Rope

Rope was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. That should be all that I have to say about it's worth and it's background, but Rope is a sort of exception to the: Hitchcock is infallible rule. For, Rope ultimately is a lesser work, and not really very good. It's based on a true story pretty loosely. Two men have decided that they are superior beings, and that everyone else in inferior and that they have the right to murder them. This idea was put into them by an old teacher at their old school played by the inexplicably appealing James Stewart. They have killed an old friend David, and have put him into a chest in their apartment. They arrange a dinner party and have all of David's friends and family show up. They even eat dinner on the chest and have their old teacher (Stewart) come to the party as well. Now, one would think that because the body is in the chest every bit of action should be centered around it. But Hitchcock was experimenting here (he didn't think it worked himself) and used a seemingly continuous single shot to tell the story. Because of this, Hitchcock foolishly limits his own powers and his need to black out the screen by use of the back of a party guests head or a chair every ten minutes seriously limits him. Finally, the film is unconvincing. For Stewart, who is supposed to believe that a superior being can murder and inferior one seriously, suddenly has a change of heart and mood when he becomes suspicious that the two party arrangers have taken his words to heart and killed David. The end of the film is sanctimonious and pretty silly. Admittedly, Hitchcock is a master, and some scenes are undeniably entertaining and suspenseful. Perhaps it's because it's not at the usual level of awesomeness that Rope feels unsatisfactory.
Rope: ★★