Rope
National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
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 critics thought
Contemporary critics were largely skeptical, finding Hitchcock's one-take experiment a distracting technical stunt that sacrificed narrative momentum and dramatic tension — though the film has since been reassessed as a daring, underrated work. The core dispute, then and now, is whether the continuous-camera method heightens or deadens suspense, and whether the homosexual subtext adds richness or simply went over audiences' heads at the time.
“The novelty of the picture is not in the drama itself, it being a plainly deliberate and rather thin exercise in suspense, but merely in the method which Mr. Hitchcock has used to stretch the intended tension for the length of the little stunt.”
Bosley Crowther·The New York Times
“Undeniably clever in all of its aspects, this film is a gruesome affair and—to me, at least—was a gruelling spectacle, not recommended to the sensitive.”
Mae Tinee·Chicago Tribune
“an exceptionally fine psychological thriller”
Harrison's Reports
“It is unusual enough to shine more as a technical tour de force than as a moving sort of film ... The interesting experimental values in this Hitchcock production could never be denied, yet I would not rate it one of his best.”
Edwin Schallert·Los Angeles Times
“Rope remains one of the most interesting experiments ever attempted by a major director working with big box-office names, and it's worth seeing”
Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorAlfred Hitchcock
StarringJames Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier
Rope
National Film Registry
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 critics thought
Contemporary critics were largely skeptical, finding Hitchcock's one-take experiment a distracting technical stunt that sacrificed narrative momentum and dramatic tension — though the film has since been reassessed as a daring, underrated work. The core dispute, then and now, is whether the continuous-camera method heightens or deadens suspense, and whether the homosexual subtext adds richness or simply went over audiences' heads at the time.
“The novelty of the picture is not in the drama itself, it being a plainly deliberate and rather thin exercise in suspense, but merely in the method which Mr. Hitchcock has used to stretch the intended tension for the length of the little stunt.”
Bosley Crowther·The New York Times
“Undeniably clever in all of its aspects, this film is a gruesome affair and—to me, at least—was a gruelling spectacle, not recommended to the sensitive.”
Mae Tinee·Chicago Tribune
“an exceptionally fine psychological thriller”
Harrison's Reports
“It is unusual enough to shine more as a technical tour de force than as a moving sort of film ... The interesting experimental values in this Hitchcock production could never be denied, yet I would not rate it one of his best.”
Edwin Schallert·Los Angeles Times
“Rope remains one of the most interesting experiments ever attempted by a major director working with big box-office names, and it's worth seeing”
Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorAlfred Hitchcock
StarringJames Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier
Rent/Purchase