Rent Rope (1948)

3.8 of 5 from 218 ratings
1h 17min
Rent Rope (aka Alfred Hitchcock's Rope) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
James Stewart stars with Farley Granger and John Dall in a highly-charged thriller inspired by the real-life Leopold-Loeb murder case. Granger and Dall give riveting performances as two friends who strangle a classmate for intellectual thrills, then proceed to throw a party for the victim's family and friends - with the body stuffed inside the trunk they use for a buffet table. As the killers turn the conversation to committing the "perfect murder", their former teacher (Stewart) becomes increasingly suspicious.
Before the night is over, the professor will discover how brutally his students have turned his academic theories into chilling reality in Hitchcock's spellbinding excursion into the macabre.
Actors:
, , , , , , , , ,
Directors:
Producers:
Sidney Bernstein, Alfred Hitchcock
Writers:
Hume Cronyn, Patrick Hamilton, Arthur Laurents, Ben Hecht
Aka:
Alfred Hitchcock's Rope
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Genres:
Classics, Drama, Thrillers
Collections:
10 Films to Watch if You Like: West Side Story, 21 Reasons to Love, 21 Reasons to Love..Modern Westerns, A History of Gay Cinema: According to Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock's British Films, Drama Films & TV, Films by Genre, Films to Watch If You Like..., Hitchcock in the 1940s, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1948
BBFC:
Release Date:
04/06/2007
Run Time:
77 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
Danish, Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Swedish
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Rope Unleashed: 'Making Of'
  • Art Gallery
  • Theatrical Trailer
BBFC:
Release Date:
23/09/2013
Run Time:
81 minutes
Languages:
Brazilian Portuguese DTS 2.0 Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, French DTS 2.0 Mono, German DTS 2.0 Mono, Italian DTS 2.0 Mono, Japanese DTS 2.0 Mono, Latin American Spanish DTS 2.0 Mono, Russian DTS 2.0 Mono, Spanish DTS 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
Brazilian, Danish, Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin American Spanish, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Rope Unleashed: Making Of
  • Production Photographs
  • Centennial Trailer
  • Theatrical Trailer
BBFC:
Release Date:
31/10/2023
Run Time:
80 minutes
Languages:
Castilian Spanish DTS 2.0 Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS 2.0 Mono, German DTS 2.0 Mono, Italian DTS 2.0 Mono, Japanese DTS 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
Castillian, Danish, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin American Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish
DVD Regions:
Region 0 (All)
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
(0) All
Bonus:
  • Documentaries
  • Production Photographs
  • Theatrical Trailers
  • And More

More like Rope

Reviews (2) of Rope

Spoiler. - Rope review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
21/02/2021

Hitchcock's first colour film is a classic. Adapted with Hume Cronyn from Patrick Hamilton's play, in turn based on the Chicago killers Leopold and Loeb, it is one of Hitch's impediment films, set within the confines of a single apartment in long shots of typically about eight minutes, joined by screen wipes giving the illusion of a single edit over 80 minutes.

During WWII Hitch shot footage in a concentration camp and when he made it into a short film, he used edits as long as possible so hostile observers couldn't suggest he had changed the truth of these places through editing. This aesthetic was then transferred to Rope.

Some feel the idea was gimmicky, and James Stewart said it was a film about the camera, but I think it really works. It has a questing energy, and a claustrophobia that suits the material; the exposure of two sociopaths indoctrinated by eugenics and Nietzsche who kill an acquaintance who they consider inferior. It is Hitch's most philosophical work, brilliantly acted with a witty script. But what is foremost is the director's most original and complex staging.

The whole film is a tour de force, but among many spectacular flourishes the dramatic ending lingers longest, when Stewart fires shots out of the window and we hear the noise of a city ready to come to help, contrasting with the elitist intellectual solipsism of the murderers.

2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

Poor Acting - Rope review by JD

Spoiler Alert
01/09/2015

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.

1 out of 3 members found this review helpful.

Unlimited films sent to your door, starting at £15.99 a month.