Rope
With James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger.
US, 1948, 35mm, color, 80 min.
From his innovative silent visuals, pioneering experiments with dialogue and sound effects, and brilliant narrative use of models and optical effects, Hitchcock’s constant formal experimentation became intrinsic to his work. For his first color picture, he produced an audacious technical high-wire act: a film story told in real time with no evident cuts, shot on a series of 10-minute reels which were seamlessly edited together to create an illusion of one 80-minute-long take. Adapted from a play by Patrick Hamilton and loosely based on the real-life Leopold and Loeb case, Rope features a sadistic detective game as two young homosexuals commit a murder and then dare their Nietszche-spouting headmaster who inspired their experiment in amorality to discover their crime.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Vertigo
To Catch a Thief
The Trouble with Harry
The Paradine Case
Stage Fright
Rebecca
Notorious
Rear Window
Dial M for Murder
Lifeboat
Saboteur
Murder!
Family Plot
Under Capricorn
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Spellbound
Strangers on a Train
Torn Curtain
Suspicion
Shadow of a Doubt
