Rope

Can't believe I'm only seeing this now. It's great. Basically a play. There couldn't have been more than 15 shots. Ending had me in tears. Shouts out

barrymost

2020-08-25

⭐ 7

Rope was the first Alfred Hitchcock/James Stewart collaboration. They would go on to do "Rear Window", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", and finally, "Vertigo". This being the first, and also a kind of experimental film on Hitchcock's part, it is the weakest of the four. Shot as a play, mainly in one room, and with only a handful of cast members, the concept of how it was done is intriguing even today. Done in roughly a dozen takes, the only times that the camera ever cuts are when it closes in on someone's back and then angles around to the other side. That's the tell-tale sign of the only cu…

CinemaSerf

2022-07-09

⭐ 7

Now I may be completely off beam here, but there is something ever so slightly homo-erotic about the relationship between John Dall ("Brandon") and Farley Granger ("Philip") in this rather clunky murder tale that is less of a mystery and more of a bragging exercise. The two, having murdered their college friend "David" invite some folks round for a dinner party that shows the pair - especially Dall - as obnoxious men with a profoundly mis-placed superiority complex. As their odiousness is enhanced by over-confidence and drink, their former school master "Rupert" (Jimmy Stewart) starts to suspe…

James

2023-10-20

⭐ 7

Somebody should have stopped Hitchcock from all this innovating business…

James

2023-10-20

⭐ 7

**It ends with a shot** Like no film ever did that.

griggs79

2024-12-02

⭐ 5

_Rope_ is often praised for its technical ambition but falls flat in genuine suspense. The single-take gimmick overshadows the storytelling, leaving it feeling more like a stage play trapped in a cinematic format. Jimmy Stewart’s earnest charm feels misplaced here; his usual gravitas is oddly muted, making his presence more distracting than commanding. John Dall is the real standout, injecting a sinister flair into an otherwise tepid cast. The much-lauded homosexual subtext can’t compensate for the lack of tension or stakes. A fascinating experiment, but certainly not Hitchcock at his best.

Martin Oaks

2025-06-20

⭐ 9

**Inventing a Style** Hitchcock established himself as one of the great masters of world cinema, whose technique has significantly influenced contemporary filmmakers such as Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, and Brian De Palma. His prolific film production was combined with the editing of fantasy novels, television productions, and suspense stories. He was deeply concerned with the manner of storytelling and how to define the narrative style. His nature as an experimenter and inventor of forms led him to exploit the possibilities of the medium like few others, achieving true artistic creat…