When watching the extras on Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope' they mentioned that an undercurrent of the film was about 'It'. I thought I say 'It' as to me 'It' was obvious. The two male leads seem very friendly for flatmates and one seems particularly sensitive the other dominant. In the 40s people would go and see a film about 'It' as long as you never actually mentioned 'It'. What is 'It'? Homosexuality. It was a faux par to mention homosexuality in the 40s, but have things moved on today? Certainly in some areas of cinema; there are plenty of films starring gay characters and actors. In fact, if you are so inclined you can rent a truck full of gay porn. But are we ..  Read the complete review

This is a review of the dvd to be found in the Hitchcock Universal boxset or available seperately. 'Rope' is from 1948 and is Alfred Hitchcock's first foray into Technicolour, this is clear from the sumptous beginning shot of the street from an aerial viewpoint. In this shot Hitch delivers one of his famous walk-ons and can be made out strolling along the street. Panning upwards to a window on the top floor is the sound of a man screaming.....he is being strangled by his college friends. The whole premise of 'Rope,' which was originally a stage play by Patrick Hamilton, is that two college friends murder another purely to see if they can get away with it. One ...  Read the complete review

Rope is the second film I watched from my new Hitchcock box set. I had seen it before, but wanted to watch it again as I really enjoyed it the first time round. Rope, released in 1948, is based on Patrick Hamilton's 1929 play, adapted by Hugh Cronyn and Arthur Laurents and starring James Stewart, John Dall and Farley Granger. It is a murder mystery with a difference - the difference being you see the two main characters committing the murder right at the start of the film, and the tension comes from whether they will get away with it or not. Unusual, but it works, although it was not well recieved by the critics on release. Rope was the first of Hitchcock's ...  Read the complete review

I have always been a fan of Alfred Hitchcock movies over the years and think he is a legendary director. He became famous for making many great and suspenseful movies. I have seen a fair few and just recently watched Rope on DVD as this one isn't perhaps as famous as others. The story revolves around two friends, Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan. They strangled another friend called David who they believed was inferior. They placed his dead body in a chest as they couldn't get rid of the body until night as it was daylight outside. Their reasons for murder did not seem particularly justifiable. They always thought that murder was a privilege of the superior and ...  Read the complete review

Background: In 1924 the trial of two Jewish teenagers, Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb created a media sensation of America. Both were highly intelligent individuals and believed themselves to be Nietzschean supermen capable of committing a "perfect crime". Leopold & Loeb had spent a year planning their perfect crime which involved kidnapping, murder & a ransom demand. The chosen "victim" was 14 year old Bobby Franks, a neighbour of Leob's. British playwright Patrick Hamilton later used these events as a basis for his play "Rope" which was first performed in 1929, some five years after ...  Read the complete review