Strangers on a Train (1951)

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Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring Leo G. Carroll, Farley Granger, Patricia Hitchcock, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker.

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In one of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classics, tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger) chances to meet wealthy wastrel Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train. Having read all about Guy, Bruno is aware that the tennis player is trapped in an unhappy marriage to to wife Miriam (Laura Elliott) and has been seen in the company of senator's daughter Ann Morton (Ruth Roman). Baiting Guy, Bruno reveals that he feels trapped by his hated father (Jonathan Hale). As Guy listens with detached amusement, Bruno discusses the theory of "exchange murders." Suppose that Bruno were to murder Guy's wife, and Guy in exchange were to kill Bruno's father? With no known link between the two men, the police would be none the wiser, would they? When he reaches his destination, Guy bids goodbye to Bruno, thinking nothing more of the affable but rather curious young man's homicidal theories. And then, Guy's wife turns up strangled to death. Co-adapted by Raymond Chandler from a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train perfectly exemplifies Hitchcock's favorite theme of the evil that lurks just below the surface of everyday life and ordinary men. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Strangers on a Train on Reel 13
by jjgittes in jjgittes Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"While STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, which aired on Reel 13 this past Saturday, generally isn't considered amongst Hitchcock's upper echelon of films (VERTIGO, PSYCHO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE BIRDS), it's still an effective and entertaining work of cinema with several sequences that remind us why Hitch is such a master of his craft.One only needs to watch the opening sequence, which we used to study in film school ad nauseum, to get a sense of what I mean. Hitchcock opens the movie by following the shoes of the two main characters as they arrive at the train station and make their way toward their inevitable meeting on the train. It's brilliant because of its simplicity and also how it affects multiple things at once. It offers mystery by not showing us faces, but through the design of the shoes and the nature of each character's stride, we immediately get a general sense of who each of them are without a word of dialogue spoken. It's truly visual storytelling at its best.Another example of ... " [More]

Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Al ...
by Ovation in Alfred Hitchcock

hasn't rated it.

"Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Alfred Hitchcock The legendary interview from 1963 PB: You never watch your films with an audience. Don't you miss hearing them scream? AH: No. I can hear them when I'm making the picture. Do you feel that the American film remains the most vital cinema? Worldwide, yes. Because when we make films for the United States, we are automatically making them for all the world--because America is full of foreigners. It's a melting pot. Which brings us to another point. I don't know what they mean when they talk about "Hollywood" pictures. I say, "Where are they conceived?" Look at this room--you can't see out the windows. We might just as well be in a hotel room in London, or anywhere you like. So here is where we get it down on paper. Now where do we go? We go on location, perhaps; and then where do we work? We're ... " [More]

Re: Top Classic Noir
by Jymkata in Top 5

loved it.

"[quote user="Risselada"] As much as I have LOVED pretty much every classic film noir I've seen, I'm surprised that I've seen so few. But here's my top 5. It's pretty much more than half of all of them I've seen. 1. Out of the Past, 1947. 2. Pickup on South Street, 1953. 3. The Killing, 1956. 4. The Big Sleep, 1946. 5. Strangers on a Train, 1951. If you'd have let it go to 1958, I would have put Touch of Evil up there for sure! Here's a couple I'm hoping to see. Anyone want to recommend any of them?D.O.A., 1949.The Big Clock, 1948.The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946.In a Lonely Place, 1950.The Lost Weekend, 1945.This Gun for Hire, 1942. [/quote] Rizzo- In my opinion This Gun for Hire is a masterpiece - midget-sized Alan Ladd makes a very tough noir anti-hero. I would also highly recommend The Big Clock (decently remade as No Way Out in the 80's) and D.O.A. (horribly remade in the 80's), but I would caution that I only have one problem with D.O.A. (early in the film there ... " [More]

Re: Top Classic Noir
by Risselada in Top 5

loved it.

"As much as I have LOVED pretty much every classic film noir I've seen, I'm surprised that I've seen so few. But here's my top 5. It's pretty much more than half of all of them I've seen. 1. Out of the Past, 1947. 2. Pickup on South Street, 1953. 3. The Killing, 1956. 4. The Big Sleep, 1946. 5. Strangers on a Train, 1951. If you'd have let it go to 1958, I would have put Touch of Evil up there for sure! Here's a couple I'm hoping to see. Anyone want to recommend any of them?D.O.A., 1949.The Big Clock, 1948.The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946.In a Lonely Place, 1950.The Lost Weekend, 1945.This Gun for Hire, 1942. " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

loved it.

From the opening shots of two pairs of shoes walking, two train tracks crisscrossing, and those shoes accidentally bumping toes, Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951) explores one of his signature concerns: the coexistence of good and evil in one person. In a story adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel and structured through a series of doublings, Robert Walker's Bruno becomes the flamboyant homicidal id to Farley Granger's stiff arriviste Guy, obliging Guy's desire to eliminate his wife and expecting Guy to return the favor with Bruno's father. After the murder, dreamily reflected in a pair of eyeglasses, Bruno haunts Guy, menacingly popping into Guy's life in Washington and on the tennis court. Yet, with Walker's charisma and Granger's weakness, Bruno is the more charming figure, revealing the appeal of moral chaos even as that chaos must be punished. Hitchcock's persistent pairs -- shoes, train tracks, crossed tennis racquets on Guy's lighter, two fateful carnival trips, two bespectacled women -- point to the ineffable connection between Bruno and Guy, and the (literally) dark psychosis that lurks beneath everyone's bright, well-ordered surface. A popular success, Strangers on a Train was Hitchcock's return to form after several failures. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Tags: suspense , Hitchcock , homoerotic , scary , noir
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