Based on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case (from which two other films, COMPULSION and SWOON, were also derived), ROPE both challenges and terrifies the audience. Alfred Hitchcock disdained the whodunit crime story, which he felt lacked emotional force, and ROPE shows the director's preference for letting the audience know more than the characters onscreen. The film opens as two young men (Farley Granger and John Dall) strangle a friend just to prove they're intellectually capable of committing the perfect crime. To add to the amusement, they hide the body in a trunk that will serve as the dinner table for a party honoring the deceased. The film hones in on an hour and a half of the party, with the constantly moving camera capturing the changing emotional atmosphere as the guests grow increasingly concerned about the fate of the missing boy. ROPE is a directorial tour de force, blending complex camera movement with intricate staging to present the entire story in near-real time in one location. Notably, the adaptation of the play by Patrick Hamilton was written by perennial Hitchcock actor Hume Cronyn.

ROPE is a masterfully directed Alfred Hitchcock production about two college students who murder a classmate in a bizarre experiment. This was Hitchcock's first film as an independent producer. The film is based on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case.

Hitchcock cameo: see Hitch's profile in neon in a sign briefly visible from the apartment window.

Furniture was mounted on rollers so that it could be moved in and out as needed for the long takes.

Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant for the role of the schoolmaster.

ROPE was Alfred Hitchcock's first film as an independent producer.

The story is shot in near-real time, covering an approximately 80-minute period and taking place in one room. The film is a series of long takes, without close-ups.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono - English, French, Spanish
Additional Release Material:
Featurette: ROPE UNLEASHED
Trailers: Theatrical Trailer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Production Notes
Stills/Photos: Production Photographs

James Stewart: Oscar-winning actor, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, VERTIGO, HARVEY
John Dall: American Actor
Farley Granger: American Actor
Cedric Hardwicke: British actor,THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE.../THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Constance Collier: British Actress
Joan Chandler: American Actress
Edith Evanson: Actress/"Rope"
Douglas Dick: American Actor

Alfred Hitchcock: Director/screenwriter/producer, VERTIGO, THE BIRDS, PSYCHO

Sidney Lewis Bernstein: British Producer/Executive
Alfred Hitchcock: Director/screenwriter/producer, VERTIGO, THE BIRDS, PSYCHO

Arthur Laurents: 
Hume Cronyn: Actor/Screenwriter, Married Jessica Tandy
Ben Hecht: American Author/Screenwriter

David Buttolph: American Composer/B. 1902

William Ziegler: 

"...One can not understand the truly bold originality of [Hitchcock] without seeing it."