Rent Rope (1948)

Impediment Thriller (Spoiler). - Rope review by Steve

Alfred Hitchcock's first colour film is an adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play based on infamous real life killers Leopold and Loeb. It is one of the director's impediment films, set entirely within a single apartment in long edits of about eight minutes, joined by screen wipes. There is the illusion of a single 80 minute shot.

At the end of WWII, Hitch filmed footage in a concentration camp for the UK government and when he made it into a short film, he used long edits so hostile observers couldn't suggest he had changed the truth of these places through montage. He adopted this aesthetic for Rope.

Some feel the idea is gimmicky. James Stewart called it a film about the camera. But it still works as an exciting thriller. The searching camera and claustrophobic interior suits the theme; the exposure of sociopaths indoctrinated by eugenics who kill someone they consider inferior. It's a reflection on Nazi Germany.

While Rope is remembered for the original and complex staging,  it is Hitch's most philosophical film. The script is analytical though still dramatic and exciting. Like in the climax when Stewart fires shots out of the window and we hear the sounds of strangers coming to help, who contrast with the elitist intellectual solipsism of the murderers.

Poor Acting - Rope review by JD

The subject matter is unpalatable. 2 men feel that they are of such superior intellect that they can murder an inferior man without moral impeachment. There may be generalisations relevant today but this awkward subject matter requires good acting of which this film is lacking. James Stewart is the exception but it takes more than one to keep a film going.