Rope

• Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• August 26, 1948 (NYC) / September 25, 1948 (US)
• Based on the 1929 play Rope by Patrick Hamilton

After killing a former classmate, two men try to show to themselves they’ve committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party with the body hidden in the room.

Based on a play of the same name, there is a great deal of talking in Rope. We have the moment of the murder and then it dives headlong into long speeches usually by Brandon Shaw (John Dall) who is the stronger personality of the two. Brandon is sinister and joyous having killed an old classmate for the thrill. He comes off much more disturbing than his compatriot.

His friend-and by ‘friend’ I mean ‘lover’-Phillip Morgan (Farley Granger) is a weak personality the does as he is pressured to do. You almost feel sad for him. ‘Almost’ due to the characters talking too much and because of that Phillip moves to pathetic. I don’t think it is a wild stretch of the imagination to point out that Brandon and Phillip are two lovers living under the same roof. They certainly aren’t just roommates sharing rent. For the more easily bothered audiences of the 40s they didn’t kiss or hold hands or anything like that. More innocent time so to speak.

The presentation of Rope is designed to look like it is occurring in real time. The use of editing by Hitchcock is supposed to give the appearance of it being one continuous shot. The moments where the film is joined together are painfully obvious. Perhaps not when this movie came out but today they are quite noticeable. Not a knock on Hitchcock or anyone but less zooming into the small of the back or a piece of furniture until the screen goes black would have been smarter. Perhaps walking behind something that could act as a point to join the footage.

Things certainly step up a notch when Rupert Cadell (Jimmy Stewart) shows up but Jimmy Stewart was magic in just about any film he was in. His presence kicks into gear philosophical elements in the discussion of whether or not murder is acceptable. George Bailey at a dinner party this isn’t.

Rupert’s arrival turns this into more of a detective story for him than it does about the e characters that opened the movie. The story is a lot like those 80s detective shows where it showed you the who and the how and maybe even the why with the episode being about watching as the main character figure that all out for themselves. 

Rupert is very similar philosophically to Brandon and Phillip. All three embrace the aesthetic movement that valued the appearance of literature, music, and the arts over their functions along with-and this is the important part-challenging ethical roles. Rupert in contrast to Brandon and Phillip has the thing inside him that allows him to contemplate but not actually carry out something.

There is some philosophy as the characters knowingly or even unknowingly banter about the murder or other topics. When or can murder be ethical? They even venture into concepts of Nietzsche’s Superman with Brandon using it as a way to flaunt his believed superiority.

Small mistakes are the undoing of the killers. Rupert is a bit of a wildcard. His character is curious and notices odd things and needs to follow up on them. He’s not willing to shrug questions off. Rupert slowly realizes he is going against Brandon but does not know why until in a moment of shock which feels a little forced or hammy in the performance of Stewart.

Overall Rope is an excellent film. It takes a little bit to get started but once Jimmy Stewart shows up it swings into high gear and becomes an intense game of cat and mouse.