{"id":18528,"date":"2011-07-13T14:05:59","date_gmt":"2011-07-13T21:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18528"},"modified":"2020-12-18T14:18:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T21:18:38","slug":"rope-1948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18528","title":{"rendered":"Rope (1948)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The power to kill can be just as satisfying as the power to create.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Poster-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-18529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Poster-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Poster.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA pair of roommates (John Dall and Farley Granger) murder their &#8220;inferior&#8221; classmate (Dick Hogan) simply to demonstrate their superiority. After placing the body in a chest in their living room, they throw a dinner party to celebrate their crime, inviting their former housemaster (Jimmy Stewart), Hogan&#8217;s fiancee (Joan Chandler), Chandler&#8217;s ex-boyfriend (Douglas Dick), and Hogan&#8217;s father (Cedric Hardwicke) and aunt (Constance Collier).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farley Granger Films<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Hiding Dead Bodies<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Hitchcock Films<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jimmy Stewart Films<\/a><\/li>\n<li>John Dall Films<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Plot to Murder<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Psychopaths<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nHitchcock&#8217;s adaptation of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rope_%28play%29\">Patrick Hamilton&#8217;s 1929 play<\/a> &#8212; scripted by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arthur_Laurents\">Arthur Laurents<\/a> and inspired by the infamous <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Leopold_and_loeb\">&#8220;Leopold-Loeb thrill-killing&#8221;<\/a> in 1924 &#8212; is best known for being the director&#8217;s most overtly experimental film. Hitchcock used just &#8220;one large apartment set&#8221; and had &#8220;one camera follow the characters about, with cuts coming only once every 10 minutes&#8221; or so, thus designating the framing of the film as its central &#8220;character&#8221;. While <em>Rope<\/em> undeniably suffers from lack of editing (and Hitchcock himself later dismissed the film as merely a &#8220;stunt&#8221;), it remains surprisingly engaging, at least on a technical level. Indeed, after learning about the work<\/a> that went into coordinating such a tremendously challenging stunt (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040746\/trivia?tr=tr0792808\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040746\/trivia?tr=tr0792964\">here<\/a>), it&#8217;s a bit easier to forgive the film&#8217;s patent staginess; as Peary puts it, &#8220;Camera gimmick works well, but picture remains theatrical, as actors all seem a bit stiff &#8212; only Dall and Collier seem unafraid to change expressions, [and] Stewart has never been so unanimated.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2-1024x754.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"471\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2-1024x754.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2-300x221.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2-768x565.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2-367x270.png 367w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Granger-Dall2.png 1403w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, while the film&#8217;s technical bravado excuses its staginess, it only partially hides the storyline&#8217;s more obvious flaws &#8212; most notably the fact that Stewart&#8217;s character boldly preaches an outrageously Nietzschian philosophy (&#8220;After all, murder is &#8212; or should be &#8212; an art&#8221;, he says; &#8220;And, as such, the privilege of committing it should be reserved for those few who are really superior individuals.&#8221;), then acts horrified when his impressionable young charges carry out exactly the actions he has just condoned. (Apparently he takes issue with the young men&#8217;s positing of themselves as &#8220;superior individuals&#8221; &#8212; but who, pray tell, WOULD fit this bill in his eyes?!?) <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart-1024x752.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"470\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart-1024x752.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart-768x564.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart-368x270.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Stewart.png 1407w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, while some believe that Hitchcock should not have chosen to show the murder itself taking place as the film opens &#8212; instead allowing viewers to remain in suspense about whether the duo actually committed the crime &#8212; I don&#8217;t believe this negatively impacts the storyline, which remains inherently suspenseful simply given the omnipresence of the chest where Hogan&#8217;s freshly killed corpse has been placed. <\/p>\n<p>Peary makes an interesting observation near the end of his review, noting that it&#8217;s &#8220;tough to be in [the] audience&#8221; while watching such &#8220;morbid subject matter&#8221; because, &#8220;while you despise the two killers, for some reason you hope the crime goes unresolved&#8221;. Actually, I find it difficult to truly &#8220;despise&#8221; Granger&#8217;s character, who &#8212; unlike the &#8220;arrogant Dall&#8221;, &#8220;immediately feels woozy [and] guilty&#8221; about what he&#8217;s done. To that end, it&#8217;s clear from the get-go that the sociopathic Dall is the dominant partner in this thinly veiled homosexual partnership, and that Granger has likely been bullied somehow into committing the murder. It&#8217;s interesting to contemplate what kind of different impact the movie would have if: a) Dall and Granger&#8217;s characters were written as more openly homosexual, and b) Stewart&#8217;s character were portrayed as a homosexual as well (given that this was Hamilton&#8217;s original intention). At the very least, it would add another level of tension and thematic interest &#8212; though in some ways, of course, it&#8217;s refreshing NOT to see two cold-blooded murderers overtly portrayed on-screen as gay, given all the implications that would engender. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Truly impressive &#8212; and often quite effective &#8212; direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Technical.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Technical.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"544\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Technical.png 544w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Technical-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Rope-Technical-300x229.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 544px) 100vw, 544px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply for its notoriety as one of Hitchcock&#8217;s most technically innovative films. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040746\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/library\/film\/081748hitch-rope-review.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s191rope.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitallyobsessed.com\/displaylegacy.php?ID=8066\">Digitally Obsessed Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdjournal.com\/reviews\/r\/rope.shtml\">DVD Journal Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/88638\/rope#articles-reviews?articleId=78315\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/76944\/rope.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The power to kill can be just as satisfying as the power to create.&#8221; Synopsis: A pair of roommates (John Dall and Farley Granger) murder their &#8220;inferior&#8221; classmate (Dick Hogan) simply to demonstrate their superiority. After placing the body in a chest in their living room, they throw a dinner party to celebrate their crime, inviting their former housemaster (Jimmy Stewart), Hogan&#8217;s fiancee (Joan Chandler), Chandler&#8217;s ex-boyfriend (Douglas Dick), and Hogan&#8217;s father (Cedric Hardwicke) and aunt (Constance Collier). Genres, Themes,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18528\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18528"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58394,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18528\/revisions\/58394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}