Rope story
Rope is a 1948 American psychological crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the 1929 play of the same name by Patrick Hamilton. The film was adapted by Hume Cronyn with a screenplay by Arthur Laurents.
11 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The story concerns two university students with more self-confidence than intellect who think they belong to a better class of people and can therefore get away with murdering their inferiors with impunity. |
| commoner vs. intellectual | major | Brandon fancied himself an intellectual and contrasted himself with commoners, particularly his victim and former friend: David. |
| ethics | major | Brandon spelled out the motive for the murder: They were inspired by the German philosopher Nietzsche and fancied themselves "supermen" who had a moral right to make away with their inferiors. |
| master and servant | major | Brandon (along with Philip to a lesser extent) vis-à-vis the house keeper, Mrs. Wilson. |
| murder | major | The story concerns the murder of David by his former classmates, Brandon and Philip. |
| pride goes before a fall | major | Not satisfied with simply murdering David and disposing of the body, Brandon insisted on hosting a house party while the body was stashed in a chest on which a buffet was served. Philip objected to this and other of Brandon's so-called "twists". It was these twists that gave the game away to Rupert, who instantly "called" the police by firing wildly into the night air above Manhattan. |
| mentor and protégé | minor | Rupert had been the prep-school housemaster and something of a mentor to Brandon and Philip. Brandon was hoping for Rupert's approval, and was taken aback to find that, in fact, Rupert was deeply ashamed of the thing they had done in his name. |
| old flames | minor | Brandon had capriciously contrived for Janet and Kenneth to meet each other again, knowing full well that the situation would be awkward since they had broken up long ago. |
| role models | minor | It is clear that Rupert was something of a role model to Brandon. |
| shame | minor | Rupert felt ashamed that his words had inspired Brandon and Philip to murder David. |