History Theatre / Rope

One day, two elite young Manhattanites, Brandon Shaw (John Dall) and Phillip Morgan (Farley Granger), murder their acquaintance, David Kentley (Dick Hogan), and hide [[MacGuffin the body]] inside a wooden chest at their penthouse apartment. Their reason for doing so is to commit the perfect murder; to see how perfect it is, they host a dinner party with the chest kept in plain sight as a buffet table. All the guests at the party--including David's father (Cedric Hardwicke), his fiancé, Janet Walker (Joan Chandler), and the killers' former prep-school teacher, Rupert Cadell (Creator/JimmyStewart)--grow worried at David's absence. As Brandon pushes his luck, Phillip shows remorse and Rupert investigates his suspicions. All of this leads to a discovery...

The film is particularly known for its experimental style. Hitchcock abandoned typical shooting and editing methods in favor of long unbroken scenes. Each shot ran continuously for up to ten minutes without interruption. He would go on to use the same technique in ''Film/UnderCapricorn'' and to a lesser extent ''Film/StageFright1950''. The homosexual subtext was also considered daring for its time. While not a major hit at the time of its release, the film has gained popularity over the following decades. Today it is often listed among the best of the director.

* AdaptationalSexuality: Brandon and Philip being gay was a lot clearer in the original play but is reduced to subtext in the film (mostly due to the censorship at the time) and Brandon is implied to be bisexual. Hitchcock claimed Rupert was written as being gay, too, and had even had an affair with Brandon.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Rupert figures out what Brandon and Philip have done and alerts the authorities, but it's clear that by now he is a broken shell of a man. And you can imagine what effect David's murder will have on his parents.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: Brandon, the least-remorseful of the two killers, gets his comeuppance when [[spoiler: Rupert gives him a big "The Reason You Suck" Speech before alerting the police to the murder]].

-->'''Rupert''': (''meeting Janet'') Brandon's spoken of you.
-->'''Janet''': Did he do me justice?
-->'''Rupert''': Do you deserve justice?

* DesecratingTheDead: Played with. Brandon decides to have the party's dinner served on the very chest where David's body is hidden. The cruelty of it is that the morbid meal is served to David's father, aunt, friend and girlfriend, all of whom don't suspect he's is right under their noses.

* EverybodyHasStandards: [[spoiler: The one reason that Brandon didn't get away with murdering David was because Rupert (the one man he wanted to figure out) was ''not'' impressed with the murder like he [[EvilCannotComprehend anticipated]]. In fact, despite his belief in "superiority" and "inferiority", he does not like the idea of his beliefs being used as an excuse to take a life.]]
* ExactWords: [[spoiler: "You're going to die!" Rupert tells Phillip and Brandon this whilst he brandishes a gun, but they don't die the way they expect to. Instead, he fires off the gun merely to get the attention of everybody outside, which will no doubt set off a domino effect of the police getting involved. The die has been cast, and it's only a matter of time before Phillip and Brandon are tried, convicted and ''executed''.]]

* FiringInTheAirALot: [[spoiler: Rupert]] does this at the end [[spoiler: to call the authorities.]]
* ForTheEvulz: Brandon's motivation is to act on his theory that as a superior he should prove it by committing ThePerfectCrime against one of the inferior ones. Which he does out of amusement, enjoying more than anything the idea of getting away with killing someone.

* GunStruggle: Between [[spoiler: Rupert and Phillip]].

* HeelFaceTurn: Rupert does one at the end. Although...Jimmy Stewart could never really ''be'' a heel, anyhow. (He hadn't been in ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'' yet....)

* IronicEcho: [[spoiler: When a devastated Rupert wonders why the murder of David was committed, Brandon rationalizes that he was only living by Rupert's earlier words about "superior and inferior beings". The same one that justified that a separate few were privileged to take the lives of the inferior.]]

* MachiavelliWasWrong: Played with. [[spoiler: This is a rare variety where the proverbial "Machiavelli" himself admits he was wrong. Rupert has always been a firm believer that murder is an art form that only the few should be allowed to practice. But when he finds his own student was pointlessly murdered by his two other students, it turns his stomach and proves to him that no one has the right to decide who lives and who dies.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Rupert can almost be seen as a {{Karma Houdini}}s if one ignores that unlike Brandon he is not sociopathic enough to be able to live well with the knowledge of what he uwittingly and at least partially contributed to.
* NietzscheWannabe: Our two "heroes" decide that David's "inferiority" justifies his death. Rupert Cadell also counts, considering the murder was inspired by his rhetoric, but he [[spoiler:renounces his way of thinking once he realizes what happened.]]
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: When David's Aunt predicts Phillip's future using his zodiac (Cancer), she cheerily predicts that "[his] hands will make [him] famous", unaware those same hands strangled her nephew to death. This leaves Phillip speechless as he looks at his hands with guilt, as well as fear of being caught.
* TheOner: Hitchcock wanted to make the film one long, continuous shot. Sadly, this wasn't feasible with the technology of the time: film would run out after about ten minutes. So Hitchcock resorted to using {{Body Wipe}}s all over the place, meaning the the camera would zoom in on some person or something, and zoom out when it cuts. Sadly, even this wasn't enough; there are still five "hard cuts" in the film (because film reels in the cinema would ''also'' run out after twenty minutes and need to be changed over, so some cuts are straightforward and normal) but that's pretty impressive when most movies have hundreds of hard cuts.

* ThePerfectCrime: Brandon brags that it is "the perfect murder", which leads to him being so cocky about it.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler: Rupert]] gives a big one to [[spoiler: Brandon]] ([[MyGodWhatHaveIDone and partially himself]]) when the latter tries to [[spoiler: justify David's murder with Rupert's rhetoric]].

* VillainOpeningScene: The opening scene is a shot of an apartment during a normal, busy day. Which is then interrupted by a scream of someone who is strangled to death. A censor requested this scene be removed but was refused, and thus the film was banned in Atlanta.
* VillainProtagonist: Brandon and Phillip allow no time (or doubt) for the audience to get to know them first. They commit the murder during the first seconds of the film. The rest of it is based around Brandon's sick games with the victims familiar ones and Phillip's nervous breakdown.

* ExactWords: [[spoiler: "You're going to die!" Rupert tells Phillip and Brandon this whilst he brandishes a gun, but they don't die the way they expect to. Instead, he fires off the gun merely to get the attention of everybody outside, which will no doubt set off a domino affect of the police getting involved. The dye has been cast, and it's only a matter of time before Phillip and Brandon are tried, convicted and ''executed''.]]

-->-- '''Brandon'''

* ExactWords: [[spoiler: "You're going to die!" Rupert tells Phillip and Brandon this whilst he brandishes a gun, but they don't die the way they expect to. Instead, he fires off the gun to get the attention of everybody outside, which will no doubt set off a domino affect of the police getting involved. The dye has been cast, and it's only a matter of time before they are tried, convicted and ''executed''.]]

* DesecratingTheDead: Played with. Brandon decides to have the party's dinner served on the very chest where David's body is hidden. The cruelty of it is that the morbid meal is served to his father, his aunt, his friend and his girlfriend, all of whom don't suspect David is right under their noses.

* DesecratingTheDead: Brandon decides to have the party's dinner served on the very chest where David's body is hidden. The cruelty of it is that the morbid meal is served to his father, his aunt, his friend and his girlfriend, all of whom don't suspect is right under their noses.

* EverybodyHasStandards: [[spoiler: The one reason that Brandon didn't get away with murdering David was because Rupert (the one man he wanted to figure out) was ''not'' impressed with the murder like he [[EvilCannotComprehend anticipated]]. In fact, despite his belief in "superiority" and "inferiority", he does not like the idea of his beliefs being used as an excuse to take a live.]]
* ExactWords: [[spoiler: "You're going to die!" Rupert tells Phillip and Brandon this whilst he brandishes a gun, but they don't die the way they expect to. Instead, he fires off the gun to get the attention of everybody outside, which will no doubt set off a domino affect of the police getting involved. No doubt it's only a matter of time before they are tried, convicted and ''executed''.]]

* BiTheWay: Brandon, who is not only supposed to be Phillip's lover but had also once dated Janet. Rupert, as well -- although written as being homosexual and a former lover of Brandon's, Jimmy Stewart added the business of him (apparently) reciprocating Mrs. Wilson's romantic feelings - although he appears to be doing it mainly in jest.

* VillainOpeningScene: The opening scene is a shot of an apartment during a normal, busy day. Which is then interrupted by a scream of someone who is strangled to death.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Rupert figures out what Brandon and Philip have done and alerts the authorities, but it's clear that by now he is a broken shell of a man.]]

* GodwinsLaw: A discussion of Nietzsche and Brandon believing in the concept of supermen prompts the response "so did Hitler" from David's father.

->''"The good Americans usually die young on the battlefield, don't they? Well, the Davids of this world merely occupy space, which is why he was the perfect victim for the perfect murder. 'Course he, uh, he was a Harvard undergraduate. [*snicker*] That might make it justifiable homicide."''

The film is particularly known for its experimental style. Hitchcock abandoned typical shooting and editing methods in favor of long unbroken scenes. Each shot ran continuously for up to ten minutes without interruption. He would go on to use the same technique in ''Film/UnderCapricorn'' (1949) and to a lesser extent ''Film/StageFright1950''. The homosexual subtext was also considered daring for its time. While not a major hit at the time of its release, the film has gained popularity over the following decades. Today it is often listed among the best of the director.

The film is particularly known for its experimental style. Hitchcock abandoned typical shooting and editing methods in favor of long unbroken scenes. Each shot ran continuously for up to ten minutes without interruption. He would go on to use the same technique in ''Film/UnderCapricorn'' (1949) and to a lesser extent ''Film/StageFright'' (1950). The homosexual subtext was also considered daring for its time. While not a major hit at the time of its release, the film has gained popularity over the following decades. Today it is often listed among the best of the director.

* AdaptationalSexuality: Brandon and Philip being gay was a lot clearer in the original play but is reduced to subtext in the film (mostly due to the censorship at the time) and Brandon is implied to be bisexual.
** WordOfGod says Rupert was written as being gay, too, and had even had an affair with Brandon.

* MissingTrailerScene: The film was originally meant to open with a scene of Janet and David in Central Park but that was cut and put in the trailer instead.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer shows [[spoiler: the final scene of Rupert finding out about David's murder]], thus eliminating a lot of the suspense.

The film is particularly known for its experimental style. Hitchcock abandoned typical shooting and editing methods in favor of long unbroken scenes. Each shot ran continuously for up to ten minutes without interruption. He would go on to use the same technique in ''Film/UnderCapricorn'' (1949) and to a lesser extent ''Film/StageFright'' (1950). The homosexuality subtext was also considered daring for its time. While not a major hit at the time of its release, the film gained in popularity over the following decades. Today it is often listed among the best of the director.

* BackBlocking: At least every 10 minutes, Hitchcock ends a shot by panning to a character's back blocking the entire screen, then begins the next shot by panning away or when they move aside.

* ForTheEvulz: Brandon's motivation is to act on his theory that as a superior he should prove it by committing ThePerfectCrime against one of the inferior ones. Which he does out of amusement, enjoying more than anything the idea of getting away after killing someone.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It's pretty clear that Brandon and Phillip are in a relationship, even considering the strict censorship of the time. That said, this was apparently clearer in the play.

* TheOner: Hitchcock wanted to make the film one long, continuous shot. Sadly, this wasn't feasible with the technology of the time: film would run out after about ten minutes. So Hitchcock resorted to using {{Body Wipe}}s all over the place, meaning the the camera would zoom in on some person or something, and zoom out when it cuts. Sadly, even this wasn't enough; there are still nine "hard cuts" in the film (because film reels in the cinema would ''also'' run out after ten to twenty minutes and need to be changed over, so some cuts are straightforward and normal) but that's pretty impressive when most movies have hundreds of hard cuts.

* VillainProtagonist: Brandon and Phillip leave no time for the audience to get to know them first. They commit the murder during the first seconds of the film. The rest of it is based around Brandon's sick games with the victims familiar ones and Phillip's nervous breakdown.

* VillainOpeningScene: The opening scene is the murder.
* VillainProtagonist: Brandon and Phillip.

* ForTheEvulz: Brandon's motivation is the theory that if he is superior he should prove it by committing ThePerfectCrime.

* HollywoodOld: Jimmy Stewart is greyed at the temples, but it's still obvious he's the same age as his supposed former students.

* BiTheWay: Brandon, who is not only supposed to be Phillip's lover but had also once dated Janet. Rupert, as well -- although written as being homosexual and a former lover of Brandon's, Jimmy Stewart added the business of him (apparently) reciprocating Mrs. Wilson's romantic feelings.

* HeelFaceTurn: Rupert does one at the end. Although...Jimmy Stewart could never really ''be'' a heel, anyhow.