Rope (1948) – IMDB Rank #207
Watched 4/1/13
I find it interesting that Alfred Hitchcock has more movies than any other director has in the IMDB top 250 list. I love Alfred Hitchcock and have a nice big boxset of 14 of his movies so I figured I’d watch two of the three remaining films of his in the top 250 that I’d not seen (Rope & Shadow Of A Doubt, which I watched the night after Rope. Notorious unfortunately isn’t in the boxset so I’ll have to get ahold of that somehow!).
I enjoyed Rope. It’s not up there with the likes of Rear Window, Vertigo & Psycho for me (or The Birds – not even in the top 250! Boo!). It’s still very good, though. And James Stewart is in it. Love him. 🙂
It was originally a play so the movie is that way – all set in one apartment. So it’s all about the character development & the building tension that Alfred Hitchcock did so well. You know – the type of movie they couldn’t make today because people would get too “bored”!
There were some really enjoyable characters in the movie, such as the maid (who I read wasn’t in the original play and was added by Hitchcock) and Jimmy Stewart’s character (who was changed quite a bit from the original character in the play). I also read that James Stewart didn’t like this movie later and thought he was wrong for the role. I really liked him in this, though – I’m most used to him in It’s A Wonderful Life, of course, so it was nice seeing him being so different from how he was in that.
Between the two I preferred Rope to Shadow Of A Doubt, which I’ll try to do at least a short review of soon.
My Rating: 7.5/10
And, if anyone cares, here’s a short little post I did on the three Alfred Hitchcock TV episodes that freaked me the hell out as a young child. 🙂 I absolutely LOVED Alfred Hitchcock Presents & The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (and The Twilight Zone!) from a very young age. I think it’s why I may not be completely right in the head now. :-p
https://table9mutant.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/alfred-hitchcock-2/
Cinema Parrot Disco 
I find that a lot of Hitchcock’s work is very ‘play-like’ but I kind of like that: it makes me feel cultured.
Haha – Me too! I like feeling cultured sometimes because I know I’m totally not. 😉
I haven’t watched Rope in the longest time, but now I want to re-watch it. Hitchcock is the best!
Definitely check it out again. 🙂
I have been watching a fair amount of Hitchock lately and actually have started a post with my thoughts about his work. In the world of film, it takes a helluva lot to be timeless but Hitch still defines suspense.
I know – his stuff is definitely timeless. 🙂 I’ll still happily watch Hitchcock whereas other old movies haven’t aged as well as his have.
Second review of Rope that I read today. As you said probably not in my top 5 Hitch films but still a good one.
First time stopping by your blog and I enjoyed checking it out.
Thanks! I’m very new to this blogging thing so always happy to find out that people are actually looking at my geeky ramblings. 🙂
well welcome aboard that party train then friend. 😉 when you get a chance swing by our blog and give it a look see.
I’ll check it out but I can’t find it! I’m kind of new to this… 😉 But I can’t click on you like I can on other people…?
You picked a great film to review! I just finished watching Rope and one of the things I was most impressed by was the timing involved in the action. Perhaps the sharpest instance of this is when Brandon is putting the rope in the kitchen drawer, and the kitchen door is swung open by one of the other characters in the apartment. As the door swings back and forth, you catch just a sliver of him eyeing the death instrument and caught up in self-admiration of his “superior” stealth.
Yes – that was a great scene! 🙂 He was a great character – so arrogant. I read all the trivia about this movie at imdb and found this one interesting (just gonna cut & paste it):
Since the filming times were so long, everybody on the set tried their best to avoid any mistakes. At one point in the movie, the camera dolly ran over and broke a cameraman’s foot, but to keep filming, he was gagged and dragged off. Another time, a woman puts her glass down but misses the table. A stagehand had to rush up and catch it before the glass hit the ground. Both parts are used in the final cut.
Funny to picture that going on during filming!
Yes, especially the gagging and dragging of the cameraman. I suppose we owe it to him to appreciate the film even more. What dedication and sacrifice!
I liked Rope very much, but I think I give the edge to Shadow of a Doubt. Still, Rope is unique, and I agree – Jimmy Stewart is great in it.
Yeah – I’m pretty sure he’s the reason I slightly preferred Rope. 🙂
Such a clever premise. Don’t agree with you about Jimmy Stewart and don’t think someone like Montgomery Clift would have been better (don’t hate me!) but really great to hear your insights. Good to read someone highlighting one that isn’t as popular as his other films.
Hehe – that’s okay – I admit I just have a soft spot for Jimmy Stewart (probably thanks mostly to It’s A Wonderful Life). 😉 Yeah – I really enjoyed Rope and think it’s funny you hardly ever hear about it compared to other Hitchcock stuff…
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That’s why we get along I get it now. I love Hitchcock too, slightly obsessed. This is actually one of fave movies and 9 times wait 9.9 times out of 10 no one has ever seen it. This was when he was going through his experimental phase so there was barely any editing in it and lots of long takes, so I think there’s a lot of people now like you said that would get totally bored with this movie. But because of that it almost feels voyeuristic like we are spying on these people. Very cool glad to see a review on this! I wish I had read all these posts when they came out, but that’s when I just started posting so I was pretty new to this little world. Good job! ps… did you see Strangers on a Train yet?
Yay! Another Hitchcock fan!!! : ) I’m always happy when these IMDB reviews get some attention, too! I started the imdb thing early on in my blogging when I didn’t have many followers yet and it was only recently I came up with the idea to have guest reviewers for the ones I’d already seen years ago. I really need to get back to finishing watching & reviewing the ones I’ve not seen – I’ve not done my own review for one in ages! Yes – I saw Strangers on a Train many years ago so it’s one I should really give a re-watch someday. Love Hitchcock!!! : )
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