On this day in movie history - Rope (1948 movie & play):

Rope

directed by Alfred Hitchcock,

written by Arthur Laurents and Hume Cronyn,

based on the play by Patrick Hamilton,

was released in the United States on September 25, 1948.
Music by David Buttolph, Francis Poulenc and Leo F. Forbstein.

Cast:

James Stewart, Dick Hogan, John Dall, Farley Granger, Edith Evanson, Douglas Dick, Joan Chandler, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Alfred Hitchcock.

Recommended reading:

Rope: A play

By Patrick Hamilton.

First published 1929.

a.k.a Rope’s End.

Filmed as Rope (1948), directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Published by Constable.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0094508607

ISBN-13: 978-0094508606

Description:

Genre: Drama.

Characters: 6 males, 2 females.

Scenery: Interior.

For the mere sake of adventure, danger, and the "fun of the thing," Wyndham Brandon persuades his weak-minded friend, Charles Granillo, to assist him in the murder of a fellow undergraduate, a perfectly harmless man named Ronald Raglan. They place the body in a wooden chest, and to add spice to their handiwork, invite a few acquaintances, including the dead youth's father, to a party, the chest with its gruesome contents serving as a supper table. The horror and tension are worked up gradually; thunder grows outside, the guests leave, and we see the reactions of the two murderers, watched closely by the suspecting lame poet, Rupert Cadell. Finally, they break down under the strain and confess their guilt.

Born on this day – Joan Chandler:

Joan Chandler

Actress

August 24, 1923 – May 11, 1979