''Rope,'' retitled ''Rope's End'' for its American release, is a 1929 English

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

by Patrick Hamilton. It was said to be inspired by the real-life murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks in 1924 by

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

students

Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (; June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), usually referred to collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two wealthy students at the University of Chicago ...

. In formal terms, it is a well-made play with a three-act

dramatic structure Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and scho ...

that adheres to the

classical unities The classical unities, Aristotelian unities, or three unities represent a prescriptive theory of dramatic tragedy that was introduced in Italy in the 16th century and was influential for three centuries. The three unities are: #''unity of action' ...

. Its action is continuous, punctuated only by the curtain fall at the end of each act. It may also be considered a

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

. Samuel French published the play in 1929.Patrick Hamilton, ''Rope'' (London: Samuel French, 2003). .

Plot and setting

The play is set on the first floor of a house in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

, London in 1929. The story concerns two young university students, Wyndham Brandon and Charles Granillo (whom Brandon calls "Granno"), who have murdered fellow student Ronald Kentley as an expression of their supposed intellectual superiority. At the beginning of the play, they hide Kentley's body in a chest. They proceed to host a party for his friends and family at which the locked chest containing his corpse is used to serve a buffet. Suspicion arises among the guests as to the content of the chest. After the party, one guest, a former professor of the murderers, returns and contrives to open the chest. He is shocked and ashamed that they have acted in response to his own declarations of amorality. The play ends with this quandary unresolved.

Production history

''Rope'' was first presented by The Repertory Players in a Sunday night try-out production at the Strand Theatre,

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, on 3 March 1929. The following month the play opened in the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

at the Ambassadors Theatre on 25 April 1929. The production ran for six months. Retitled ''Rope's End'', the first Broadway production opened at the

John Golden Theatre The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was ...

(then called the Theatre Masque) on 13 September 1929. On 16 December 2009, a revival of ''Rope'' began at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a di ...

in London, in a production directed by

Roger Michell Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill'' and ''Venus'', as well as the 1995 made-for-television fi ...

The 1929 London productions

Strand Theatre

* Wyndham Brandon - Sebastian Shaw * Charles Granillo -

Anthony Ireland Anthony Ireland may refer to: * Anthony Ireland (actor) (1902–1957), British actor * Anthony Ireland (basketball) (born 1989), American basketball player * Anthony Ireland (cricketer) Anthony John Ireland (born 30 August 1984) is a former cr ...

* Sabot - Frederick Burtwell * Kenneth Raglan - Hugh Dempster * Leila Arden - Betty Schuster * Sir Johnstone Kentley - Daniel Roe * Mrs Debenham - Ruth Taylor * Rupert Cadell - Robert Holmes

Ambassadors' Theatre

* Wyndham Brandon -

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

* Charles Granillo - Anthony Ireland * Sabot - Stafford Hilliard * Kenneth Raglan - Patrick Waddington * Leila Arden -

Lilian Oldland Lilian Mary Oldland (7 February 1903 – 29 September 1984) was an English actress who appeared in more than twenty films between 1925 and 1935. Born in Gloucester in 1903, she made her film debut in ''The Secret Kingdom'' and was soon cast as ...

* Sir Johnstone Kentley - Paul Gill * Mrs Debenham - Alix Frizell * Rupert Cadell -

Ernest Milton Ernest Milton (7 August 1897 – 2 September 1984) was an English footballer who played as a left or right back for Sheffield United in The Football League. Born in Kimberworth near Rotherham, he also had a spell for Kilnhurst Town as well a ...

Directed by Reginald Denham.

The 1929 Broadway production

* Charles Granillo - Ivan Brandt * Leila Arden - Margaret Delamere * Kenneth Raglan - Hugh Dempster * Sir Johnstone Kentley - Samuels Lysons * Rupert Cadell - Ernest Milton * Mrs. Debenham - Nora Nicholson * Wyndham Brandon - Sebastian Shaw * Sabot - John Trevor Directed by Reginald Denham

Film and TV adaptations

The play was first broadcast on experimental live television by the BBC, on 8 March 1939. It was adapted by Hamilton, produced by

Dallas Bower Dallas Bower (25 July 1907 – 18 October 1999) was a British director and producer active during the early development of mass media communication. Throughout his career Bower’s work spanned radio plays, television shows, propaganda shorts, ani ...

, and used

long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate bl ...

s. Director Alfred Hitchcock later said he saw (or heard about) the long takes of this television production and was inspired to attempt a feature film version. Another version was broadcast on the British commercial network ITV in 1957. In different roles,

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeev ...

appeared in both versions. A version was made for Australian television in 1959, and aired as part of the series '' Shell Presents''. A different version for Australian television aired in 1957. In

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's 1948 film version, ''

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...

'', Hitchcock,

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

, and

Arthur Laurents Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter. After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S. Army during World War ...

made some changes to the original stage play. The setting is relocated to the 1940s

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and the names of all of the characters, with the exception of Rupert Cadell, are altered. Quiet Mrs. Debenham became cheerful Mrs. Atwater. The murder victim is renamed David Kentley. In the original play, Rupert Cadell is a 29-year-old First World War veteran, who walks with a stick. He was a teacher of Brandon and Granillo when they were at school. In the film, Cadell is played by James Stewart, who was forty at the time. In this version, Cadell had been the teacher of Brandon Shaw, Philip Morgan, Kenneth Lawrence, and David Kentley, and is currently a publisher. Hitchcock's is the only

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

version of the play to-date. In 1983, ''Rope'' was dramatised as a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

Drama for '' Saturday Night Theatre'', starring

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespea ...

as Cadell.

References

External links

* {{ibdb title, 10926, Rope's End
1939 BBC TV version at IMDB1952 ''Best Plays'' radio adaptation of play
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

1957 ITV version at IMDB
1929 plays Plays by Patrick Hamilton Plays set in London Plays based on real people British plays adapted into films Cultural depictions of Leopold and Loeb West End plays