Hitchcock Unfiltered

In "Rope", Hitchcock gives you just enough of it in the opening shot to hang your suspicions that this is a typical Hitchcock film. Two men kill another with a rope. That's the opening! It's simply too enthralling for you to even consider leaving the room at that moment. You feel you must have walked in on the middle of a huge plot, and you need to know what started it all.

You assume there will be a flashback...but there isn't. You assume a logical motive, such as anger or revenge will be presented...one isn't. The motive, you discover soon enough, is that these two friends (Hitchcock alludes to the possibility of they being lovers as well) killed a man simply to test a theory. The theory, placed in their arrogant heads by Jimmy Stewart, is that some men are just naturally better than others, and thus have the right to kill those lower than them on the intellectual ladder if they would perhaps like to.

The theory (which actually exists, believe it or not) is not meant to be taken literally. But the intelligence of this script, and the intelligence of the director, examines the dangers of discussing murder even in a hypothetical context (Hitchcock examined this earlier in "Strangers on the Train")

So they kill their friend 15 minutes before they are about to have a dinner party in honor of the recently deceased. Where do they put the body? In a trunk, which is soon transformed into the buffet table of course! Not only is the plot delicious, but the direction is inspiring. The entire movie is shot in 10 takes (only 1 edit can be clearly identified), and the movie takes place in real time. So throughout the party, you hear a great deal of mindless chatter, but its always alluding to darker areas. And the body is always right there! It drives you mad with anticipation!
See this movie for the acting (Jimmie Stewart is perfect as the cynical professor). See it for the plot. See it for the suspense. But most of all, see it because it is Hitchcock in his purest form. In some of his other movies, love scenes or other trivial aspects of the plot bog down his work. But in "Rope," all of that excess is stripped away, leaving only dark comedy, dazzling direction, and of course, nail-biting suspense. See "Rope," because it is the blatantly underrated work of a true master.