Rope (1948)

IMDb Listing
I hadn’t seen Rope in nearly a decade and a half, and I’ve always held it in relatively low esteem. Hitchcock filmed it in a series of long takes, often with edits disguised to make them look even longer than they were, and accordingly the movie has a reputation as something of a technical gimmick. I believe even Hitchcock himself dismissed it along those lines. But watching it again, I was surprised to find it more enjoyable than I remembered. It’s a story about two college classmates who murder an acquaintance, and then hold a dinner party with friends with the corpse hidden in the room, all as a sort of intellectual game. Hitch’s experiment with long takes doesn’t really pay off, but it doesn’t hold the movie back much, either. Occasionally it feels like the camera isn’t really where it should be, especially when it’s moving (such as when it follows characters down a hallway), but I doubt many casual viewers will notice or care; for the most part I didn’t. Otherwise, the movie is pretty strong with its characters, who are not aware of the circumstances but are given mostly sympathetic treatment, all things considered. James Stewart’s character is even pretty interesting, at least until a final act speech that just about unravels the movie. It’s a major flaw, but story-wise the movie is fairly strong up to that point. I still think the movie’s worth watching as a curiosity, in terms of both the technical aspects and an interesting story that almost works. 7/10