Thanks for the tip, vinteuil. I've now watched a DVD of "Rope" (1948) and, once again, re-iterate my regret that TV companies do not negotiate the rights for bonus material at the same time as the screening rights for the main feature. Admittedly, some bonus material is little more than promotional puffs but the 2002 32 mins feature, "Rope Uncoiled" has the authentic presence of actor/writer Hume Cronyn who did the initial treatment from Patrick Hamilton's play - late 1920s - and playwright Arthur Laurents, famous for his tart tongue, who did the final screenplay. Useful, too, to have contributions from Hitch's daughter, Patricia. Movie buffs may recall her appearance as the young victim in "Strangers On A Train" (1951) when her father filmed her strangulation through the lens of her fallen spectacles!
To the point. Hitch does appear in the opening titles, quickly walking down the street, alongside the New York brownstone apartment block where the film is set. Unusually, there is no close-up, eg think of his bulky frame, carrying a cello, trying to board a greyhound bus, in "North by North West" (1959). However, we are told in the bonus item that he did intend to appear in the interior setting as part of a neon portrait but decided that it was too jokey. I assume he kept this idea for another play, "Dial M for Murder" (1954) where we saw him, clearly, as part of a group photograph.
Arthur Laurents tells us that the biggest bugbear in writing the screenplay was the subject of homosexuality, anathema to the Breen Office censorship/Catholic Decency in 1948. Even dialogue, along the lines of "My dear boy..." was instantly blue-pencilled and, although the casting of James Stewart as the two protagonists uni professor was a canny ploy, the actor was also reserved about any implication of homosexuality, although the play did indicate an earlier relationship with one of the boys. Even worse, any suggestion about their s/m relationship was also given short shrift but Hitch had the nous to develop the action at several points to make this clear. And the 'Englishness' aspect which permeates the dialogue also fostered a sense of disharmony in an American situ. However, Hitchcock's technical proficiency - adored by the crew - and his talent for creating a gathering sense of pressure and unease, almost won the day. Laurents was adamant that Hitch's biggest mistake was to show the murder in the opening sequence, followed by the placing of the body in a chest, diffused the ensuing suspense as the audience should never be sure that there is a body there, until Rupert (the professor) lifts it open in the final act. As he said, the suspense surrounding the lid about to be opened is removed once the audience knows there is a body within.
I did marvel at the ease and flexibility of the famous 10 minute "take"; the camera would then have to be re-loaded as the action of the film is continuous for 80 mins - it plays, in fact, in actual time; there can be no camera cuts or mixes. The ploy for re-loading was to focus on a player's back and freeze frame. The camera would then be loaded and, at the same time, the stage crew would even adjust the position of the clouds in the backdrop, or lessen the daylight as the narrative proceeded. The freeze-frame would then be released and the action continue on its earlier path - the same action as using a pause button on your DVD recorder. The whole first floor apartment setting was built on castors, so that the side walls - like the 'wings space' in a theatre could be removed to allow the camera flexibility without interrupting the action. This demanded high concentration from the cast as eight of them in the party scene had to move with the precision of the Tiller Girls. I noticed a tendency to place 2 or 3 of the main characters in the foreground but all concerned in the background action would have to be precisely on their marks - usually a strip on the floor with different colours for each character, or the composition would be messy. They would rehearse a 10 mins sequence for a day and return to shoot the scene. It must have been frustrating to complete a sequence with absolute proficiency, only to be told to stand-by for another complete take, if, say, the lighting had failed during the filming. Later, Hitch called the whole concept crazy and it has never been attempted again. The film was well reviewed but didn't have wide box office appeal. Yet Patrick Hamilton's "Gaslight" had been an enormous success in a 1939 English version with Diana Wynyard and Anton Walbrook. Typically, Hollywood saw its potential and bought the rights, ordered the negative to be destroyed and made an alternative version, in 1944, "Murder In Thornton Square, with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. A couple of decades later, a print was found and the original "Gaslight" - a much better film, directed by Thorold Dickinson - was restored, although I gather that legal disputes continued until a few years ago.
Yeah, all a bit long-winded but I wanted to add my comments on a much neglected film.
To the point. Hitch does appear in the opening titles, quickly walking down the street, alongside the New York brownstone apartment block where the film is set. Unusually, there is no close-up, eg think of his bulky frame, carrying a cello, trying to board a greyhound bus, in "North by North West" (1959). However, we are told in the bonus item that he did intend to appear in the interior setting as part of a neon portrait but decided that it was too jokey. I assume he kept this idea for another play, "Dial M for Murder" (1954) where we saw him, clearly, as part of a group photograph.
Arthur Laurents tells us that the biggest bugbear in writing the screenplay was the subject of homosexuality, anathema to the Breen Office censorship/Catholic Decency in 1948. Even dialogue, along the lines of "My dear boy..." was instantly blue-pencilled and, although the casting of James Stewart as the two protagonists uni professor was a canny ploy, the actor was also reserved about any implication of homosexuality, although the play did indicate an earlier relationship with one of the boys. Even worse, any suggestion about their s/m relationship was also given short shrift but Hitch had the nous to develop the action at several points to make this clear. And the 'Englishness' aspect which permeates the dialogue also fostered a sense of disharmony in an American situ. However, Hitchcock's technical proficiency - adored by the crew - and his talent for creating a gathering sense of pressure and unease, almost won the day. Laurents was adamant that Hitch's biggest mistake was to show the murder in the opening sequence, followed by the placing of the body in a chest, diffused the ensuing suspense as the audience should never be sure that there is a body there, until Rupert (the professor) lifts it open in the final act. As he said, the suspense surrounding the lid about to be opened is removed once the audience knows there is a body within.
I did marvel at the ease and flexibility of the famous 10 minute "take"; the camera would then have to be re-loaded as the action of the film is continuous for 80 mins - it plays, in fact, in actual time; there can be no camera cuts or mixes. The ploy for re-loading was to focus on a player's back and freeze frame. The camera would then be loaded and, at the same time, the stage crew would even adjust the position of the clouds in the backdrop, or lessen the daylight as the narrative proceeded. The freeze-frame would then be released and the action continue on its earlier path - the same action as using a pause button on your DVD recorder. The whole first floor apartment setting was built on castors, so that the side walls - like the 'wings space' in a theatre could be removed to allow the camera flexibility without interrupting the action. This demanded high concentration from the cast as eight of them in the party scene had to move with the precision of the Tiller Girls. I noticed a tendency to place 2 or 3 of the main characters in the foreground but all concerned in the background action would have to be precisely on their marks - usually a strip on the floor with different colours for each character, or the composition would be messy. They would rehearse a 10 mins sequence for a day and return to shoot the scene. It must have been frustrating to complete a sequence with absolute proficiency, only to be told to stand-by for another complete take, if, say, the lighting had failed during the filming. Later, Hitch called the whole concept crazy and it has never been attempted again. The film was well reviewed but didn't have wide box office appeal. Yet Patrick Hamilton's "Gaslight" had been an enormous success in a 1939 English version with Diana Wynyard and Anton Walbrook. Typically, Hollywood saw its potential and bought the rights, ordered the negative to be destroyed and made an alternative version, in 1944, "Murder In Thornton Square, with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. A couple of decades later, a print was found and the original "Gaslight" - a much better film, directed by Thorold Dickinson - was restored, although I gather that legal disputes continued until a few years ago.
Yeah, all a bit long-winded but I wanted to add my comments on a much neglected film.
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