I stayed up late last night to watch another Hitchcock movie. It's pretty easy to stay up watching Hitchcock because he keeps you so engrossed. Last night I watched his intellectual suspense drama called Rope. It stars James Stewart and Farley Granger, both of which starred in other Hitchcock movies as you'll remember when you see it.
First off, this was a bit of an experimental picture for Hitch. It was a color movie from 1948 and it also tried to capture the film as if it were one loooong camera shot. There is no switching from camera to camera and the camera follows them across the apartment, the only set of the picture. The most amazing thing that you don't notice the first time is that Hitch allows dusk to happen gradually throughout the picture, showcasing lightsources being illuminated throughout the movie and new light angles that make it interesting, especially by the end when all that is really left are the colorful neon signs lighting the set.
Stewart is of course fabulous in this one. He's the only actor I've ever known that can keep you riveted with only himself on screen (if you've never seen The Spirit of St. Louis about Lindbergh, go watch it). When he is on stage, we see the wheels of his mind turning as he tries to unravel the mystery (no pun intended on the rope).
The main aspect about this one is Hitch's belief that evil can be disguised as two good-looking prep students. In the first five seconds, we see them strangling a man with a rope. What becomes truly evil is that we see they did it as an experiment on murder and hold a party to celebrate, all the while the dead body is in a chest in the middle of the room.
When evil looks like the kids next door, that they are getting away with it, that is truly evil. This is an excellent picture and worthy of a major recommendation.
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