Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train

From its cleverly choreographed opening sequence to its heart-stopping climax on a rampant carousel, this 1951 Hitchcock classic readily earns its reputation as one of the director's finest examples of timeless cinematic suspense. It's not just a ripping-good thriller but a film student's delight and a perversely enjoyable battle of wits between tennis pro Guy (Farley Granger) and his mysterious, sycophantic admirer, Bruno (Robert Walker), who proposes a "criss-cross" scheme of traded murders. Bruno agrees to kill Guy's unfaithful wife, in return for which Guy will (or so it seems) kill Bruno's spiteful father. With an emphasis on narrative and visual strategy, Hitchcock controls the escalating tension with a master's flair for cinematic design, and the plot (coscripted by Raymond Chandler) is so tightly constructed that you'll be white-knuckled even after multiple viewings. Better still, the two-sided DVD edition of this enduring classic includes both the original version of the film and also the longer prerelease British print, which offers a more overt depiction of Bruno's flamboyant and dangerous personality, and his homoerotic attraction to Guy by way of his deviously indecent proposal. In accordance with the cautious censorship guidelines of the period, Hitchcock would later tame these elements of Walker's memorable performance by trimming and altering certain scenes, so the differences between the original and prerelease versions provide an illuminating illustration of censorship's effect on the story's thematic intensity. Beyond all the historical footnotes and film-buff fascination, Strangers on a Train remains one of Hitchcock's crowning achievements and a suspenseful classic that never loses its capacity to thrill and delight. --Jeff Shannon

Genre: Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Leo G. Carroll, Farley Granger, Patricia Hitchcock, Marion Lorne, Ruth Roman
Production: Warner Home Video
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
8.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
98%
  Strangers on a Train Screenplay »
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PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Year:
1951
101
2,879 Views

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

Barbara Morton:
I still think it would be wonderful to have a man love you so much he'd kill for you.

Bruno Anthony:
How do you do, sir? I, uh, I'd like to talk with you sometime, sir, and tell you about my idea for harnassing the life force. It'll make atomic power look like a horse and buggy. I'm already developing my faculty for seeing _millions_ of miles. And Senator, can you imagine being able to smell a flower... on the planet Mars? I'd like to, uh, have lunch with you someday soon, Sir, and tell you more about it.

Senator Morton:
Poor unfortunate girl.

Barbara Morton:
She was a tramp.

Senator Morton:
She was a human being. Let me remind you that even the most unworthy of us has a right to life and the pursuit of happiness.

Barbara Morton:
From what I hear she pursued it in all directions.

Bruno Anthony:
Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot you, Mr. Haines. It might disturb Mother.

Bruno:
My theory is that everyone is a potential murderer.

Barbara Morton:
Oh, Daddy doesn't mind a little scandal. He's a senator.

Bruno Anthony:
I have a theory that you should do everything before you die.

Guy Haines:
I may be old-fashioned, but I thought murder was against the law.

Bruno Anthony:
Everyone has somebody that they want to put out of the way. Oh now, surely Madam, you're not going to tell me that there hasn't been a time that you didn't want to dispose of someone. Your husband, for instance.

Senator Morton:
You had no trouble, of course, with the police once they verified your alibi?

Guy Haines:
When an alibi is full of bourbon, sir, it can't stand up.

Guy Haines:
It's pretty late to start flirting with a discarded husband.

Senator Morton:
I'll have him called up immediately.

Barbara Morton:
Obstructing the wheels of justice, Daddy?

Guy Haines:
Doesn't that bloodhound ever relax? He sticks so close he's beginning to grow on me... like a fungus.

Bruno:
I have the perfect weapon right here: these.two. hands.

Bruno Anthony:
Criss-cross.

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