Rope

 

Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 movie was for a long time mostly notorious for it's gimmick of being made in such a way as to give the illusion of being one long take. Hitch himself seemed later to regret the gimmick, and to be tired of answering questions about it. I think the gimmick itself has both positive and negative effects on the film. I think it's obvious that despite it's very good cast having to film such long takes while avoiding cables and dodging moving set pieces had an effect on the performances given. I also think that never moving away from the scene of the crime or the two perpetrators helps to ratchet up tension in what would have been just a rather middling story without the gimmick.

The film does have notable aspects aside from the gimmick. I mentioned the cast, and they really are very good. James Stewart plays a character very unlike thise he normally tackles. Instead of his uber likeable everyman, in this movie he plays a haughty and self suprior academic, so wrapped up in his love affair of what he sees as pure logic that he argues for and convinces his former pupils in an excuse for murder by intellectually superior people against their perceived inferiors. There is the subtext of a gay relationship between the two murderers, something that is apparently plainly stated in the play the movie was based on. There is the secondary gimmick of the two murderers hosting a dinner party in the room where they have hidden the corpse, with not only thier old mentor (Stewart's character) but the victim's family, fiancee, and former best friend (who is also the former love interest of said fiancee) as attendees. 

One of the murderers (Brandon) is so convinced of his mental superiority that he drops clues all night about what they have done, and engages in conversation about why it would be acceptable for himself, his partner, and maybe even his old mentor to commit murder.  Of course it doesn't help when the mentor is accidentally given the victim's hat by the maid, who has no idea of the crime that has taken place. It's a nice touch that some of Brandon's ither suppostions, like the ones regarding the victim's fiancee, are proven to be wildly off base through the course of the meal. The other murderer is a pianist, and his noodling on the piano adds a diagetic score that both displays and ratchets the tensions the characters feel.

According to screenwriter Arthur Laurents, Hitch told him that the murder would not be seen onscreen, leaving the audience to guess if the men had actually killed someone. I think this may have improved the movie, adding another layer of tension and uncertainty. I think Hitchcock opted for a shock to kick off the film instead, and I believe this to be to the film's detriment.  Overall it's not a bad movie, though. It's worth sitting through, but I'd say if you have the option to maybe choose Lifeboat or Vertigo instead.