Hitchcock thought this would become the way of the future - to have a film seem like one continuous shot. What it became was a rather interesting but in the end crippling experience for all involved. The actors must have gone through agony because if one of them blew a line they would have to do the 8 minute segment all over again (8 minutes being the length of one roll of film).
The film itself feels somewhat static and that's understandable since it took an enormous amount of effort to even move the camera. The subject is rather ingenious. Like Hitchcock's later "Strangers on a Train" it deals with totally self-important characters who think they are the smartest in the world but you almost hope they succeed because you know that they can't. John Dall is the ultimate smarmy character who thinks that what he does makes other people look like raving simpletons. But even better is Farley Granger who plays the jittery one who we are just waiting for to crack up. Between these two is James Stewart's character who served as kind of a mentor to them.
Any film that implies homosexuality which was made before the mid-60's was bound to rub a lot of noses but Hitchcock somehow never goes over the line and that is a testament to his brilliance. Anybody who can spot an outwardly homosexual reference in this film is a genius.
The end is kind of predictable and it is dragged out too long for us to care anymore but other than that this was a fairly good experience although it didn't have to be in color.
The film itself feels somewhat static and that's understandable since it took an enormous amount of effort to even move the camera. The subject is rather ingenious. Like Hitchcock's later "Strangers on a Train" it deals with totally self-important characters who think they are the smartest in the world but you almost hope they succeed because you know that they can't. John Dall is the ultimate smarmy character who thinks that what he does makes other people look like raving simpletons. But even better is Farley Granger who plays the jittery one who we are just waiting for to crack up. Between these two is James Stewart's character who served as kind of a mentor to them.
Any film that implies homosexuality which was made before the mid-60's was bound to rub a lot of noses but Hitchcock somehow never goes over the line and that is a testament to his brilliance. Anybody who can spot an outwardly homosexual reference in this film is a genius.
The end is kind of predictable and it is dragged out too long for us to care anymore but other than that this was a fairly good experience although it didn't have to be in color.