“What was curious to me was that ROPE was obviously about homosexuals. The word was never mentioned. Not by Hitch, not by anyone at Warners. It was referred to as ‘it’. They were going to do a picture about ‘it’ and the actors were ‘it’”. - Arthur Laurents, screenwriter of Rope

Based loosely on the infamous real-life murder of a young boy by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb in 1924, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope is stuffed-to-the-cassone with queer subtext and suspense. The film follows friends and confidantes, Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Granger), as they host a dinner party while trying to conceal their idea of a perfect crime hidden in plain sight. Filmed with the restrictions of the Hays Code in full force, Rope’s subtextual queerness is offered through strained dialogue, intimate blocking, and the overwhelming presence of shared secrets. The film’s technically masterful camerawork and editing gives its relatively short runtime the feel of a single shot. Hitchcock’s first color film is a must see on 35mm with a crowd of co-conspirators. Co-starring James Stewart as Brandon and Phillip’s suspicious former-teacher. (YB)