Rope – Review

Based on a stage play, Rope is presented in real time without noticeable shot breaks, and in a contained apartment set. This maintains its playlike feel, and a short runtime whips the feature along nicely, despite it being all dialogue.

Murder is afoot! A victim lets out a scream, strangled by a rope as two gloved men hold his body hostage in an apartment. They quickly stuff his body in the large wooden chest next to them. Oof, a quick and deadly start.

These killers are Brandon Shaw (Dall) and Phillip Morgan (Granger), and their victim is David Kentley (Hogan), an old classmate. Brandon lights a cigarette and notes they don’t have much time. He opens the blinds to quell Phillip’s woes, as light always helps his mood and stress is already hitting his stressed out ‘pal.’

The men quickly clear the scene as much as they can, and deliver morbid observations on the evening. They have to move fast before their guests arrive, as they are throwing a dinner party. This is all part of a crafted experiment, as the men want to prove they can pull off the perfect murder. David just happened to be their unfortunate pick of victim. And the guests at the party? David’s relatives and fiancé Janet (Chandler), and more… yikes!

As the completely unaware guests arrive, tensions ratchet up. Will the men get away with their plan, or will stress break them? Will their old headmaster and teacher (and inspiration for this murder experiment) Rupert Cadell (Stewart) catch on as he joins the event?

Rope is a very solid Hitchcock film which covers his usual topics of murder, tension, morality and evil plotting. The cast is pretty good and the movie remains a run time despite the macabre topics at hand. Give it a shot, try to keep your wits and make sure to grab the right hat.