Rope (film)

Rope (1948), an Alfred Hitchcock film based on the Leopold and Loeb case. Two brilliant students (John Dall and Farley Granger) plan the perfect murder after an ill-advised lecture by their headmaster (James Stewart) on the art of murder. They strangle a classmate and hide his body in a chest in their apartment, whereupon they throw a party for the victim's family and others from the school, thus, they believe, demonstrating their superiority.

Two other films, Compulsion and Swoon, were also based on the Leopold and Loeb case.

Hitchcock was both producer (his first such outing) and director. The film employed numerous innovations:

• This was Hitchcock's first color film.
• It was shot on a single set.
• Each shot ran continuously for ten minutes without interruption. Camera moves were planned in advance and there was no editing.
• The action of the movie took place in real time. The movie lasted 80 minutes, that is, only eight shots.