Written by Raymond Chandler And Czenzi Ormonde And Whitfield Cook
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Bruno: "My theory is that everyone is a potential murderer."
I'll be catching up with more Alfred Hitchcock movies over the next few months and one that was on my to do list was this one. I already liked Farley Granger in Rope and I was keen on seeing his performance in this often mentioned classic.
In the role of tennis star, Guy Haines, Granger gave one hell of a performance as a man with a messy personal life that would get a lot messier upon a chance meeting during a train journey. Sometimes it's best not to talk to strangers on public transport.
Guy made the mistake of being cordial to psychopath Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) and it wasn't long before the idea of a criss cross murder would be a conversation piece. A conversation that Guy should've taken a lot more serious than he initially did.
Bruno was more than keen to bump off Guy's estranged wife, Miriam (Kasey Rogers) and given the short screen time she had, you can see why Guy was happy to see Miriam dead. Guy also had another lover with Anne Morton (Ruth Roman) and didn't want his wife around to cause him any more headaches.
Of course, there was Guy having to kill Bruno's constantly disapproving father (Jonathan Hale). Bruno was attached to his mother (Marian Lorne) and wanted his father dead. Guy wasn't keen on actually keeping his end of the deal and went to great lengths to not kill Mr Anthony.
The rest of the movie was a nice battle of wits between the two characters, along with a physical altercation that didn't end well for Bruno. Bruno died, didn't get what he wanted and everyone knew he killed Miriam. Guy managed to keep Anne and learned not to talk to strangers on certain modes of public transport.
- Like most of his movies, this was based on Patricia Highsmith's novel of the same name.
- Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia also appeared in the movie as Anne's sister, Barbara. Anne's father was a Senator (Leo G. Carroll).
- There's cameo appearances from Alfred Hitchcock as well as Jack Cushingham and John Doucette.
- Chronology: The movie is set in the town of Metcalf as well as Washington DC.
Strangers On A Train was a sublime adaptation of the source material (regardless of some big changes). Both Farley Granger and Robert Walker are on superb form as two very different men drawn together with the grim realisation of a hypothetical made into a reality. It's an excellent movie.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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