Rope

It begins with a shriek...it ends with a shot! From beginning to end, nothing ever held you like Alfred Hitchcock's ROPE!
Rope (1948)
Timing: 1:21 (81 min)
7.9/10
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7.9/10
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7.9/10
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Release date
Country
Genre
Budget
$1 500 000
Revenue
$2 200 000
Website
Director
Producer
Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Bernstein
Operator
William V. Skall
Composer
Artist
Audition
Editing
William H. Ziegler
All team (32)

Short description

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

What's left behind the scenes

  • “Rope” was Alfred Hitchcock’s first color film.
  • The clouds that viewers can see in some scenes were made of fiberglass.
  • Cary Grant was the initial candidate for the role of Rupert Cadel.
  • During filming, the actors had to watch their step carefully, as the entire floor was covered with wires running to the cameras and lighting.
  • Hitchcock did not miss the opportunity to appear in his signature cameo in this film as well. Around the 55th minute of the film, his profile appears on a neon sign visible from the apartment window. Additionally, some claim that Hitchcock can be seen walking down the street in shots accompanying the opening credits.
  • While filming, Alfred Hitchcock drew inspiration from a BBC television production – "Rope" (1939).
  • According to Arthur Laurents, the play on which the film was based supposedly featured a love affair between Cadell (James Stewart) and one of the murderers.
  • In London, the play on which the film was based was called 'Rope'. When the play was staged on Broadway, the title was changed to 'Rope’s End'.
  • The film features only nine editing cuts.
  • The film was shot using long takes lasting from four to ten minutes (ten minutes being the maximum amount of time the camera’s film would allow).
  • Montgomery Clift was the initial candidate for the role of Brandon Shaw.
  • Part of the film's plot is based on a real murder committed by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, students at the “University of Chicago.” This crime also formed the basis of the plot of “Compulsion” (1959).
  • When Janet and Mrs. Atwater discuss their favorite actors, both mention how good Cary Grant was "in that new film with Ingrid Bergman." Neither of them names the film, but it is most likely a reference to "Notorious" (1946), also directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
  • To achieve the desired sound effect of a police siren approaching the house, an ambulance was used, which drove up to the Warner Brothers studio building at full speed with its siren on. The sound of the siren was recorded through a microphone installed at the main studio gate.
  • Alfred Hitchcock filmed a romantic scene in Central Park between Joanna Chandler (Janet Walker) and Dick Hogan (David Kentley). This scene was used for a promotional trailer for the film, but was removed from the finished picture.
  • This is the first film in which Hitchcock himself acted as a producer.
  • The film was banned in some US cities due to allusions to a homosexual relationship between Phillip (Farley Granger) and Brandon (John Dall).
  • Several of the film's final scenes were reshot multiple times because Alfred Hitchcock was dissatisfied with the color of the sunset.
  • According to Arthur Laurents, Hitchcock initially assured him that the film would not show a murder, which, in turn, was supposed to make viewers doubt whether the main characters had committed a crime; whether a corpse was lying in the chest of drawers. However, Hitchcock still filmed the murder scene and showed it at the very beginning of the film.
  • Despite the film's runtime of 80 minutes, it is assumed that the action unfolds in real time. However, the events shown in the film last approximately 100 minutes.
  • Since the episodes were filmed continuously in incredibly long takes, all members of the film crew tried to avoid mistakes. Even once, when a camera dolly ran over the foot of the cameraman (resulting in a fracture), filming did not stop. And on another occasion, one of the actresses tried to place a glass on the table, but missed. Then someone from the crew instantly rushed forward and managed to catch the glass before it broke. Incidentally, both of these takes were included in the final version of the film.
  • This film was unavailable for several decades because the rights to this picture (as well as to four others) were bought by Alfred Hitchcock, and after his death, passed to his daughter, Patricia Hitchcock. These five films were known for many years as "Hitchcock's Lost Five" (5 lost Hitchcock’s). All five films were re-released in 1984. The other four films are "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), "Rear Window" (1954), "The Trouble with Harry" (1955), and "Vertigo" (1958).
  • The film was shot entirely on studio sets, with the exception of the scene against which the opening credits roll.

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