Trivia / Rope

• Actor-Shared Background: Mrs. Atwater describes Philip as a Cancer star sign - which Farley Granger was in real life too. Mrs. Atwater was also right about the celebrity signs she mentioned.
• Banned in China: Actually banned in Worcester, New Bedford, Spokane, Seattle, Atlanta and Memphis. The strangulation scene was singled out as a sticking point. However, the National Legion of Decency ruled it "morally unobjectionable for adults" and per the New York Times there were "no pronounced objections voiced by religious groups".
• …But I Play One on TV: Edith Evanson was only playing the maid Mrs Wilson, but the cast and crew treated her like a maid on set too.
• Creator Backlash:
  • James Stewart said later that this was his least favorite collaboration with Hitchcock. He felt he had been miscast. He also felt that there was more emphasis on the rehearsal of the camera movements, and the actors were neglected.
  • Alfred Hitchcock himself regarded the film as a failed experiment. It's been Vindicated by History, like many of his others.
• Deleted Role: Dick Hogan filmed a scene with Janet in Central Park, but his part was cut down to just being shown as a body in the opening scene.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The trailer has a conversation between Janet and David in Central Park that acts as a Cold Open to the film proper.
• On-Set Injury: People in the cast and crew were determined not to make any mistakes due to the long takes. As such a camera man got his foot broken by a dolly - and he was merely gagged and taken off set. Likewise one of the actresses was meant to put a glass down but missed the table - and a stage hand had to rush in and catch it before it smashed. Both takes are in the final cut.
• Playing Against Type: James Stewart - America's favorite wholesome leading man - as Rupert Cadell - a former Sadist Teacher.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: The usual Hitchcock director's cameo here is just a red neon sign seen through the window when Janet and Kenneth are having a talk (at about 55 minutes in). There is debate as to whether a dog walker shown during the opening is also him, since it looks like him, but the production records at Warner Bros state that the neon sign is his only appearance in the film.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: It's subtext but...
  • Farley Granger was bisexual, playing the most-likely gay Philip.
  • John Dall was gay, playing the Ambiguously Bi Brandon.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: There are four normal cuts that the film doesn't attempt to hide. This is because when a film was shown in cinemas at the time, the projectionist would have to change reels at the end of twenty minutes
• What Could Have Been:
  • Cary Grant was the original choice to play Rupert Cadell but he turned it down, and the part went to James Stewart instead. Grant would later take a role originally meant for Stewart in North By Northwest.
  • Montgomery Clift was the original choice to play Brandon.
  • According to the screenwriter, Hitchcock's original intent was to not open with the murder - and to have the audience in doubt for most of the movie as to whether a murder had actually taken place or not. Needless to say the movie opens with the murder, and the tension is instead changed to whether or not they'll get away with it.
• Word of God: Screenwriter Arthur Laurents confirms that in the original play, Rupert had an affair with one of the two murderers back at school.

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