Rope

Production

The film is one of Hitchcock's most experimental and "one of the most interesting experiments ever attempted by a major director working with big box-office names",[11] abandoning many standard film techniques to allow for the long unbroken scenes. Each shot ran continuously for up to ten minutes (the camera's film capacity) without interruption. It was shot on a single set, aside from the opening establishing shot street scene under the credits. Camera moves were carefully planned and there was almost no editing.

The walls of the set were on rollers and could silently be moved out of the way to make way for the camera and then replaced when they were to come back into the shot. Prop men constantly had to move the furniture and other props out of the way of the large Technicolor camera, and then ensure they were replaced in the correct location. A team of soundmen and camera operators kept the camera and microphones in constant motion, as the actors kept to a carefully choreographed set of cues.[4]

This filming technique, which conveys the impression of continuous action, also serves to lengthen the duration of the action in the mind of the viewer. In a 2002 article in Scientific American, Antonio Damasio argues that the time frame covered by the movie, which lasts 80 minutes and is supposed to be in "real time", is actually longer—a little more than 100 minutes. This, he states, is accomplished by speeding up the action: the formal dinner lasts only 20 minutes, the sun sets too quickly and so on.[12][13]

Actor James Stewart found the whole process highly exasperating, saying: "The really important thing being rehearsed here is the camera, not the actors!" Much later, Stewart said of the film: "It was worth trying – nobody but Hitch would have tried it. But it really didn't work."[14]

The cyclorama in the background was the largest backing ever used on a sound stage.[4] It included models of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. Numerous chimneys smoke, lights come on in buildings, neon signs light up and the sunset slowly unfolds as the movie progresses. Within the course of the film, the clouds—made of spun glass—change position and shape eight times.[4]

Homosexual subtext

Recent reviews and criticism of Rope have noticed a homosexual subtext between the characters Brandon and Phillip,[15][16][17] even though homosexuality was a highly controversial theme for the 1940s. The play on which the film was based explicitly portrays Brandon and Phillip as being in a homosexual relationship.[18] John Dall, who played Brandon, is believed to have been gay,[19][20] as was screenwriter Arthur Laurents, while co-star Farley Granger was bisexual.[21]

Interviewed by Vito Russo for Russo's 1981 book The Celluloid Closet, Laurents stated: "We never discussed, Hitch and I, whether the characters in Rope were homosexuals, but I thought it was apparent."[22] In the 1995 documentary film adaptation of Russo's book, Laurents says: "I don't think the censors at that time realized this was about gay people. They didn't have a clue what was and what wasn't, that's how it got by."[23] In the same documentary, Granger says of Brandon and Phillip: "We knew that they were gay, yeah, sure. I mean, nobody said anything about it—this was 1947, let's not forget that! But that was one of the points of the film, in a way."[23]

Long takes

Hitchcock shot long unbroken takes lasting up to ten minutes (the length of a film camera magazine), involving carefully choreographed camera and actor movement, though most shots in the film wound up being shorter.[24] Every other segment ends by panning against or tracking into an object—a man's jacket blocking the entire screen, or the back of a piece of furniture, for example. In this way, Hitchcock effectively masked half the cuts in the film.[25]

However, at the end of 20 minutes (two magazines of film make one reel of film on the projector in the movie theater), the projectionist—when the film was shown in theaters—had to change reels. On these changeovers, Hitchcock cuts to a new camera setup, deliberately not disguising the cut. A description of the beginning and end of each segment follows.

Shot from the film's trailer
Segment Length Time-code Start Finish
1 09:34 00:02:30 Close-up (CU), strangulation Blackout on Brandon's back
2 07:51 00:11:59 Black, pan off Brandon's back CU Kenneth: "What do you mean?"
3 07:18 00:19:45 Unmasked cut, men crossing to Janet Blackout on Kenneth's back
4 07:08 00:27:15 Black, pan off Kenneth's back CU Phillip: "That's a lie."
5 09:57 00:34:34 Unmasked cut, CU Rupert Blackout on Brandon's back
6 07:33 00:44:21 Black, pan off Brandon's back Mrs. Wilson (OS): "Excuse me, sir."
7 07:46 00:51:56 Unmasked cut, Mrs. Wilson: "There's a lady phoning..." Blackout on Brandon
8 10:06 00:59:44 Black, pan off Brandon CU Brandon's hand in gun pocket
9 04:37 01:09:51 Unmasked cut, CU Rupert Blackout on lid of chest
10 05:38 01:14:35 Black, tilt up from lid of chest End of film

Hitchcock told François Truffaut in the book-length Hitchcock/Truffaut (Simon & Schuster, 1967) that he ended up re-shooting the last four or five segments because he was dissatisfied with the color of the sunset.

Hitchcock used this long-take approach again to a lesser extent on his next film, Under Capricorn (1949), and in a very limited way in his film Stage Fright (1950).

Director's cameo

Hitchcock's cameo appearance as a red neon sign, in the far distance, with his famous profile above the word "Reduco", a fictitious weight-loss product

Alfred Hitchcock's cameo appearance is a signature occurrence in most of his films. At 55:19 into the film, a red neon sign in the far background showing Hitchcock's trademark profile starts blinking. As the guests are escorted to the door, actors Joan Chandler and Douglas Dick stop to have a few words and the sign flashes in the background several times.

There is some debate as to whether Hitchcock makes another cameo earlier in the film. In the making-of documentary, Rope Unleashed, Arthur Laurents says that Hitchcock can be seen walking down the Manhattan street immediately after the title sequence.[26] The individual significantly resembles Hitchcock, yet some believe that it is a myth. In The Encyclopedia of Alfred Hitchcock, Thomas M. Leitch claims that the production records in the Warner Bros. archive show that the neon sign is Hitchcock's only appearance in the entire film.

Production credits

The production credits on the film were as follows:

  • Director – Alfred Hitchcock
  • Writing – Arthur Laurents (screenplay), Hume Cronyn (adaptation)
  • Cinematography – Joseph Valentine and William V. Skall (directors of photography)
  • Art direction – Perry Ferguson (art director), Emile Kuri and Howard Bristol (set decorators)
  • Technicolor color director – Natalie Kalmus
  • Production manager – Fred Ahern
  • Film editor – William H. Ziegler
  • Assistant director – Lowell J. Farrell
  • Makeup artist – Perc Westmore
  • Operators of camera movement – Edward Fitzgerald, Paul G. Hill, Richard Emmons, Morris Rosen
  • Sound – Al Riggs
  • Lighting technician – Jim Potevin
  • Music – Leo F. Forbstein (musical director), The Three Suns (radio sequence)
  • Costumes – Adrian (Miss Chandler's dress)

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