A Few Words About A few words about...™ Rope -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

Well, sorry to hear about the various flaws in this set, but ROPE is the one title I may never watch again. Interesting experiment, for sure, but I found the acting stiff and uninvolving. In particular I just cannot abide John Dall. Farley Granger is okay, but Dall, who I also found insufferable in SPARTACUS, just about kills the film for me. Just one of those personal things -- we all have some actors who don't click with us.

 

[Vincent_P]

Speaking of registration errors, I wonder if what I think were occasional registration problems that I noticed during the New York Film Festival screening of the new Criterion restoration of HEAVEN'S GATE will be noticeable on the Blu-ray.
Vincent

 

[mikeyhitchfan]

While the image is sharper and detailed that muddy brownish color is still there. It might be registration errors, too, but I think it needs a new scan. An upgrade but not that pretty to look at.

 

[rsmithjr]

Well, sorry to hear about the various flaws in this set, but ROPE is the one title I may never watch again. Interesting experiment, for sure, but I found the acting stiff and uninvolving. In particular I just cannot abide John Dall. Farley Granger is okay, but Dall, who I also found insufferable in SPARTACUS, just about kills the film for me. Just one of those personal things -- we all have some actors who don't click with us.

Mr. Dall was great at playing insufferable characters. To me, his roles in Rope and Spartacus are very memorable, and I relish every moment he has on the screen.

 

[Scott Calvert]

Isn't the muted color of Rope correct? Wasn't Natalie Kalmus the technicolor supervisor on this one? From what I have read she could be kind of a pain for cinematographers of the time.
Outside of the registration issues (and I have seen much worse) I thought it looked fine.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Scott Calvert /t/324706/a-few-words-about-rope-in-blu-ray#post_3996348
Isn't the muted color of Rope correct? Wasn't Natalie Kalmus the technicolor supervisor on this one? From what I have read she could be kind of a pain for cinematographers of the time.
Outside of the registration issues (and I have seen much worse) I thought it looked fine.

One would wish to consult a nitrate print to find out.

 

[mikeyhitchfan]

Originally Posted by Scott Calvert /t/324706/a-few-words-about-rope-in-blu-ray#post_3996348
Isn't the muted color of Rope correct? Wasn't Natalie Kalmus the technicolor supervisor on this one? From what I have read she could be kind of a pain for cinematographers of the time.
Outside of the registration issues (and I have seen much worse) I thought it looked fine.

She was indeed. There were reshoots with an different cameraman (both were credited) after Hitchcock felt that some of the gradual color changes from day to night were not good enough and the color was too lurid. So he did prefer the muted look. Perhaps that's why the next film Under Capricorn looks similar, although that was shot by the famous Jack Cardiff. I would love to see a decent blu-ray of that one.