Review of Strangers on a Train (1951) by Grayson S — 24 Feb 2013

Strangers on a Train was the third Hitchcock film I had ever seen, after Rear Window and Dial M for Murder. I was blown away by many things in this film, and enjoyed it to say the very least. Like every Hitchcock film, in order to gain from the cinematography, this one demands to be watched at night, in the dark.

Strangers on a Train has a fairly simple plot: two people meet on a train, and "plan" two subsequent murders. When one of the murders is followed through, the other murder is not. causing more than a feud between the two main characters.

Farley Granger plays Guy Haines, a tennis pro and the protagonist of the film. At the beginning of the film, he meets Bruno Anthony, the antagonist played wonderfully by Robert Walker. Granger is innocent in his role, and the viewer can connect and feel bad for his position in the film. On the other hand, the audience can greatly enjoy the screen presence of Walker playing a very psychopathic character. Bruno Anthony is a very fun villain, who is creepy by just standing on top of some stairs. As an honorable mention, Laura Elliot is excellent playing the mean, cold-hearted Miriam, Guy's wife. The audience tends to like Bruno, while despising Miriam, making her more of a villain than he is, even though we know they are both bad, one more than the other.

Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Burks produce one hell of a film. Burks' cinematography is the best I've ever seen, other than a select few films. The use of shadows, askew camera angles, and a dreary, foggy atmosphere gives this film a Fritz Lang/film noir feel to it, and looks a lot like Carol Reed's The Third Man. There are also many interesting camera manoeuvres, including the killing of Miriam where the camera zooms in on her glasses and we see the crime as a reflection. There are tons of memorable shots in this film, like when Guy is playing tennis and we slowly zoom in on the audience of moving heads until we stop on Bruno, the only head not moving as he stares at Haines. Also, the long shot of Bruno on the top of the Jefferson Memorial stairs is really suspenseful too. Everything about the way this film was shot was for suspense, and boy does it work. The opening shot is also something to marvel at. It shows two people, Granger and Walker, walking onto a train, but only Hitchcock would think to make it interesting and suspenseful by showing only their feet walking until the two lead characters meet.

This film is very good, all the way up until it's cheesy special effects ending. I would recommend this film to anyone because it is very entertaining, and suspenseful too.