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Strangers on a Train (1951)
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Rated: |
PG |
Starring: |
Leo G. Carroll, Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker. |
Director: |
Alfred Hitchcock |
Genre: |
Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller |
DVD Release Date: 09/03/1997 |
A tennis star plays a match with murder!
Strange thing about this trip. So much occurs in pairs. Tennis star Guy hates his unfaithful wife. Mysterious Bruno 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.
Storyline: Bruno Anthony thinks he has the perfect plot to rid himself of his hated father and when he meets tennis player Guy Haines on a train, he thinks he's found the partner he needs to pull it off. His plan is relatively simple. Two strangers
each agree to kill someone the other person wants disposed of. For example, Guy could kill his father and he could get rid of Guy's wife Miriam, freeing him to marry Anne Morton, the beautiful daughter of a U.S. Senator. Guy dismisses it all out of hand
but but Bruno goes ahead with his half of the 'bargain' and disposes of Miriam. When Guy balks, Bruno makes it quite clear that he will plant evidence to implicate Guy in her murder if he doesn't get rid of his father. Guy had also made some unfortunate
statements about Miriam after she had refused him a divorce. It all leads the police to believe Guy is responsible for the murder, forcing him to deal with Bruno's mad ravings. Written by garykmcd
Cast Notes: Farley Granger (Guy Haines), Ruth Roman (Anne Morton), Robert Walker (Bruno Anthony), Leo G. Carroll (Senator Morton), Patricia Hitchcock (Barbara Morton), Kasey Rogers (Miriam Joyce Haines [as Laura Elliott]), Marion Lorne (Mrs.
Anthony), Jonathan Hale (Mr. Anthony), Howard St. John (Police Capt. Turley), John Brown (Professor Collins), Norma Varden (Mrs. Cunningham), Robert Gist (Leslie Hennessy).
User Comment: johenshaw Coventry, England • "Lets swap Murders- your wife, my father"- seemingly innocent conversation between two strangers - Bruno Anthony and Guy Haines when they meet over lunch on a train journey. Guy, a solid,
respectable tennis player, whose problem is that his wife, the flirtatious Miriam, won't divorce him so he can marry senators daughter Anne, laughs the whole conversation off as a joke. The following week he isn't laughing any more. In a scene of classic
Hitchcock suspense, Bruno stalks Miriam through a carnival and strangles her. As he does, her glasses fall off and we see the murder eerily reflected twice through her lenses. Cold hearted and amoral Bruno, his part of the deal completed, approaches an
appalled Guy expecting, even pressuring him into 'doing his bit.' Matters are not helped when Anne's precocious and outspoken younger sister turns up suspecting Guy of Miriam's murder. So accused of a murder he didn't commit and expected to commit
another, what is Guy going to do? The power of this film is in the presentation of human beings as having a murderous side to their nature - and this Hitchcock does to perfection.
Summary: Strangers on a Train - a Review by Jo Henshaw
IMDb Rating (11/12/12): 8.2/10 from 52,928 users Top 250: #137
IMDb Rating (10/15/07): 8.2/10 from 19,574 users Top 250: #92
IMDb Rating (06/20/04): 8.3/10 from 8,482 users Top 250: #89
Additional information |
Copyright: |
1951, Warner Bros. |
Features: |
• Interactive Menus
• Hollywood and Alternative British Versions
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Five Trailers from Hitchcock Movies
• Hitchcock Newsreel Footage |
Subtitles: |
English, Spanish, French |
Video: |
Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] B&W |
Audio: |
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono [CC]
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Mono
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Time: |
1:41 |
DVD: |
# Discs: 1 -- # Shows: 1 |
UPC: |
085391532422 |
D-Box: |
No |
Other: |
Writers: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde; running time of 101 minutes; Packaging: Snap Case; Chapters: 33; [CC]. {[V4.5-A3.5] MPEG-4 AVC - } |
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