Review of Strangers on a Train (1951) by Luke P — 05 Dec 2008

Hitchcock can do no wrong. It's official. Has any director in history had as many hit films as he has? Highly doubtful. Strangers on a Train is another great one. Two strangers meet on a train (hence the title) and, mid conversation about the people in their lives they would like to eliminate, jokingly hatch a plan to murder each other's problem person.

At the end of the journey, they each go their separate ways and back to their respective lives. However, one takes the banter a little too seriously, and proceeds to follow through, murdering the other man's wife (who was refusing him a divorce).

When the man refuses to fulfil his end of the plan, he is put in the frame for the murder. It's a plot-line that no one does better than Hitch, and it leads to a film full of twists, turns and revelations as he races against time to clear his name.

There are plenty of great sequences, including a tennis match and a finale on an out of control carousel, as well as a superb screen-play (partly written by detective writer Raymond Chandler), great performances and the obligatory Hitchcock cameo (he's getting on a train carrying a double bass).

This is also one of Hitch's most thematically interesting films, carrying the theme of duality (notice, most things in the film come in pairs). Classic stuff from old Alfred. The man's a genius, no doubt.