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Strangers on a Train (1951)

8.2
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Ratings: 8.2/10 from 58,232 users  
Reviews: 229 user | 110 critic

A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement.

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(screen play), (screen play), 3 more credits »
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Title: Strangers on a Train (1951)

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Top 250 #140 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
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Miriam Joyce Haines (as Laura Elliott)
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Jonathan Hale ...
Howard St. John ...
John Brown ...
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Robert Gist ...
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Storyline

Bruno Anthony thinks he has the perfect plot to rid himself of his hated father and when he meets tennis player Guy Haines on a train, he thinks he's found the partner he needs to pull it off. His plan is relatively simple. Two strangers each agree to kill someone the other person wants disposed of. For example, Guy could kill his father and he could get rid of Guy's wife Miriam, freeing him to marry Anne Morton, the beautiful daughter of a U.S. Senator. Guy dismisses it all out of hand but but Bruno goes ahead with his half of the 'bargain' and disposes of Miriam. When Guy balks, Bruno makes it quite clear that he will plant evidence to implicate Guy in her murder if he doesn't get rid of his father. Guy had also made some unfortunate statements about Miriam after she had refused him a divorce. It all leads the police to believe Guy is responsible for the murder, forcing him to deal with Bruno's mad ravings. Written by garykmcd

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

tennis | stranger | murder | train | divorce | See more »

Taglines:

You'll be in the grip of love's strangest trip! See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some violence and tension | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

30 June 1951 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Strangers on a Train'  »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£23,764 (UK) (13 August 1999)

Gross:

£23,764 (UK) (13 August 1999)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (cut) | (preview)

Sound Mix:

(RCA Sound System)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

With the death of Farley Granger in 2011, Patricia Hitchcock is the last surviving member of the cast. See more »

Goofs

Tennis match played before the end of the movie is clearly put together from 2 different games - you can see those are different tennis courts and also stadiums. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Bruno Anthony: I beg your pardon, but aren't you Guy Haines?
See more »

Connections

Referenced in The All New Alexei Sayle Show: Episode #1.1 (1994) See more »

Soundtracks

"Ain't We Got Fun"
(1921) (uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Played as Bruno gets in line during the last amusement park scene
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Strangers on a Train - a Review by Jo Henshaw
15 June 2000 | by (Coventry, England) – See all my reviews



"Lets swap Murders- your wife, my father"- seemingly innocent conversation between two strangers - Bruno Anthony and Guy Haines when they meet over lunch on a train journey. Guy, a solid, respectable tennis player, whose problem is that his wife, the flirtatious Miriam, won't divorce him so he can marry senators daughter Anne, laughs the whole conversation off as a joke. The following week he isn't laughing any more. In a scene of classic Hitchcock suspense, Bruno stalks Miriam through a carnival and strangles her. As he does, her glasses fall off and we see the murder eerily reflected twice through her lenses. Cold hearted and amoral Bruno, his part of the deal completed, approaches an appalled Guy expecting, even pressuring him into 'doing his bit.' Matters are not helped when Anne's precocious and outspoken younger sister turns up suspecting Guy of Miriam's murder. So accused of a murder he didn't commit and expected to commit another, what is Guy going to do? The power of this film is in the presentation of human beings as having a murderous side to their nature - and this Hitchcock does to perfection.


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Bruno targeted Guy Tim-O-T
This film was okay but aedt89
Overrated? rzajac
Farley Granger ruined it... Ruby_Bale_Desplat
purpose of scene with blind old man xing the street JeePee
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