Rope (1948)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Patrick Hamilton (play)
Hume Cronyn (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

28 August 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The guest who's dead on time

Plot:

Two young men strangle their "inferior" classmate, hide his body in their apartment, and invite his friends and family to a dinner party as a means to challenge the "perfection" of their crime.

Plot Keywords:

Party | Chest | Friend | Murder | Intellectual

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

James Stewart	...	Rupert Cadell
John Dall	...	Brandon Shaw
Farley Granger	...	Phillip Morgan
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Mr. Kentley (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Constance Collier	...	Mrs. Atwater
Douglas Dick	...	Kenneth Lawrence
Edith Evanson	...	Mrs. Wilson
Dick Hogan	...	David Kentley
Joan Chandler	...	Janet Walker
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man walking in street after opening credits (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Patrick Hamilton		(play "Rope's End")
Hume Cronyn		(adaptation)
Arthur Laurents		(screenplay)
Ben Hecht		uncredited

Produced by
Sidney Bernstein	....	producer (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
David Buttolph		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
William V. Skall
Joseph A. Valentine		(as Joseph Valentine)

Film Editing by
William H. Ziegler

Art Direction by
Perry Ferguson

Set Decoration by
Howard Bristol
Emile Kuri

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Agnes Flanagan	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Ed Voight	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Fred Ahern	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lowell J. Farrell	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Al Riggs	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Emmons	....	camera movement operator (uncredited)
Eddie Fitzgerald	....	camera movement operator (uncredited)
Paul Hill	....	camera movement operator (uncredited)
John Miehle	....	still photographer (uncredited)
James Potevin	....	lighting technician (uncredited)
Morris Rosen	....	camera movement operator (uncredited)
Morris Rosen	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adrian	....	dress: Miss Chandler

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director

Other crew
Robert Brower	....	associate technicolor color director
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director
Dinsmore Alter	....	cloud technical advisor (uncredited)
Charlsie Bryant	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Transatlantic Pictures
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1948) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (198?) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MCA Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Greece) (DVD)
• United Artists (1950-1983) (worldwide) (all media)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• The Three Suns  music performers: radio sequence

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #13027) | USA:PG (TV rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Iceland:L | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18 (2003) | New Zealand:PG | Portugal:(Banned) (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:14A (video rating) | Canada:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Transatlantic Pictures

Trivia:

Story was very loosely based on the real-life murder committed by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, which was also the (fictionalized) subject of Compulsion (1959) and Swoon (1992).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Philip's piano playing does not match the music playing.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Brandon: Open it.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Psychoville: (#1.4)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Mouvement perpetuel no. 1

Brilliant! The most underrated of the Hitchcock/Stewart collaborations is still as fascinating and entertaining as ever.

Alfred Hitchcock directed so many brilliant movies that the best known ones like 'Rear Window', 'Vertigo', 'Psycho' and 'The Birds' overshadow equally worthy films like 'Shadow Of A Doubt', 'Lifeboat' - insert your personal favourite here - and this one, 'Rope'. It was the first Hitchcock movie to feature James Stewart and it is easily the most underrated of the four movies they made together. I think Stewart was brave for taking this part, which was much darker than the usual characters associated with him, and it's difficult to imagine him being able to play Scottie in 'Vertigo' without having done this movie first. Stewart is excellent in the movie, but equally good are Farley Grainger (who subsequently starred in Hitchcock's 'Strangers On A Train') and John Dall as the thrill killers. Dall gives the best performance in the movie. I'm surprised that after making this and the Noir cult classic 'Gun Crazy' he isn't better known. The technical "gimmick" of 'Rope' is usually mentioned more than anything else about it (Hitchcock wanted one long continuous take, which wasn't possible at the time, but compromised by using several long ones, a very innovative approach at the time), but there is a lot more to it than just that. Considering the strict censorship of the period it was a daring look at homosexuality. The word is never used at any time in the script but a sophisticated audience would have no doubt what was really going on. I've only seen about a third of Hitchcock's output but every movie of his I watch or rewatch makes me marvel at him all the more. The greatest and most influential director of suspense movies was also one of the greatest directors of ANY genre ever. 'Rope' deserves to be mentioned in any list of his ten best movies. 55 years after it was originally released it is as fascinating and entertaining as ever. Highly recommended!