MovieChat Forums > Rope (1948) Discussion > Would they have gotten away with it if t...

Would they have gotten away with it if they were more shrewd?

posted 12 years ago by thecrux-1
8 replies | jump to latest

I believe that in the short term, absolutely, but they would surely be colllared in time.

If Brandon wasn't so cocky and Phillip played it cooler, and both played up more concern for David's absence in the rest of the company's presence I believe they would have been able to prevent arousing suspicion long enough to at least carry out their plan of disposing of David's body in a lake.

Brandon was at least shrewd enough to realize that an extended absence from their home would generate too much suspicion, but I don't think that would be enough to prevent them from being suspects. At that point if there is no body, there is no murder but the authorities would most certainly begin grilling everybody, Brandon and Phillip especially. Obviously Phillip would fold under questioning first, but Brandon's stuttering would cause pique their interest to press harder yet and he would fold as well.

[–] Zanza8 12 years ago

But if they were more shrewd, they would have been smart enough to realize that they weren't entitled to commit murder.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

[–] mrjayberry 12 years ago

With no body and no real movtive I think there is no reason they couldn't have gotten away with it. Except for that Brandon couldn't help himself, all he wanted to do was brag about getting away with murder.

[–] jgroub 8 years ago

Yes, I think Brandon would have made it fine, that stuttering pr!ck, ya, but as Joe Pesci said in Good Fellas, Philip may fold under questioning.

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] muzilon 10 years ago

As I recall, Leopold and Loeb got caught because one of them dumbly left his distinctive spectacles behind where they dumped the body. Maybe they would have gotten away with it too if they'd been more careful.

[–] jgroub 8 years ago

Yup, that's right. If not for that one slip, they would have gotten away with it, too. Except that, emboldened by the first, they would probably have gone and committed a second and had to have made that one perfect as well.

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] unlusan 10 years ago

Brandon kept talking about how intellectually superior he is but his plan was weak, not very well planned at all.

For a start he forgot the bloody hat with David's initials in the cupboard.

Excuse my English please, not a native speaker.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

...and he brought up the story about the strangled chickens. He stuttured because he was nervous. He tried to make it look like he was trying to get Kenneth and Janet back together. He made a lot of mistakes. No wonder Rupert got suspicious. Philip couldn't handle the situation for a long time and he eventually spilled the beans, but I think that Rupert had already caught on by that time.

Even if Rupert hadn't come back, how could they have gotten that heavy trunk into the car without anyone noticing for sure? Did they check to see if the trunk would even fit into the car? And then they'd have to dump the trunk somewhere. How could they be sure that they could accomplish this without being seen/heard?

~~
💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

I think that they didn't realize just how they would feel after committing this crime. They probably figured that it would mean nothing to them, and suddenly it hit them what they had done, even Brandon, though he hid his feelings better. Nope, there is no way that they would have gotten away with it. They would have given themselves away sooner or later.

~~
💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍