Alfred Hitchcock has cast several actors in a few of his films. James Stewart, a favorite of Hitchcock's has been in "Rope," "Rear Window," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," and "Vertigo." He is and always has been an actor that grows with his characters. As the relationship between Stewart and Hitchcock grew, so did the character's he played, complexity. Stewart provided Hitchcock what few could in his life and career, a constant, an evolutionary constant. Through analysis of his roles in these four films, the actor-director relationship can be explored as well as how these roles may have changed Stewart and even Hitchcock.

In "Rope" James Stewart plays Rupert Cadell. He is a mentor to the two murderers in the film: Brandon and Phillip. Although Rupert was the catalyst for the logic behind committing a murder, (Rupert had deliberated with both Brandon and Phillip, in a seemingly favorable way,...
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