Second Viewing: Strangers on a Train (1951)

Strangers on a Train has a few problems, but it’s still one of Hitchcock’s best films. It has — other than Norman Bates — the best villain in all of Hitchcock’s oeuvre in Bruno Antony (Robert Walker). And it also has a very compelling plot that’s both ridiculous and completely believable.

This examines the question of what could happen if you were to run into a psychopath in an everyday setting. Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is really the perfect everyman protagonist here, even though he has a tiny bit of a dark streak.

Unfortunately, Granger isn’t all that great. He is very good in the most important scene of the movie, when he meets Antony, but other than that, he’s not all that great.

The movie has a lot of dark humor, and I think it’s probably the best marriage of suspense and comedy in all of Hitchcock’s films. He was almost always going for it, but here, he knocked it out of the park, thanks to an excellent script by Raymond Chandler, Whitfield Cook, and Czenzi Ormonde, and some funny performances from his daughter, Pat, and Leo G. Carroll.

There are some really outstanding sequences here that are shot very well, and it helps that Robert Walker is so compelling. He died shortly after this movie was released, and I can’t say I’ve really seen him in a whole lot, but he really is fantastic here. He makes the movie in a lot of ways.

The only point where the movie drags really is the tennis sequence. It goes on for too long, and we’re not really sure of the stakes. We understand why Guy Haines needs to end the game quickly, but I’m not really sure why he has to win. Sure, if he loses, it’d hurt him for his career, but is that really more important than clearing himself of murder?

A lot has been said of the homoerotic subtext between Bruno and Guy, and I suppose that could add another element, but I really don’t think it’s necessary. When I first saw this movie when I was probably around 12, I didn’t notice it at all. When I watch it now, I pick up on it certainly, but I don’t think viewing it that way is necessary to enjoy it.

Enjoy it because of the filmmaking and the script.

Rating: 10/10