Strangers on a Train

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Keith W This is a great Hitchcock movie - one of his best in my opinion. No blondes to murder in the shower or throw birds at, but a wonderfully tight noir plot co-written by Chandler - who else! Farley Granger (Guy Haines) and Ruth Roman (Anne Morton) are suitably colourless as the leading man and lady (deliberate choice?) and Robert Walker (Bruno Antony) is wonderfully OTT as the charming psychopath. But for me the standout performances are the minor roles. Leo G Carroll can play a US Senator in his sleep. You would think he really was a senator of the 1950s. Where has the gravitas from today's politicians gone? But the standout for me is Patricia Hitchcock as the younger, impressionable sister Barbara Morton who likes to read graphic accounts of real life gory murders. She revels in Guy's situation but is supportive as well. There's a great little moment when at the end of the tennis match when she is supposed to distract detective Hennessey, she is so taken up with applauding Guy, Anne has to nudge her to remind her. In fact all the supporting cast are great in their roles. But it is the visuals that stay in the memory. Bruno reaching through the storm drain to retrieve the lighter (cf The Third Man), the shots of Bruno and Guy's contrasting shoes at the start, the murder of Miriam Haines seen in her glasses and the great final carousel scene with the young boy having a great time despite the crazy speed. The film shows that train travel is far more conducive to drama than travel by plane. What have we lost? Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/08/24 Full Review Blaine P Great visuals, interesting plot, and quality acting with a great cast. However, like many modern day movies, Strangers On A Train stumbles into absurdity in the final climactic scene. Guy is being followed by the police who suspect him of killing his wife. When Guy quickly ducks onto the the merry-go-round the policeman's first instinct is to fire into the carnival ride full of children! He misses Guy but the operator is hit and presumed killed and the ride goes spinning out of control. Then another old-timer volunteers to stop it. He crawls under the spinning platform, reaches the center and pulls the brake. It is safe to assume that he is also killed when the spinning ride then explodes with him in the center of it. How many of the children on the ride are killed we'll never know. The same scene also contains an unintentionally hilarious line. When Guy asks the policeman (who just fired into a crowd of children) if he can go through dying Bruno's pockets to find the cigarette lighter Bruno was going to frame Guy with, the cop replies, "No, and besides he said he doesn't have it." I guess he was a stickler for some rules. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/07/24 Full Review Dick W This is such a classic. Never a step out of place and delivered with wonderful panache. A stellar performance from the cast and of course Hitchcock himself. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/26/24 Full Review Sam W Extremely dated in every way and it’s a rather fantastical method of turning the hypothetical into practice, but it’s still an effective thriller. The tension and drama builds as he becomes trapped through blackmail and the unhinged stalker element is very well done with great acting. The music adds to every scene and whilst the ending is ridiculously silly and a bit drawn out, it’s a memorable finale. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/23/24 Full Review ian b Not my favourite Hitchcock film.I thought it was rather amateurish in parts. Especially near the end when the old man goes under the ride to turn it off near the end..I thought he was never going to reach the turn off lever. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/19/24 Full Review Ted B 4.5 stars. If you're a true movie buff, then the mention of the name Hitchcock instantly brings a feeling of thrills, chills, and suspense. After all, he is the master of that film genre. He recognized that motion pictures are a visual experience and that visuals are the primary way we process information. His genius took that knowledge and created characters and visuals that leave just enough to the audience's imagination to get them involved in the movie itself. As an example of audience involvement: Normally, a tennis fan would have great interest in the outcome of the match in the film. However, the film's plot was that the protagonist had to win the match in three straight sets in order to leave and catch a critical train departure. This added a level of tension to the scene that went beyond tennis fandom. Also, I can only imagine what a 1951 audience felt during the runaway merry-go-round scene. This was his first movie of the fifties. To me, it was the beginning of some of his best movies. I think this movie was a big step in developing the techniques that made him so iconic throughout that period. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/17/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Strangers on a Train

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