Introduction

Many things can be said of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 film Rope. Firstly, that it’s a murder un-mystery, as viewers watch the murder and its consequences unfold throughout the course of the film and aren’t left to wonder who committed it and by what motive they did so. Regardless, it is secondly a film of immense suspense, as the audience waits for other characters to learn what they already know and flinch when the victim’s body is nearly discovered. Thirdly, it can be interpreted as a comment on the social issues of the time, namely America’s horrified reaction to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but also on an issue that was just beginning to emerge- homosexuality. Underneath the drama of the murder lies a compelling relationship between the two men who committed it. In this essay, I will analyze this relationship and how Hitchcock’s constructs it in reference to the times in which his film was created and released.