Rope

 

 The Filming

 

This film is one of Hitchcock's most experimental and one of the most interesting experiments ever attempted by a major director working with big box-office names abandoning many standard film techniques to allow for the long unbroken scenes. Each shot ran continuously for up to ten minutes without interruption. It was shot on a single set.  It was also the first film he ever shot in color.  Working in color was new and Hitchcock shot the last 4 or 5 segments over and over again because he didn't like the color of the sunset.

Camera moves were carefully planned and there was almost no editing.  The walls of the set were on rollers and could silently be moved out of the way to make way for the camera and then replaced when they were to come back into shot. Prop men constantly had to move the furniture and other props out of the way of the large Technicolor camera, and then ensure they were replaced in the correct location. A team of soundmen and camera operators kept the camera and microphones
in constant motion, as the actors kept to a carefully choreographed set of cues.  Also, the cords of the equipment were massive and plentiful.  The actors had to not only shoot these takes perfectly, but had to avoid tripping over copious amounts of cords on the floor of the set without looking down at all.  The cords were hastily moved constantly so as not to appear in any scenes where the floor was shot with the camera.

The set

 The extraordinary background was the largest backing ever used on a sound stage.  It included models of the Empire State and the Chrysler buildings.  Numerous chimneys smoke, lights come on in buildings, neon signs light up, and the sunset slowly unfolds as the movie progresses. Within the course of the film the clouds—made of spun glass—change position and shape eight times.  All of which was "fake".  Using these long takes, Hitchcock couldn't take any chances that the scenery or weather would change, it had to look like it was shot from start to finish in one continuous take, even though the cameras of that time could only film for 10 minutes at a time.

This is the size of the camera used

Long takes

 

Hitchcock shot for periods lasting up to ten minutes, continuously panning from actor to actor.  Every other segment ends by panning against or tracking into an object—a man's jacket blocking the entire screen, or the back of a piece of furniture, for example. In this way, Hitchcock effectively masked half the cuts in the film. However, at the end of 20 minutes (two magazines of film make one reel of film on the projector in the movie theater), the projectionist—when the film was shown in theaters—had to change reels. On these changeovers, Hitchcock cuts to a new camera setup, deliberately not disguising the cut.  He was the first to ever attempt this.  He wanted the film to look like one long take, a neverending scene.

Since the filming times were so long, everybody on the set tried their best to avoid any mistakes. At one point in the movie, the camera dolly ran over and broke a cameraman's foot, but to keep filming, he was gagged and dragged off. Another time, a woman puts her glass down but misses the table. A stagehand had to rush up and catch it before the glass hit the ground. Both parts are used in the final cut.

Stewart

 

Of course Jimmy Stewart is amazing.  In many scenes, you can actually see his thoughts, so to speak.  His eyes are all he needed to tell the audience that he had it all figured out.  Strangely, it was the only film he later stated that he didn't like doing with Alfred Hitchcock.  He thought he was horribly miscast.  

His final soliloquy is outstanding....

"By what right do you dare to say that there's a superior few to which you belong? By what right did you decide that that boy in there was inferior and could be killed? Did you think you were God, Brandon? Is that what you thought when you choked the life out of him? Is that what you thought when you served food from his grave?! I don't know who you are but I know what you've done. You murdered! You choked the life out of a fellow human being who could live and love as you never could, and never will again!"


Until next time....