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"Excuse me, but aren't you Guy Haines?"
Date of Review: Apr 20, 2003
The Bottom Line: Hitchcock at his best.
The 1950s were a great decade for Alfred Hitchcock. Hitch made such great films as "Rear Window" "Vertigo" and "North by Northwest", as well as some lesser but still good films like "The Trouble with Harry" and "To Catch a Thief". "Strangers on a Train" is another classic from the master of suspense. Hitch mixes his usual web of suspense and humour to make yet another entertaining film.
Tennis player and wanna-be politician Guy Haines taking a train to Metcalf, when he happens to meet Bruno Anthony. Bruno is one of those odd fellows you meet on the street who ingratiate themselves on you and tell you all about themselves, for no apparent reason. Bruno is basically a bum who lives off his rich father in the pursuit of fun, much to the dismay of his hard-working father. He's also a thrill seeker who admires "...people who do things." In Bruno's case, these "things" involve driving a car blindfolded at 150 miles per hour, and flying a jet plane, and booking a spot on the first flight to the moon. Bruno is also obsessed with the topic of murder, a fact that amuses Guy.
Bruno is a big fan of Guy Haines and knows all about him, his tennis playing, as well as his personal life. Bruno is aware that Guy wants to divorce his adulterous wife (who is pregnant with someone else's child) and marry Anne Morton, daughter of Senator Morton. Miriam however won't give Guy the divorce, as she is enjoying the spotlight Guy's career shines on her. Bruno reveals to Guy the fact that he despises his father, who is insistent that he should carve out a career. ("Can you believe that?" Bruno demands of Guy.) Bruno then drops the bomb to Guy. Why not swap murders? Bruno will do Guy's murder, and Guy will do Bruno's murder. Bruno will be free of his father, and Guy will be free to marry Anne Morton. Criss-cross. Since neither Guy nor Bruno know each other, the police would have no motive to suspect either of them.
Guy doesn't take Bruno seriously and laughs off his suggestion. But Bruno misunderstands, and soon thereafter Miriam is found strangled at the amusement park. Too late, Guy realizes that Bruno was dead serious in his suggestion. And Bruno now wants Guy to fulfill his side of the bargain. Or else. Guy is afraid to go to the police, as Bruno has threatened to tell them that they had planned the murder together. Now Guy is the police department's number one suspect. With Bruno stalking Guy threatening to expose him, and the police breathing down his neck, the walls are closing in around Guy Haines.
Hitchcock is in fine form here as usual. He pulls out all the stops with his bizarre camera angles. One of the most famous shots in this film is the murder scene, where Miriam's glasses fall to the ground and we see her being strangled in the lenses reflection. I also loved the scene where we see Bruno watching Guy at a tennis match in the crowd. The crowd is of course immersed in the tennis match, comically moving their heads back and forth just as people do in a real game. Except for Bruno, who is staring right at Guy oblivious to the game and the motions of the crowd. There's also the brilliantly choreographed climactic scene where Guy and Bruno battle it out on an out-of-control carousel, with the fairground swirling around them.
The performances are pretty good. Robert Walker gives a superb performance as Bruno Anthony, a seemingly harmless man who turns out to be a dangerous sociopath. Walker manages to make Bruno both menacing, yet comical. Bruno is always telling his hair-brained schemes to anyone who will listen, including Senator Morton. "Excuse me Senator, let me tell you about my idea for an energy source greater than atomic power. Oh, and can you imagine smelling a flower on Mars?" Bruno also makes sure to share his enthusiasm for murder with some pampered society ladies at a party. Tragedy very nearly befalls one poor lady when she allows Bruno to "demonstrate" on her. I like the little touch in the scene right after Bruno is exiting the fairground after committing the murder, he stops to help a blind man cross the street. It's interesting to speculate what might have become of Robert Walker's career, had he not died suddenly during the making of his next film.
Farley Granger as Guy Haines gives a somewhat bland performance, but then he's playing a somewhat bland character. Guy Haines is a bit of a chump, one of those flustered people who are often put-upon. He's been used by his wife, and now by Bruno Anthony. Bruno notes that he's not without his own dark side, he's marrying a senator's daughter in part because he hopes it will be a stepping stone in his political career. And while he's not guilty of actually murdering his wife, he's certainly not innocent of the desire to do her in. Bruno sees right through him.
Kasey Rogers is supremely despicable as Miriam, Guy's adulterous wife. She loves to use men whenever she can, refusing to give Guy the divorce that she herself originally wanted to as to bask in Guy's glory, yet still keeping Guy's money for the divorce proceedings. It's not enough for her to date one man outside marriage, she must date two. She even views Bruno as a potential third conquest when she sees him watching her at the fairground, not realizing his true intentions. I think I liked Miriam even less than Bruno. We're not very sorry to see her get what's coming to her.
Patricia Hitchcock is also fun as Barbara, Anne Morton's sister. Barbara always speaks her mind, and she doesn't hide the fact that she thinks it's lovely the idea that someone would kill for love (meaning Guy). My favourite line from her; when Guy expresses concern for what this murder investigation might do for the Senator, she responds, "Daddy doesn't mind a little scandal. He's a senator!"
What prevents this film for me from ranking quite as high as "Psycho" and "Rear Window" is some logic gaps. Why doesn't Guy go to the police the moment Bruno tells him what he's done? Obviously Guy feared the police would believe Bruno's story that he was involved, but it seems to me that Guy's willingness to tell everything to the police would reflect well on his integrity. It's not likely that a guilty man would implicate himself. Obviously though, this is just me speaking from the audience's point of view, who knows how we'd react in the same circumstance? I also don't quite understand why Guy doesn't allow Anne to go to the Metcalf fairground ahead of him to stop Bruno from planting his lighter. Or why for that matter doesn't Guy himself tell the police so they can catch Bruno trying to frame him red-handed?
Because then Hitch wouldn't be able to build up suspense for the climax. There's a marvelous scene towards the climax where we see Guy struggling to get through a tennis match so he can get to the fairground where Miriam was murdered and stop Bruno from planting his lighter. At the same time, Bruno has accidentally dropped Guy's lighter down drainage grating, and must struggle to retrieve it. Hitchcock brilliantly cross-cuts between Guy's tennis match and Bruno's straining hand, keeping the audience on the edge of its seat.
The film is very well shot in black and white by Robert Burks, the shadows giving the movie an eerie, menacing look. The score is unfortunately not Hitchcock's best, as Hitch had yet to team up with Bernard Hermann. It's much like the movie scores of old Hollywood films, acceptable, but overdramatic.
"Strangers on a Train" is prime Hitchcock, great fun for his fans. It might make you wary of talking to strange men though.
