Strange thing about this trip. So much occurs in pairs. Tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) hates his unfaithful wife. Mysterious Bruno (Robert Walker) hates his father. How perfect for a playful proposal: I'll kill yours, you kill mine. Now look at how Alfred Hitchcock reinforces the duality of human nature. The more you watch, the more you'll see. "Isn't it a fascinating design?" the Master of Suspense often asked. Actually, it's doubly fascinating. Hitchcock left behind two versions of Strangers on a Train. The original version (Side A) is an all-time thriller classic. A recently found longer prerelease British print (Side B) offers "a startling amplification of Bruno's flamboyance, his homoerotic attraction to Guy and his psychotic personality," according to Bill Desowitz of Film Comment. The laying bare of Bruno's hidden nature, along with the great set pieces (head-turning tennis match, disintegrating carousel) and suspense as only Hitchcock can deliver, makes for a first-class trip.
DVD Features: Interactive Menus Newsreel:Hitchcock newsreel footage Production Notes Scene Access Theatrical Trailer:Five trailers of Hitchcock movies
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
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
3.5 stars out of 4 The Bottom Line: An absolutely spiffing thriller with a great performance by Robert Walker as the psychopathic Bruno and one heck of an ending, Strangers on a Train is one of Hitchcock's better pictures.
The follies of censorship... I'm going to yell SPOILERS right off the bat, just in case anyone deems my breakdown of this film to be ruining the surprise for anyone. I want to say that when I first saw this movie I really loved it; in fact it was my favorite Hitchcock film at the time. I thought that it was suspenseful and chilling and hit all the right notes. Sadly, I was so enthralled with the film that I decided to seek out the novel, written by Patricia Highsmith. Once I read the novel my opinion of the film was drastically... more info
My Favorite From Hitch 'Strangers on a Train', in my opinion, is the quintessential Hitchcock film-perfect acting, music, visuals and pacing. It is also one of the first films where I found myself rooting for the bad guy (and dreading his truly creepy mother and their even weirder relationship). Even the opening scene, where Hitchcock puts the focus on the two main characters shoes, is poignant and clever. I've also often wondered how he was able to shoot the final scene on the merry-go-round, it is simply pure movie magic.... more info
Overlooked Strangers On A Train, the 1951 black and white film by Alfred Hitchcock, is a damned good movie- with many of the requisite Hitchcockian flourishes, but it is not a great film, despite many great aspects about it. The reason for this devolves down to one basic fact- it's merely a melodrama, not a true drama. Melodrama always depends upon the propulsion of the plot by the characters within doing the dumbest possible things to get to the next scene. Melodrama thrives on the lowest common denominator. This, of... more info
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