"Strangers on a Train" (1951 movie)- Review

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Released: 1951
Country: United States

Genres: Film-noir, Psychological thriller, Crime

Main cast: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Patricia Hitchcock, Leo G. Carroll, Kasey Rogers, Robert Gist, Howard St. John, John Brown

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review

Two strangers meet on a train. One of them, who is rather strange, talks about something which the other one thinks as a joke. Yet, the strange man is truly serious.

Oh yes, this happens at the very beginning of Alfred Hitchcock's ''Strangers on a Train''. This movie is adapted from the novel by Patricia Highsmith. The first few scenes of the film takes place on a train, and the discussion that takes place between the two men are somewhat looks weird, and the man named Bruce Anthony looks creepy.

Guy Haines is a handsome tennis player, played by Farley Granger. One day he is traveling to Metcalf on a train, to visit his wife. His wife, Miriam, is an unpleasant woman, and he wants to divorce her to marry the woman he loves, the beautiful Anne Morton. A man named Bruce Antony starts a conversation with Guy, revealing that he is his fan and knows many things about him.

Then Bruce says a thing which scares the audience. He tells Guy that they can swap murders. Bruce would murder Miriam, in return of which Guy would have to murder Bruce's father.

This horrible thing is taken simply as a joke by Guy, and he doesn't pay much attention to this, but however, Bruce is serious.

Guy leaves Metcalf after an unpleasant conversation with Miriam...

Meanwhile, while Miriam is in an amusement park, Bruce strangles her...

While entering his home, Guy sees Bruce waiting for him. Bruce informs him that he has killed Miriam and starts asking when will he kill his father. Guy is both horrified and frightened. He cannot go to the police as they will suspect him for the murder. They will think that he had murdered Miriam so that he can be with Anne Morton.

Police want to see Guy. When his alibi, a man whom he met at the train on his way back home, fails to identify him, police start suspecting him. Now a detective Hennessy accompanies him wherever he goes. Meanwhile, Bruce Anthony often appears...

The character of Bruce is certainly psychopathic. He is the antagonist. From the moment he makes his appearance and starts a conversation with Guy, we notice something strange with him. And it seems apparent that he often has crazy ideas. Robert Walker gives a brilliant performance as Bruce. His splendid performance makes the character seem more creepy and strange.

Farley Granger had previously collaborated with Hitchcock for the film ''Rope''. He likewise gives a marvelous performance as the handsome, well-known tennis player Guy Haines.

Ruth Roman as Guy's intended Anne Morton, the daughter of the Senator, is brilliant. Her character, the gentle and kind Anne Morton, is memorable.

Besides Walker, Granger and Roman, a splendid performance is given by Patricia Hitchcock, the daughter of Alfred Hitchcock. Her character, Barbara Morton, is a supporting character, but remains memorable. She is charming, outspoken, and says whatever she thinks. She looks a bit like Miriam, and her eyeglasses makes her resemble more to Miriam, which... Oh, I don't think I should reveal anymore.

Also present are Leo G. Carroll, as the Senator and the goodhearted father of Anne Morton and Barbara Morton, Robert Gist as the friendly Detective Hennessy, Kasey Roger (credited as Laura Elliott) as Miriam, the unpleasant, adulterous wife of Guy Haines. In minor roles, there are the presence of Norma Vaden as Mrs. Cunningham, a guest at Mr Morton's party, John Brown as Professor Collins, Marion Lorne as Mrs. Anthony and Jonathan Hale as Mr Anthony.

A memorable scene in the film was that when Miriam and her cousins enter the Tunnel of Love, followed by Anthony (who has come to the amusement park intending to kill Miriam) on a separate boat, and there is darkness in the tunnel. Though nothing else happens in the Tunnel of Love, I felt this scene thrilling. Also, when Miriam is killed and we see, through Miriam's eyeglasses which had fallen on the ground, Bruce strangling Miriam. That scene is scary enough. And the climax at the merry-go-round is amazing and excellently made.

The suspense and thrills that the film contains is enough to make one gaze at the screen until the very end of the movie. This is another example of Alfred Hitchcock's great works, and with great performance by it's actors and a brilliant screenplay, it remains a memorable movie in the history of cinema.

4 out of 5