Rope (1948)
I’m really not an Alfred Hitchcock fan; I usually find the pace of his films far too slow. They have such build-up and self-importance, and then they take forever to unfold with only a couple of surprises. Even I can be human, and there are a couple his movies I really like. But Rope isn’t one of them. I fell asleep twice, during this “thriller” – and it was in the middle of the afternoon during a college course.
Dissecting the idea of a perfect murder, two pals think they can get away with it and go along their merry way. Farley Granger and John Dall (the sweet kid from The Corn Is Green is no more!) plan to kill a schoolmate of theirs, Dick Hogan. They strangle him with a rope and hide his body in their apartment. The famous part from this movie is, naturally, the strangulation scene. It was supposed to be so interesting and unique that such a realistic murder scene was shown. Rather than three seconds of choking and a grunt from the victim, the murder takes minutes and minutes, with the bad guy sweating and grunting just as much as the good guy. As novel as this scene was in 1948 (today it’s not shocking), I still don’t see why it was necessary. Why did audiences need to know how long it takes to strangle somebody? Alfred Hitchcock clearly had an unhealthy fascination on murder, one that wasn’t cured by cathartic films.
I’ll watch anything with James Stewart, but I prefer other thrillers and suspenseful flicks, like Anatomy of a Murder or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. If you’re like me and don’t really like Hitchcock but feel guilted out to give him a second chance, this movie won’t change your mind about him.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More James Stewart movies here!
Dissecting the idea of a perfect murder, two pals think they can get away with it and go along their merry way. Farley Granger and John Dall (the sweet kid from The Corn Is Green is no more!) plan to kill a schoolmate of theirs, Dick Hogan. They strangle him with a rope and hide his body in their apartment. The famous part from this movie is, naturally, the strangulation scene. It was supposed to be so interesting and unique that such a realistic murder scene was shown. Rather than three seconds of choking and a grunt from the victim, the murder takes minutes and minutes, with the bad guy sweating and grunting just as much as the good guy. As novel as this scene was in 1948 (today it’s not shocking), I still don’t see why it was necessary. Why did audiences need to know how long it takes to strangle somebody? Alfred Hitchcock clearly had an unhealthy fascination on murder, one that wasn’t cured by cathartic films.
I’ll watch anything with James Stewart, but I prefer other thrillers and suspenseful flicks, like Anatomy of a Murder or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. If you’re like me and don’t really like Hitchcock but feel guilted out to give him a second chance, this movie won’t change your mind about him.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More James Stewart movies here!