Strangers on a Train (1951)

• Year: 1951
• Released: 30 Jun 1951
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 2 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044079/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Strangers_on_a_Train
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/strangers-on-a-train
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, French
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
• Runtime: 101 min
• Writer: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, Whitfield Cook
• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Cast: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman
• Keywords: based on novel or book, murder, detective, black and white, noir,

	7.9/10
	88/100
	98% – Critics
	92% – Audience

Strangers on a Train Storyline

Guy Haines is a well-known amateur tennis player who wants to go into politics in his post-tennis life. He is equally well-known in the society papers as a man who wants to divorce his wife in order to marry Anne Morton, the refined daughter of a state senator. Bruno Antony is a charming, gregarious man who lives off his father’s wealth. He’s also a sociopath who loves his mentally-childlike mother, but detests his father, who wants to have him restrained. Guy and Bruno meet one day on a train. Their social chit-chat, directed by Bruno, leads to a discussion of what Bruno considers the perfect murders: each of two strangers kill the other’s “problem” person, as each killer would have no motive or ties to the person murdered. As Guy and Bruno part, Guy believes Bruno’s talk was just social chit-chat, but Bruno believes they have a pact and goes ahead with his murder. Guy knows Bruno committed murder but doesn’t feel he can go to the police with the fantastical story, which be thinks will implicate himself more. The situation gets worse for Guy as Bruno starts inserting himself in Guy’s life to pressure Guy into keeping to his supposed end of the bargain. Guy must figure out what to do to free himself, not kill anyone, and keep those around him safe. Bruno has Guy’s personalized cigarette lighter which he is threatening to use to implicate Guy if Guy doesn’t comply with his part of the deal.

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Strangers on a Train Movie Reviews

A truly exceptional film…with one glaring problem.

Don’t get me wrong, I love and respect this film and it’s among Alfred Hitchcock’s best films. Yet, I still cannot see it as a perfect film because there is one glaring problem. Any NORMAL person would soon go to the police if they were in Farley Granger’s situation…and not try to fix everything themselves or hope the problem would go away on its own. And, any suspense film that hinges on the idea off smart people temporarily acting dumb has got a knock against it–and surely doesn’t deserve a 10. However, I do need to point out that aside from this, this is a great film. Robert Walker’s performance is menacing and exciting to watch–and not typical of the usual film noir or suspense villain. He simply made the film. Also, aside from the brain lapse of the main character, the rest of the script is great–exciting, original and well worth seeing. A lovely film…but perhaps overrated within the Top 250 due to its plot difficulty.

By the way, a GREAT double-feature would be to see this and “My Son, John”. That’s because these were Walker’s last two movies and the actor died before completing “My Son, John”. So, to salvage the film, a few clips from “Strangers on a Train” were inserted into the second film. Views of DC were reused as well as the final death scene that was clipped and inserted in a vehicle at the end of “My Son, John”. Fascinating viewing.

Splendid and nail-biting thriller from Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock is my all time favourite director, his films are full of his fashioned touches and masterful technique, a vast majority of them are compelling from start to finish. Strangers on a Train is one of those compelling films, even though Hitchcock clashed with the script writer several times and was underwhelmed by Farley Granger’s lead performance, it is still a gripping movie. For one thing it is very well made, the cinematography is crisp and beautiful and the setting is authentic. Also helping add to the nail-biting atmosphere is the outstanding music score, while sometimes romantic it is also haunting and tense. Then we have a very good screenplay, superb direction from Hitchcock and two particularly brilliant scenes at the fairground(the second being the better one in my opinion). The acting is stellar, while I found Farley Granger dull in Rope, this dullness works for his tennis-champion character and it was an understated performance I really liked. Ruth Roman and Patricia Hitchcock are alluring and convincing in their roles, and Leo G.Carroll is memorable as Senator Morton. Robert Walker is absolutely amazing as Bruno though, he is eccentric, cold-hearted, smooth-talking and very chilling. Overall, a splendid nail-biter, a definite winner from Hitch. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Criss-Cross

In Strangers On A Train, it’s obvious from the start that playboy wastrel Robert Walker has singled out Farley Granger as an unwilling accomplice to a pair of murders. Granger’s a semi-public figure, he’s a tennis pro, but not an especially high one. High enough however for him to know that Granger is trapped in a loveless marriage and would like to be free to marry Ruth Roman.

So when they meet as complete Strangers On A Train one afternoon, Walker knows enough that Granger will at least be intrigued enough with the possibility that if the two of them, complete strangers, did commit homicide on parties that the other would be convenienced by their demise. Though Granger is repulsed by the idea, one of the beautiful things about this film, is that you can see in the performance he gives that Granger just might submit to temptation.

In fact when Walker kills Laura Elliot, Granger’s wife whose been two timing him and even gotten pregnant by another man, he expects that Granger will in turn murder Walker’s father so that Walker can inherit his estate. Today Walker would be called a trust fund baby and a pretty malevolent one at that.

Alfred Hitchcock directed Walker to his career role, ironically in his last complete film. Walker died the following year with most of My Son John finished. Hitchcock does not do too bad by Farley Granger either.

Of course when Granger does balk at committing homicide on people who never did anything to him, the tension. Strangers On A Train is also characterized by great editing, first in the tennis match in which Granger has to finish the match and waylay Walker before he plants evidence convicting Granger at the crime scene. And also in that final climax with a fight on a runaway carousel between Walker and Granger.

Strangers On A Train is Hitchcock at his best, it should not be missed and ought to be required viewing when film classes study editing.