Review of Rope (1948) by Lewis C — 28 Aug 2010

"This is what you wanted: somebody else to know. Someone else to see how brilliant you are, just like at school.".

Hitchcock tackled the idea of "the perfect murder" quite often in his films, both directly and indirectly. Rope is the fourth movie of his that I've seen where the murder IS the story, or in this case, the murder's immediate aftermath and repercussions.

The movie opens with two young men murdering an acquaintance in an apartment, and hiding him inside a chest. They did it for no other reason than that they could, and they follow the philosophy that their innate superiority over inferior men such as the victim gives them the right to do what they did. As the icing on the cake for their murder, they have a dinner party planned immediately afterward, where the hiding place of the deceased will serve as a macabre dinner table for his father, aunt, girlfriend, and others.

Rope is at its best when the uncovering of the misdeed of the duo seems imminent. James Stewart plays an authority figure from the pair's younger days, who is partially responsible for their warped ways of thinking. He slowly begins to become more and more suspicious, as the two killers each make revealing mistakes in their own ways, and the usually punctual victim remains nowhere to be found.

This isn't among my favorite Hitchcock movies, but it's likable enough. It's set in one location like Rear Wondow and Dial M for Murder, and it's always interesting to see Hitchcock work within the confines and challenges of that scenario. The movie is also quite tense at times, as it becomes clear that it's only a matter of time before the secret is outed. See it for the interesting premise, if nothing else.