"Rope" -- Not "Psycho" -- Was Banned in Many American Cities and Military Bases

Newspaper articles from 1948 point out that in the United States, Rope was banned on all military bases(overseas, too) and in some American cities. The reason given was the violence and themes of the film...but it is also believed that the movie was too clear about its gay lead characters.

The violence: Back in 1948, Rope was made under the tight censorship of the Hays Code. The Hays code had "clear lines" on what couldn't be shown(no cuss words, no nudity) but it also had a "general" warning against violence, something like: "The taking of human life shall not be lingered upon on screen." So MOST murders had to be quick and blood-free such as the opening "last moments" of the strangling in rope.

For all that, I STILL think that 1948 audiences must have been shocked by that opening cut to a young man in the final moments of strangulation by two other men. You can FEEL the cruelty -- two men ganging up on one, one of the killers checking the victim's heartbeat and -- after the murder -- one of the two men talking about "the exquisite moment when he went limp" -- a near-sexual description (the men are coded gay) of murder as climax.

Moreover, after the murder is done and the body hidden in the cedar chest for the duration of the film, the later discussions make the murder we saw all the MORE horrific: a thrill crime committed with no motive, no rancor towards the victim -- he literally never saw it coming. And the sad cruelty attendant to the poor father waiting in vain for his son to arrive. And the fiance who will never get to marry this ...corpse.I feel that Hitchocck truly staged a cruel, ugly murder in Rope -- it just wasn't graphic, is al

The themes: Rope took up -- a mere three years after WWII ended with the defeat of a Nazi government that believed in the necessity of "killing off all inferiors" and cut a little close to the bone with Americans (the John Dall and James Stewart characters) professing such beliefs.

None of the (few) newspaper articles that I read (on the internet, on microfiche) were willing to speak overtly -- in 1948 -- of the gay overtones of the piece (with both the two young killers being clearly suggested to be gay and their professor mentor -- Jimmy Stewart! -- being less so suggested, BUT...suggested.) But I think that maybe Rope got banned more for the gay content than for the brief violence and political themes.

The bans cut into Rope's box office. I don't think it was much of a hit on release -- the maximum available audience did NOT get to see Hitchcock's "single take experiment movie."

But a greater audience has come to the film since its 1984 release on VHS and cable/streaming thereafter.