Alfred Hitchcock's Rope reviewed and analyzed

A short video analysis of Hitchcock's 'Rope'

An analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope'

Rope is a 1948 crime noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a play of the same name by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by actor and writer Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents. Rope was Hitchcock’s 2nd “limited setting” film with the 1st being 1944’s Lifeboat. Rope was also Hitchcock’s 1st film shot in Technicolor. But the film is best known for being shot as a stage play in, seemingly, 1 continuous shot; actually, the film is composed of 10 takes of up to 10 minutes each that were seamed together by zooming the shots on walls and characters’ backs to hide the cuts. Another unique element in Rope is the cityscape of the large window which was the largest background cyclorama every used on a sound stage at that time (Wikipedia) that used the slow transitioning from day to night as symbolic references to the story’s 3 themes: shame, fear, and vanity. Thanks for watching this video and don't forget to leave a comment and share your thoughts.

An analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope' Part 2

This is an analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's film 'Rope'

This is an examination of themes from Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film Rope.

Art

Brandon’s fusion of murder and art are represented by Phillip--who’s a pianist--strangling David.

Dehumanization

David’s life is reduced to that of a chicken, an animal raised on a farm and eaten by humans who are considered superior. Like a chicken, David is viewed as unimportant and something unworthy of remorse which may be why Phillip goes along with Brandon to murder David thinking that doing so will be as easy, but it doesn’t turn out to be the case for Phillip who has to deal with his conscience and the fear of being caught. Phillip does the actual strangling which is why when he asks Brandon how he felt killing David Brandon felt good because he didn’t get his own hands dirty but the hands of someone else, and an artist at that.

The Window

The window plays a role in showing the nature of good and evil as it pertains to light and dark. Crimes such as murder are usually committed at night to avoid detection but in this film, the murder is done in the daytime to represent Brandon’s vanity; the darkness of the window represents the darkness of our souls that we don’t want anyone to see and what comes out of this darkness under the right circumstances; Brandon’s philosophical justification that murder should be the right of superior individuals is the ideal circumstance that frees Phillip from any inhibition blocking him from expressing a deep sickness within him, a sickness he shows by wringing the necks off of chickens. This sickness is an urge he has no control over. But his reactions after he murders David are remorse and fear, human reactions. But Brandon feels no remorse for the murder. Light doesn’t bother him like it bothers Phillip and he opens the cycloramic window to let the whole world see his masterpiece.

The light coming through the window coincides with the discovery of their crime and other secrets of their past including Phillip’s violent tendencies that he releases on the chickens at the farm. At the beginning of the party, the sky through cycloramic window is powder blue; however, as the evening progresses and Rupert Cadell begins to question Richard, the window dims and by the time Rupert discovers David in the chest, the window is completely dark creating the perfect condition for the truth about David’s murder to come to light. The light and darkness of the window also coincides with the truth about Janet and Kenneth’s breakup. At the outset of the party, the audience is led to assume that she dumped him; however, at dusk right before the window becomes dark, it is revealed that Kenneth dumped her. So, as in the case involving David’s murder, darkness coincides with the truth and secrets.

Terrific film that's my 2nd favorite Hitchcock film along with his 1944 film lifeboat. This dude doesn't need a lot of time--or room--to get the job done unlike most of today's directors who think that everything they do needs 3 hours minimum and a zillion locations. Rope is stripped down filmmaking with nothing for the director or actors to hide behind like CGI, explosions, profane language, etc. Great film if you haven't seen it and if you call yourself a filmmaker, shame on you if you haven't seen it. Want to know how to shoot a stripped down film? See Rope and have your pen and notepad out to take notes.

An analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope': Plot Analysis Part 1

Rope is a 1948 crime noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a play of the same name by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by actor and writer Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents. The film is based on the 1928 murder of 14 year old Bobby Franks by teenagers Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, both from a wealthy neighborhood called Kenwood situated on Lake Michigan in Chicago’s South Side. The subsequent trial for both men was labeled “The Trial of the Century” at the time and the play and film based on the incident contains some striking parallels. For 1, Leopold and Loeb both came from wealthy families, possessed superior IQs, and shared a fascination in Friedrich Nietzsche’sidea of Übermensch— or Superman —-who are transcendent individuals, possessing extraordinary and unusual capabilities, whose superior intellects allows them to rise above the laws and rules that restricts the unimportant, average populace (Wikipedia). Another parallel between the actual incident and the film are both victim’s passion for tennis. To prove their immunity to the consequences ordinary men are subjected to, Leopold and Loeb committed a series of small crimes at the school they attended (The University of Chicago), crimes that, to their disappointment, received very little attention. For this reason, they planned and executed the murder of Bobby Franks to validate their belief that they were superior individuals. 

Rope was Hitchcock’s 2nd “limited setting” film with the 1st being 1944’s Lifeboat. Rope was also Hitchcock’s 1st film shot in Technicolor. But the film is best known for being shot as a stage play in, seemingly, 1 continuous shot; actually, the film is composed of 10 takes of up to 10 minutes each that were seamed together by zooming the shots on walls and characters’ backs to hide the cuts. Another unique element in Rope is the cityscape of the large window which was the largest background cyclorama every used on a sound stage at that time (Wikipedia) that used the slow transitioning from day to night as symbolic references to the story’s 3 themes: shame, fear, and vanity. This summary I’ve provided contains the main themes in the movie.

David’s murder and Janet and Kenneth’s breakup

Brandon and Phillip believe that privilege gives them the right to commit murder and act out their belief by strangling David Kentley. Janet also feels like privilege gives her the right to dump men when she sees someone better. Everyone believes that she left Kenneth to be with his best friend David but this is not true. In reality, Kenneth breaks off the relationship and hurts Janet’s ego because she is not used to rejection. She had originally dumped Brandon to be with Kenneth who turns the tables and gives her a taste of her own medicine. Of course she pretends to take his rejection gracefully but that same night, David—who happens to bear a strong resemblance to Kenneth—walks her home and she cries on his shoulder, revealing her vulnerable side. Brandon and Phillip represents these 2 sides of Janet: Brandon is her vain side of her and Phillip is the weak side. In the backstory, Janet dumps Brandon to be with Kenneth. Brandon’s vanity is wounded by this and he would have killed Kenneth if he hadn’t dumped her to be with David. This is why he said that it didn’t matter who he and Phillip murdered, it could have been anyone. Being replaced by someone inferior to him gives Brandon the justification to act out his belief that he is superior and has the right to commit murder. In doing this, vanity motivates his decision in the same way that vanity motivates Janet’s decision to be with David. 

The Rope

The rope is synonymous with vanity. It dangles carelessly from the chest because Brandon is proud and wants to show off his work, especially to Rupert Cadell who loves philosophy, particularly the concepts of Nietzsche's Übermensch (or Superman) that promotes the idea of killing being a privilege for the elite.When Phillip notices a piece of the rope dangling out of the chest, instead of hiding the evidence of their crime, Brandon pulls it out and walks around with it in plain view. Later, he uses the rope to tie a stack of books together, presenting them to David father like a present. The rope is also synonymous with vanity in how Janet protects her honor by allowing everyone to assume that she broke off with Kenneth who, in fact, had broken off their relationship. The evidence that Kenneth dumped Janet is the fact that he and David look alike. Mrs. Atwater mistakes him for David at the party.

Shame, Fear, and Vanity

After murdering David, Brandon turns on a light but Phillip quickly tells him to turn it off, ashamed of what they had both done. But Brandon is not ashamed of murdering David and opens the curtains wide to let the light in. For Phillip, the light is a source of shame but for Brandon, light is a source of pride. This contrast in how Phillip and Brandon perceive evil recurs throughout the film. Phillip is ashamed of the evil he’s done and wants to conceal David’s murder; Brandon is proud of murdering David and leaves “bread crumbs” for the body to be discovered so that he can get glory and be considered an artist for doing so.

After they murder David and place him in the chest leaving a piece of the rope that strangled him dangling from it, Phillip wants to hide the rope but Brandon pulls it out of the chest and walks around with it openly, even using it to tie up a stack of books he gives to David’s father
Brandon leaves the chest unlocked on purpose, claiming the lock as being too old against Phillip’s objection
Brandon moves everything from the dining room table to the chest containing David’s body increasing the chances of it being discovered
Brandon tells everybody the story about how he and Phillip visited his mother’s farm and how Phillip strangled some chickens there. One of the chickens didn’t die right away and rose like “Lazarus.” Phillip cuts Brandon off and denies the incident which reminds him of the manner in which he killed David. Brandon tells this story because he is proud of murdering David and knows that such a story can make Phillip panic give away their secret because he kills the chickens in the same manner that he kills David; subconsciously, Brandon wants to get caught so he can get credit for pulling off the perfect crime by murdering someone unimportant

Phillip and Brandon are 2 sides of the same coin, each revealing a weakness preventing them from getting away with murder. Phillip’s weaknesses are shame and fear; Brandon’s weakness is vanity. 

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope': plot summary

This is a plot summary of Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 crime drama 'Rope'.

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Rope is a 1948 crime noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a play of the same name by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by actor and writer Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents. The film is based on the 1928 murder of 14 year old Bobby Franks by teenagers Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, both from a wealthy neighborhood called Kenwood situated on Lake Michigan in Chicago’s South Side. The subsequent trial for both men was labeled “The Trial of the Century” at the time and the play and film based on the incident contains some striking parallels. For 1, Leopold and Loeb both came from wealthy families, possessed superior IQs, and shared a fascination in Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea of Übermensch— or Superman —-who are transcendent individuals, possessing extraordinary and unusual capabilities, whose superior intellects allows them to rise above the laws and rules that restricts the unimportant, average populace (Wikipedia). Another parallel between the actual incident and the film are both victim’s passion for tennis. To prove their immunity to the consequences ordinary men are subjected to, Leopold and Loeb committed a series of small crimes at the school they attended (The University of Chicago), crimes that, to their disappointment, received very little attention. For this reason, they planned and executed the murder of Bobby Franks to validate their belief that they were  superior individuals. 

Rope was Hitchcock’s 2nd “limited setting” film with the 1st being 1944’s “Lifeboat.” Rope was also Hitchcock’s 1st film shot in Technicolor. But the film is best known for being shot as a stage play in, seemingly, 1 continuous shot; actually, the film is composed of 10 takes of up to 10 minutes each that were seamed together by zooming the shots on walls and characters’ backs to hide the cuts. Another unique element in Rope is the cityscape of the large window which was the largest background cyclorama every used on a sound stage at that time (Wikipedia) that used the slow transitioning from day to night as symbolic references to the story’s 3 themes: shame, fear, and vanity. This summary I’ve provided contains the main plot points in the movie.

Rope opens with Phillip (Farley Granger)and Brandon (John Dall) strangling David Bentley (Dick Hogan), a fellow college student and after killing this student they put him in a chest and close the lid. Phillip sits on the chest, stunned and breathless. Brandon turns on a lamp but Phillip tells him to turn it off which he does, lighting a cigarette and drawing the blinds to let the sunlight in. Brandon keeps the glass David drank from as a souvenir.

Brandon to Phillip: “the power to kill can be just a satisfying as the power to create.”

Phillip is nervous, paranoid, and jumpy. They plan to put him in the lake later when the sun goes down. Brandon leaves the chest unlocked. Phillip asks Brandon for permission to get a drink and Brandon consents, uncorking a bottle of champagne for himself to celebrate. David is inferior and they have committed the perfect murder by killing because murder is the exclusive right of superior individuals:  

Phillip asks Brandon how he felt killing David and Brandon says he feels exhilarated. Phillip asks Brandon why they are throwing a party and inviting David’s parents and Brandon says that the party is the signature of an artist. Then they go to the next room and move everything from the dining room table to the chest containing David’s body. 

The Maid who Brandon sent shopping this morning rings to let them know that she is on her way up to the apartment giving them enough time to move the books that were on the chest to the dining room table; the books are for David’s father who collects books. Leaning down to pick up the books, Phillip sees a piece of the rope he strangled David with hanging out of the chest. Brandon snatches it and puts it in his pocket. He then scolds Phillip for worrying so much. Mrs. Wilson enters the apartment and is disappointed when she sees the dining room table and everything moved off of it to the chest in the next room. Brandon has the rope in his hand, flagrantly displaying it with complete disregard for how the rope had been used moments earlier. Phillip looks at the rope nervously. 

Brandon tells Phillip that he has invited Rupert Cadel (James Stewart), their prep school housemaster, to the party. Brandon is proud of killing David and believes that Rupert is smart enough to figure out what happened to David. The doorbell rings and Brandon smiles at Phillip: “And now, the fun begins!” He answers the door and Kenneth Lawrence (Douglas Dick), and underclassman from their college, walks in looking around the empty apartment with a surprised look on his face. It is getting darker outside. 

Mrs. Wilson brings in a bottle of champagne and Brandon, smiling, tells Kenneth that Janet Walker (Joan Chandler) is coming to the party. Kenneth and David were best friends before she dumped Kenneth to be with David; they are currently engaged. When she arrives and sees Kenneth she smiles politely and pulls Brandon aside to scolds him for inviting Kenneth to the party.

David’s father, Mr. Kentley (Sir Cedric Hardwick), and Mrs. Atwater (Constance Collier) arrive. She mistakes Kenneth for David and at the sound of David’s name Phillip crushes a glass and cuts his hand. Mr. Kentley is concerned about David’s absence. Brandon pours a drink and asks Kenneth to take it to Janet who is in the bedroom on the phone with David’s mother who has a cold and could not come to the party. Mrs.Atwater reads the lines in Phillips’ hands: “These hands will bring you great fame,” she predicts. Phillip plays the piano. It is darker outside.

Rupert is the last to arrive and he asks Brando why they’re drinking champagne. Brandon says to Rupert that the champagne’s for Mr. Kentley. Rupert notices that Brandon’s stuttering which is something he does when he is excited. Janet wonders when David will show up. Rupert notices that they are eating off of chest. Mr. Kentley apologizes for David being late and they start dinner with chicken as the main course. Brandon’s mother has a farm and he tells everyone about the time that Phillip broke the necks of 3 chickens there. One of the chickens rose from the dead like “Lazarus.” This story embarrasses Phillip and he denies it. 

Rupert cracks a joke to lighten things up: “Murder would solve many problems,” he says jokingly to Mrs. Atwater. “Murder should be an art and reserved for superior individuals. There should be a strangulation day.” This joke upsets Mr. Kentley.

Mr. Kentley: “Who is to decide who is inferior?”

Brandon answers this question: He, Phillip, and maybe Rupert would decide based on their superiority. Brandon then goes on a rant. Mr. Kentley stands up and everyone files out of the room leaving Janet and Kenneth alone.

They talk and the truth comes out that he, and not Janet, ended their relationship. Something occurs to him. Earlier, Brandon said that he’d have a crack at Janet as though he knew that David wasn’t showing up.

Phillip is paranoid and he and Brandon bicker. Rupert’s watches them with interest. Mrs. Wilson tells Rupert that Phillip and Brandon have acted strange all day. Brandon usually lets her prepare everything her way but when she went out to shop he told her to take all day. Then, when she got back from shopping, the men were bickering. They had moved everything from the dining room table to the chest. 

Phillip sees Mrs. Wilson and Rupert talking and to hide his nervousness he sits down to play the piano. There’s a small lamp on the piano and when Rupert turns it on, Phillip asks him to turn it off. Rupert asks Phillip what’s going on. Phillip strikes the wrong key. 

Rupert gives Phillip a drink to calm him down. Rupert asks Phillip about David. Phillip strikes the wrong key again. Rupert questions Phillip about the chickens he strangled on the farm. Brandon enters the room with a stack of books tied with the rope they killed David with. While everyone speculates on David’s whereabouts, Mrs. Wilson clears everything off the chest containing his body.Mrs. Wilson raises the lid on the chest but Brandon shuts it; Rupert fixes his attention on the chest.

Mrs. Kentley calls to see if David made it to the party. She worries that her son may have been in an accident. Mr. Kentley leaves. Phillip is coming apart at the seams and Rupert watches him. 

Brandon gives Mr. Kentley the books and the rope they killed his son with. Mrs. Wilson gives Rupert his hat but it is too big. David’s initials are inside the hat. Rupert leaves.

The sun is down and the window is dark. Phillip is upset that Brandon told everyone about the chickens he killed; Brandon makes up and promises to take Brandon on a vacation.

Mrs. Wilson leaves and the phone rings: it’s Rupert coming up for his cigarette case. Phillip panics and Brandon slaps him. Rupert enters the apartment looking around and walking by the chest. He asks for a drink and lights a cigarette. 

He wonders about David’s whereabouts (they killed him in broad daylight: the privilege of the intellectually superior class) and tells them that Janet believes that they kidnapped David. Brandon asks Rupert how he would have killed David. Rupert creates a scenario where they kill David and hide him until they can dispose of him at night without being seen. Brandon puts his hand in his pocket and Rupert tells him that he knows he has a gun. Rupert pulls the rope out of pocket that Phillip strangled David with.

Phillip Panics: “He’s got it!” he says.

Phillip takes the gun Brandon laid on the piano and  points it at Rupert who wrestles it away. He pushes the book off the chest and opens it to see David’s body. Brandon explains why they killed David and reminds Rupert of the discussion they had earlier about murder being a privilege for superior individuals. He and Phillip had only done what Rupert taught them. Rupert condemns Brandon, then opens the window and fires 3 shots. Someone calls the police. Sirens approach. The end.