Review of Strangers on a Train (1951) by Swayamdeep S — 26 Oct 2013

Have you ever been acquainted with a person whom you thought was just joking around, but was actually deadly serious? In director Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 mystery Strangers on a Train, tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger) encounters such a man by the name of Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on his way back home on a train. Bruno tells him that he has figured out an idea for a perfect crime and the idea goes something like this. Two people like themselves meet on a train for the first time with no connections between them whatsoever. Both of them are aggravated with certain family members that they wish would go away. The "perfect crime" that Bruno has in mind is to swap each other's murders. In other words, Bruno murders Guy's ex-wife and Guy murders Bruno's father.

Thinking that Bruno is kidding about the whole thing, Guy bids him farewell while unintentionally sending him a mixed message. Yes, Guy seems to overlook the fact that Bruno was deadly serious about this plan the whole time. So when Bruno manages to murder Guy's ex-wife, Guy is left in an unfortunate, puzzling situation. Does he fulfill his end of the bargain regardless of the fact that he didn't officially agree to this deal in the first place? Or does he find some sort of way to turn Bruno in even though he knows Bruno might say that Guy wanted to get rid of his wife in the first place and conjure up similar lies about their encounter?

Right off the bat, the first thing I should say about Strangers on a Train is that it has a perfect premise for a plot. I love how Guy isn't sure whether or not Bruno is for real or if he is just joking about this the whole time. If you think about it, the reason this premise is so outstanding is due in large part to its dark sense of humor. There is a crucial exchange of conversation between Guy and Bruno in which Guy is completely unaware of the subtext behind what Bruno is really asking him. It is because of this conversation that Guy fails to see that Bruno wasn't really asking him to murder his father. He pretty much forced him to participate in his diabolical murder plan solely for his own benefits. So the film is well thought through in that sense.

In terms of character development, although the character of Bruno is exceptionally well handled and well performed by Robert Walker, anything else relating to Guy for whatever reason is a bit of a bore. Despite the complicated dilemma he has to face, there really wasn't anything else about Guy that stood out for me personally. He was a little too much of a blank slate character wise. Guy's love interest Anne Morton (Ruth Roman) was not memorable in the slightest and did not really contribute much to the advancement of the narrative. However, there is an entertaining side character named Barbara Morton (Patricia Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock's sole daughter) who has a handful of scene-stealing lines to work with.

In spite of the overwhelming feeling that Strangers on a Train is only a good film as opposed to a great one, the film is well directed by Hitchcock as always. The scene involving Bruno's murder of Guy's ex-wife has a superb build-up including a shot where it appears that he is getting closer to murdering his victim, but actually isn't. Another scene that intercuts between Guy's tennis match and Bruno recovering a piece of evidence is also similarly well directed. The climax at the merry-go-round also has a similarly brilliant buildup and of course is loaded with suspense as it should be. With an exceptional plot, scene-stealing work from Robert Walker and Patricia Hitchcock, and Alfred Hitchcock's trustworthy directorial hand, Strangers on a Train is worth catching a single viewing.