?
Mrs. Atwater: Do you know when I was a girl I used to read quite a bit.
Brandon: We all do strange things in our childhood.
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Rope Facts
Alfred Hitchcock made an opening romantic scene in Central Park with Joan Chandler (Janet Walker) and Dick Hogan (David Kentley). The scene was used for the 1948 promotional trailer but deleted in the film.
Dick Hogan's cameo as the murder victim, David Kentley, is his last appearance in a film.
Eleven years after being mentioned in Rope as making an excellent villain, James Mason was finally cast by Alfred Hitchcock as such in North by Northwest.
Alfred Hitchcock only managed to shoot roughly one segment per day. The last four or five segments had to be completely re-shot because Hitchcock wasn't happy with the color of the sunset.
Alfred Hitchcock's inspiration for the long takes came from a BBC Television broadcast of "Rope" in 1939. The producer, Dallas Bower, decided on the technique in order to keep the murder chest constantly in shot.
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