>Rope,imo, is just not one of Hitchcock's better films. It
>is far from terrible. The characterization of the guys is
>good and the same tension exists. There is some great dialogue
>too. However, Rope is only 82 minutes long and the last 20
>minutes are very weak. You only got half of a story here.
>Grade B-

I pretty much agree with you on Rope. Hitchcock's gimmick of trying to make the whole movie appear to be one long continuous take is just that: a gimmick. It doesn't add anything as far as I can tell, and in fact, it actually detracts from his ability to use all of the techniques at his disposal. Not sure why he thought this would create more tension by doing it this way. It's no coincidence that he considered this a failed experiment, albeit and interesting one. I sort of disagree about the end though - if I remember it correctly, the end was the most tense part, with the maid cleaning off the chest and almost opening it.