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Rope
Dec 13, 2013 18:29:56 GMT
Post by kooshmeister on Dec 13, 2013 18:29:56 GMT
I recently purchased this, the Dell novelization of Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Rope, apparently written by Hitch himself (more on this below). In fact, the cover scan is of the very copy I nabbed off of eBay. Brandon and his best friend Phillip have just done the unthinkable. They've just gotten finished murdering their classmate and supposed friend David Kentley by strangling him with a length of rope. After stuffing the corpse into a convenient antique trunk in the living room, they open the shades and begin preparing to host a dinner party, which, in a way, the dearly departed David will be the star of. To attend will be David's father, his aunt, his girlfriend Janet, his best friend Kenneth, and the boys' own professor from college, Rupert Cadell. Brandon and Phillip committed the murder as what they consider an intellectual exercise. The two are believers in the concept of the "supermen" as proposed by Nietzsche and taught to them in school by Rupert in his philosophy class. They view themselves as superior to other people, and want to prove it by committing the "perfect murder" and getting away with it. Brandon views the party as the "finishing touch" on the crime, seeing it as a means of flaunting his cleverness right under everyone else's noses, complete with serving a buffet off of the top of the trunk holding David's body, despite Phillip's misgivings and increasing unease. Phillip is concerned Rupert will catch on to what has happened. Brandon is counting on it, though. Since Rupert is the one who taught them all about Nietzsche's philosophy, he is eager to impress his professor. To him, Rupert's approval will justify the murder. The guests begin arriving and of course everyone notices David's absence. Especially Rupert. As the evening wears on and the party grows more and more tense, thanks particularly to Phillip drinking a lot more than he ought to in an effort to steady his nerves, and Brandon becoming increasingly more and overt in the little hints he keeps "cleverly" dropping, it begins to look like things are building towards an explosive climax. But what will happen? Will the two killers get away with their crime, or will someone find them out...? Worth noting is that Rope the book has a slightly different beginning than Rope the movie. In the movie, we actually see David getting strangled. In the book, he has been killed before the story even starts and, indeed, has already been loaded into the trunk; the first chapter begins with Brandon and Phillip shutting the trunk lid. The book also features a "crime map" on the back cover, although the layout of the apartment is slightly different from how it is in the movie: Another odd thing is the author is credited as Alfred Hitchcock. Did Hitch actually write this book? Or was it ghostwritten by someone else and Dell used Hitchcock's name to sell the book (sort of like how Alan Dean Foster wrote the Star Wars novelization and was credited as "George Lucas"). The paperback itself provides no evidence either way; apart from Hitchcock the only other name attached to it is that of Patrick Hamilton and Hamilton's name is only included in a "based on the play by" style credit. Any info anyone can dig up regarding this apparently semi-rare paperback novelization and its author(s) would be much appreciated.
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Rope
Dec 18, 2013 10:43:04 GMT
Post by peeedeel on Dec 18, 2013 10:43:04 GMT
The author, I believe, was Don Ward. Obviously it was based on the play by Patrick Hamilton. Cover artist was Gerald Gregg.
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Rope
Jan 20, 2014 1:06:06 GMT
Post by kooshmeister on Jan 20, 2014 1:06:06 GMT
Thanks for that info.
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