Review of Strangers on a Train (1951) by Tanya K — 13 May 2009

30-seconds in and wham - frame, set, match - we're deep in the plot and don't even know it. The Master of Suspense delivers a thriller that's a fast paced roller coaster ride from start to finish, with blind twists and turns which keep us faltering.

The premise couldn't be more absorbing (adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel of the same name) and thanks to a lean script the story moves like a runaway train, while artistic directorial choices allow for creative exposition and smooth scene transitions.

Hitchcock never lets his foot off the suspense peddle and toys with our expectations, pulling the rug out from under our feet just as soon as we think we've got a firm grip. And one can't help but wonder if murder victim, Marion, represents a moral message of easy girls never win as Hitch introduces a rather unlikeable character who's cheated on her husband, left him but now wants to live off his success.

Robert Walker gives us a very intriguing psychopath in Bruno Anthony whose calm demeanor is all the more unsetting; he's a ticking time bomb just waiting for the right catalyst. Tennis champ Guy Haines comes across all the more wholesome in comparison but to the point of being overly formal and a bit too goody-goody.

Well cast, however, is Barbara (beautiful Anne Morton's crime obsessed kid sister), played by Patricia Hitchcock - you guessed it, the Meister's daughter. She's cute and clumsy and provides the comic relief needed to lighten the mood when things get too intense.

And intense they do get; after all, there aren't many others who can turn a Merry-Go-Round into a death trap so effectively.