Review of Rope (1948) by Allan N — 10 Dec 2012

Alfred Hitchcockâ(TM)s suspenseful stage-play adaptation about two old schoolfriends who premeditatedly kill an old classmate and conceal the body in their apartment. Philip (Farley Granger) is led by the slick and charismatic Brandon (John Dall) to kill their old friend David simply to prove that they are capable of committing the âperfect murderâ?.

But the act itself is not enough for Brandon. He is determined to invest proceedings with a macabre sense of theatre, firstly hosting a dinner party at the scene of the crime, inviting Davidâ(TM)s friends and parents, and then hiding the body in plain sight.

As the night wears on, dinner guest and old schoolmaster Rupert Cadell (James Stewart) becomes increasingly suspicious about Davidâ(TM)s whereabouts. â~Ropeâ(TM) attempts to capture the essence of the stage â" shot on 10 reels edited together to give it the appearance of one take, entirely based in one room, and backdrop and lighting changes used to communicate the impression of the evening passing.

However, it fails to capture the excitement of a live performance that only theatre can provide â" they are very different media and unfortunately â~Ropeâ(TM) feels slightly shallow in its attempts to recreate the stage experience.

The â~single takeâ(TM) approach does feel a bit like a gimmick â" with the obvious cuts between reels creating a degree of distance from the drama. The impact that can be gained from close ups and a variety of angles is a loss as well, giving the film a very level tone throughout.

Itâ(TM)s a fantastic set-up that could have been invested with a much higher degree of suspense if it hadnâ(TM)t constrained itself to the single shot, single room set up. Thatâ(TM)s not to say that â~Ropeâ(TM) is a failure as a piece of cinema.

With some fantastically tense segments and outstanding performances it more than deserves a watch. John Dall is particularly memorable as the slippery, twisted Brandon, and Jimmy Stewart is solid in the â~good guyâ(TM) role.

With its brief running time we donâ(TM)t get a chance to really delve into the boysâ(TM) characters and to fully understand their motivation â" the Nietzschean concept of a âSupermanâ?, and the idea of intellectual superiority are briefly discussed â" but this may be intentional as motive may be cloudy in their own minds as is often the case when young men commit violent crime for nothing more than a thrill.

In the original theatre production Brandon and Philip (as well as Rupert) are all overtly gay â" but this had to be watered down for 1940â~s Hollywood tastes (even removing uses of the word â~darlingâ(TM)) â" and you canâ(TM)t help but think that if this subtext couldâ(TM)ve been played to slightly more the picture would have a great deal more depth as well as intrigue.

Hitchcock described it himself as an âexperimentâ? and it deserves to be regarded as such â" but it still remains a watchable thriller with some truly memorable scenes.