Plot synopsis: Brandon (Dall) and Phillip (Granger) are two young intellectual elitists who live together in a posh New York apartment. They plan a dinner party, but there’s a twist. There’s always a twist, right? Even way back in 1948! They have strangled their friend David to death, and hidden his body in a large chest in the living room. You know what else? Everyone they are inviting to their party knows dead David—including his fiancée, his best friend, his parents, and Rupert Cadell (Stewart), their prep school schoolmaster.
They’ve invited Cadell because his talks on Nietzsche’s Superman and other philosophies partly inspired their crime. Phillip, and especially Brandon, believe that they are brilliant enough to commit the perfect murder, and that lesser people, like David, really don’t deserve to live anyway.
Brandon cleverly chooses to serve dinner off the old chest--yes, the one with the body inside. This is classic Hitchcock—we know the crime, we know who committed the crime, and we wait for someone on screen to figure it out.
So, the housekeeper (wonderfully played by Edith Evanson) sets dinner up on the coffin chest, and the guests arrive. My favorite guest is David’s Aunt, Mrs. Atwater (Constance Collier), a batty old lady with a thrilling voice. Everyone wonders where David is. Phillip plays the piano and gets drunk. There is talk of wringing chickens’ necks, the usefulness of homicide, and antique books. Pretty much like every dinner party you’ve ever been to, isn’t it?
But Rupert Cadell senses that something is wrong in this Manhattan apartment with the beautiful view. As the worry about David’s whereabouts builds, the guests decide to leave, including David’s father with a stack of books knotted together with the same rope used to strangle his son.
Nice touch, eh?
Rupert ends up with the wrong hat, and that wrong hat has the initials D.K. inside, for David Kentley, the missing murdered fellow. So, he returns to the apartment to find out what has happened to David. Brandon gets cocky, Phillip is sloshed, and Rupert ends up lifting the lid on the chest. He is deeply disturbed that he partly inspired such a horrible act, and shoots Brandon’s gun into the air. We hear the sound of sirens as the movie closes.
Review: This movie was originally a stage play, and Hitchcock wanted to keep the stage play feeling, so he shot the film in ten long takes, some as long as ten minutes, and the entire film was shot on a single set. Everything on set was on rollers, so the actors could move without cutting the scene. Also, the backdrop behind the set was huge, and you can watch the clouds change, the sun set and the lights come on as the story progresses.
The film also has an obvious homosexual subtext that sometimes bursts right out of the subtext. There are hints of the Leopold and Loeb case, and the film was banned in some theaters.
I love the movie. I love most of Hitchcock’s movies. They’re smart, they’re beautifully shot, and they’re works of art. However (you knew there would be a however, didn’t you?), Jimmy Stewart was painfully miscast in the role of Rupert. Hitchcock uses Stewart best as the All American Everyman thrown into a dangerous situation. Stewart is not always lovable in Rear Window, but he is still the hero. In Rope, there really is no hero, and Stewart seems uncomfortable as the dark previous schoolmaster.
The script is bitingly funny, it’s a technical masterpiece, especially for the time, and I have a serious thing for Farley Granger.
Random little known fact: The beautiful Montgomery Clift was the original choice to play Brandon.
WUB rating: I’m going to go five out of five WUBs, despite my issue with Jimmy Stewart being miscast. Why? It’s a really cool little movie.
Cat and mouse. Cat and mouse.
See you in my Netflix queue!
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