Strangers on a Train (1951)

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.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Raymond Chandler (screen play), Czenzi Ormonde (screen play)

Stars:

Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Farley Granger	...	Guy Haines
Ruth Roman	...	Anne Morton
Robert Walker	...	Bruno Antony
Leo G. Carroll	...	Sen. Morton
Patricia Hitchcock	...	Barbara Morton
Kasey Rogers	...	Miriam Joyce Haines (as Laura Elliott)
Marion Lorne	...	Mrs. Antony
Jonathan Hale	...	Mr. Antony
Howard St. John	...	Police Capt. Turley
John Brown	...	Prof. Collins
Norma Varden	...	Mrs. Cunningham
Robert Gist	...	Det. Leslie Hennessey

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 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.

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Plot Keywords:

oedipus complex | swapping murders | psychopath | stranger | tennis player | 

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Taglines:

Excuse me.

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some violence and tension

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

30 June 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Strangers on a Train'

Filming Locations:

West Side Tennis Club - 1 Tennis Place, Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,630,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 96 min (cut) 103 min (preview)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alfred Hitchcock's cameo in the film was directed by his daughter, Patricia Hitchcock.

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Goofs

When the detectives lose Guy outside the Forest Hills tennis stadium, they are shown standing on a curb, with a black car parked down the street behind them, before Hennesey dashes out across the street and flags down another vehicle. When he jumps in and asks the woman in the back seat to let them follow Guy's cab, the same street and parked black car are seen through that vehicle's rear window, even though that car was plainly stopped coming from a different street and a different direction.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in The Last Days of Cinerama (2012)

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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

User Reviews

Rich and entertaining premium Hitchcock

A wonderful, rich and entertaining film. It manages to be just about all things to all men: a noirish thriller, but with plenty of humour; a matinée feature with iconic set pieces (the tennis match and the final fairground showdown) and a handsome cast led by an unspeakably beautiful Ruth Roman. The acting is good and to some depth. Robert Walker's schemer Bruno Anthony sets the standard the others follow. Farley's tennis chump (sic) Guy Haines (a character he's recycled from the earlier Rope) is likable but bubbleheaded enough to maintain the suspense; I also liked Patricia Hitchcock's Bobbie soxer sister to Roman, a good foil for Farley's character (and reminiscent of Barbara Bel Geddes' homely Midge opposite James Stewart's Scottie in Vertigo).

What I hadn't expected is the homoerotic character, not only explicit in Walker's Bruno, but also throughout the action as a strong concurrent subtext. Once I had the idea in my head that Hitchcock intended the film as a homosexual tragedy, I found it difficult to shift. Of course, it's no more than subtext, albeit a pervasive one (it's 1951 after all) but the psychosis of the queer character moves fluidly between the surface action and the implication of his relationship with Haines. It also serves as a way of explaining Haines' perplexing procrastination in involving the authorities – perhaps Bruno's behaviour is that of the sexual blackmailer. As I say, such readings breed themselves. Anyway, any sympathy that Hitchcock might have been seen to be harbouring towards the orientation of Bruno, if not the character himself gets tied up neatly at the end with Haines decisively removed from the 'danger' and getting the girl.

Hitchcock seems imperiously in control of his ideas and technique in this film. I was particularly taken with a sequence at a party. He successfully shows five different, well-developed characters all benighted to different degrees and coming to their own conclusions without any need for dialogue, both racking up tension and pushing the drama forward. There's very little to take issue with here. 8/10