Notes on ROPE (1948) from Barry Yuen Posters from Barry Yuen’S Collection Are on Display in the Lobby

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Notes on ROPE (1948) from Barry Yuen Posters from Barry Yuen’s collection are on display in the Lobby.

ROPE (1948) i s another experimental piece, based on a stage play. Apart from working within a single, confined setting (due to its stage origins) Hitchcock also hit on the idea of a movie done in one long, single take. He had to compromise because movie cameras could only hold one ten-minute reel of film at a time, so he attempted to “mask” the joins from one reel to another. This helps to create an illusion of one long take. The ten-minute takes were still an enormous challenge. If any mistakes were made, they would have to start over again. This eventually led to a blow-up from lead actor James Stewart, but Stewart would end up making three more films with Hitchcock.

ROPE is based on the true crime case of Leopold & Loeb, who committed a murder just to see if they could get away with it. (The fact that we know their names means they didn’t.) The ending, where Stewart gets all self-righteous, feels like a cop-out. He denies all culpability in the crime, but it seems clear that he is very culpable, with all of his talk about “superior beings”.

As with LIFEBOAT, Hitchcock had to ﬁnd a novel way to make his traditional cameo appearance. Playing “Spot Hitchcock” can be a fun game.

ROPE is also significant for being the first film Hitchcock made in colour.

Cinematica Classic Film Series for Summer 2019 Alfred Hitchcock Presents: “The Murdering Mind”

This Summer we’re presenting a career-spanning six-ﬁlm selection of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies that explore one of the master’s favourite recurring story lines: murders that take place in everyday society, in which “normal” people discover the dark truth that someone close to them is a killer. This is a program for Hitchcock fans & true crime enthusiasts alike!

The essential R ear Window (1954) kicks o this series, followed by S hadow of a Doubt (1943) (the filmmaker’s own favourite of his 53 films), one-shot-wonder Rope (1948), style-defining silent T he Lodger (1927) featuring a Live Soundtrack by S pencer Evans, the impossibly clever S trangers on a Train (1951) and finally the “criminally”-underrated F renzy (1972). Shadows, doubles, false accusations and dark humour will abound on Thursdays at 6pm through July & August.

● REAR WINDOW (1954) - Thursday July 18 @ 6pm ● SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943) - Thursday July 25 @ 6pm ● ROPE (1948) - Thursday August 1 @ 6pm ● THE LODGER (1927) + Live Soundtrack by Spencer Evans - Thursday August 8 @ 6pm ● STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) - Thursday August 15 @ 6pm ● FRENZY (1972) - Thursday August 22 @ 6pm