Strangers on a Train (1951)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

Overrated

Fresh and Exciting

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

I'm delighted to read these many user reviews that revealed the same impression I had after first seeing this jewel. It's a magnificent exhibition of all the best Hitchock; tricks from the utterly absurd but nonetheless believable (by the time we near the end of the film) story, through complex interacting scenarios to brilliant and complex scene settings (check out that amusement park), fabulous directing (menacing hands everywhere), moody cinematography etc. etc. This is clearly one of Hitchcock's best films.

If there was an Oscar category for making zero sense what so ever this Hitchcock dud should be a sure winner.A list of plot absurdities: 1. What if the hero had a solid alibi? If an alibi was threatening the plan, how the antagonist secured that the hero lacks an alibi before executing murder #1? 2. Actually an alibi should be essential in a murder exchange scheme otherwise there was no need for the exchange; also once the antagonist executes murder #1 the hero should be free from police scrutiny to execute murder #2 and that necessitates an alibi. But another compelling enforcement mechanism of the deal would be needed. Threatening to plant the lighter does not count as a viable plan because (a) it was obtained by the antagonist by accident, and (b) the hero could notify the police that his framing was underway. Either way you cut it, it makes zero sense. 3. Convenient but implausible doppelganger pair sister- in- law / wife. But what is the purpose anyway? So that the antagonist has a fainting spell in the middle of an absurdly implausible strangulation play acting in a high society party? major "what the heck?" moment 4. Play-tennis-and-win-quickly as part of strategy to rush to prevent incrimination? Ridiculous 5. Police not suspecting 2 boyfriends of victim; insane 6. Police not learning that 3rd man was spotted by boyfriends and crew + description of man not matching hero; more insane 7. Hero (if not an idiot) should have worked with police to trap antagonist 8. Merry go round that can develop deadly speeds or does not have a remote fail-safe switch. Hmmmm. 9. Shooting the merry-go- round without any reason whatsoever while said merry-go-round is full of innocent bystanders, especially children. Most absurd single thing in the movie. Maybe of the decade as far as stupid plots go. 10. Crawling under speeding merry-go-round instead of cutting power supply from a safe distance. Crazy. 11. By the way how the heck did they film and light the crawl? And using a civilian to do a deadly stunt instead of a stuntman? What were they thinking? 12. What would be justification to the police of antagonist for trying to kill hero on the merry-go-round? how the antagonist would justify even being at the park? 13. The antagonist trying to incriminate the hero while dying by absurdly denying possession of lighter instead of saying something like "I did what you asked me to do and killed your wife; if you should have kept your part of the deal as we had agreed we would be both fine now". That statement would have been impossible to refute in a court of law and would likely be sufficient evidence to convict.Overall, an intellectually insulting film viewing experience...

Amateur tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) wants to divorce his vulgar and promiscuous wife Miriam (Laura Elliott), so he can marry the elegant Anne Morton (Ruth Roman), the daughter of a senator, and hopefully have a career in politics. On a train, Haines accidentally meets Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), who recognizes Guy from the sports pages and knows about his situation from the gossip pages. Bruno tells Guy about his idea for the perfect murder scheme: the two should "swap murders". Bruno will kill Miriam, and in exchange Guy will kill Bruno's hated father. Each murderer will kill a perfect stranger and will have no identifiable motive for his crime, and therefore they will not be suspects. Guy never imagines that Bruno means the suggestion seriously; he humors Bruno by pretending to find it amusing, but Bruno interprets Guy's response as agreement to the scheme. Guy lets Bruno light a cigarette with his (Guy's) monogrammed cigarette lighter; instead of returning it, Bruno puts it in his own pocket.

Certainly, not a great many films made two thirds of a century ago hold up under scrutiny in 2017. If my memory serves me, I first saw this 1951 Hitchcock "Classic" on TV at age 12 or 13. Shame on me for making that fatal mistake of setting my expectation level for a second viewing at "10". My best recommendation for those of you who just might decide to see it for the first time: It is an engrossing character study, (Robert Walker as Bruno Anthony) but falls somewhat short on many other levels, especially when compared to a number of other Hitchcock works. Walker's portrayal of an obsessive sociopathic socialite, although intense, gripping and intriguing, strikes me as very demanding in relation to the 2017 viewer's Suspension of Disbelief. An interesting footnote…This was Walker's penultimate film. He died just before completing his next and last project, "My Son John". Evidently, like the character he portrayed, Walker also was plagued by a number of his own demons. If you crave more details, you can get them here on IMDb. The very best thing STRANGERS has going for it, aside from the aforementioned stellar performance, is the intriguing central premise of the film itself. From the onset, Hitchcock seems keenly aware of this, perhaps overplaying his hand on this point as the film approaches its climax. Without crossing the Spoiler Details threshold, perhaps my biggest criticism of the movie is its final minutes. Visually, a crucial scene just does not hold up to our present day CGI sensibilities. To use an appropriate colloquialism, one scene is really "hokey"! All of which, again, taxed my Suspension of Disbelief to the breaking point. So, don't set your expectations extremely high and the film will be well worth your while.9*....ENJOY!/DISFRUTELA! Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!.....