James Stewart
James Stewart was one of the greatest Hollywood actors of the 20th century and a frequent collaborator of Alfred Hitchcock's. Rope was the first in a series of collaborations between Stewart and Hitchcock, though it is said to be the actor's least favorite among those films. Stewart has contended that he was miscast as the film’s professor with a penchant for Nietzsche. Indeed, the casting was questioned by many, including screenwriter Arthur Laurents, who once said he wondered if Stewart had even realized that the character was homosexual.
Stewart's other collaborations with Hitchcock include Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo. While Vertigo is now a beloved film, at the time of its release, it received poor reviews, which Hitchcock allegedly blamed on James Stewart looking too old. Vertigo was the duo's final collaboration.
In addition to working with Alfred Hitchcock, Stewart appeared in dozens of films, including The Philadelphia Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Searchers, You Can't Take it With You, The Shop Around the Corner, and Harvey. He won an Academy Award for his performance in The Philadelphia Story.
John Dall
Rope was just John Dall’s third movie after his debut performance in The Corn is Green, which snagged a Best Actor Academy Award nomination. He also starred in the cult noir film Gun Crazy in 1950. In addition to his career in film, he was a prolific and accomplished stage actor.
Farley Granger
Farley Granger is best known for his role in Rope as well as his role in another Hitchcock film, Strangers on a Train. Other films include The North Star, The Purple Heart, They Live by Night, Edge of Doom, Our Very Own, The Story of Three Loves, and Senso. Later in his career, he would work in television and onstage. On Broadway he appeared in The Seagull, The Crucible, The Glass Menagerie, The King & I, Deathtrap, A Month in the Country, and Talley & Son.
Dick Hogan
After making forty movies in just a little over a decade, the murder victim who spends the entire movie hidden inside a trunk would be the last role for Dick Hogan.
Joan Chandler
Rope was Chandler’s final movie. A founder of the Actors Studio, Chandler was an accomplished stage actress at the time she signed on for the Hitchcock film. Throughout her career, she made appearances in 5 Broadway plays, 12 television shows, and a handful of films.
Edith Evanson
Edith Evanson appeared in dozens of films throughout her long career. Throughout the 1940s, she made a career for herself playing middle-aged secretaries, maids, housekeepers, and nosy neighbors. Her films include Citizen Kane, Blossoms in the Dust, Woman of the Year, Reunion in France, The Strange Woman, Rope, and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Cedric Hardwicke
Hardwicke was an acclaimed British actor, known for his onstage work in plays by Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. Shaw once said that Hardwicke was his fourth favorite actor after the three Marx Brothers. Hardwicke was a prolific television and film actor, appearing in Stanley and Livingstone, Les Miserables, The Ten Commandments, and many other works.
Douglas Dick
His role as Kenneth in Rope is his most famous, but Dick appeared in several other roles as well, including The Searching Wind, The Red Badge of Courage, and Something to Live For. He retired from acting in 1971 and became a psychologist.
Constance Collier
Constance Collier was an acclaimed British stage and film actress. After appearing in countless plays in England, including Antony and Cleopatra and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Collier moved to Hollywood to become a voice and diction coach. Her other films include Stage Door, Kitty, Perils of Pauline, and Whirlpool.
