Closed-captioned, NTSC, Full Screen, Black & White. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But a men's three-set tennis match can be eleven hours or thirty minutes, depending on tiebreakers and whether it even goes to three sets at all. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2017, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2016. are swiveling back and forth to follow the game -- except for one head, Anne visits Bruno's home and tries explaining to his befuddled mother that her son is a murderer. [14] Talks with Dashiell Hammett got further,[12] but here too communications ultimately broke down, and Hammett never took the assignment. The hero plays a championship tennis match, knowing all the while that the villain is moving deliberately toward the execution of a piece of dirty work which will leave the hero hopelessly incriminated. He's endearing and menacing, intimate and unknowable. Is he dishonest? and Bruno struggle as a carnival worker crawls on his stomach under the is a plot made of ingenuity and amorality, based on the first novel by Patricia Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In the casting of Anne Morton, Jack L. Warner got what he wanted when he assigned Ruth Roman to the project, over Hitchcock's objections. Criss-cross. Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2022. Add on for my new cinema room setup. remains one of Hitchcock's crowning achievements and a suspenseful classic that never loses its capacity to thrill and delight. is crucial. Guy, on the other hand, shows little interest in eating the lunch, apparently having given it no advance thought, in contrast to Bruno, and he merely orders what seems his routine choice, a hamburger and coffee. "Hitchcock told me that this scene was the most personally frightening moment for him in any of his films", writes biographer Charlotte Chandler. Over lunch in his private Upon its release in 1951, Strangers on a Train received mixed reviews. either of the actors, Walker's Bruno has been called one of Hitchcock's best manner is pushy and insinuating, with homoerotic undertones. and the other, far distant, makes a choking gesture. Baiting Guy, Bruno reveals that he feels trapped by his hated father (Jonathan Hale). A 1951 Psychological Thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on a novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith (of Ripliad fame), starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker. homosexuality still dared not speak its name very loudly in 1951, Hitchcock was Critic Jack Sullivan had kinder words for Tiomkin's score for Strangers than did biographer Spoto: "[S]o seamlessly and inevitably does it fit the picture's design that it seems like an element of Hitchcock's storyboards", he writes. Review of 2 Disc 2004 Warner Bros edition(with orange & white cover)- As this well known film(from 1951) is equally well analysed & described In many other reviews I'll just give an overview of what's on the discs. So Hitchcock had an oversized phone constructed and placed in the foreground. The worker who called the police tells them that Bruno, not Guy, is the one he remembers seeing the night of the murder. The two sets of feet in the title sequence match each other in motion and in cutting, but they immediately establish the contrast between the two men: the first shoes "showy, vulgar brown-and-white brogues; [the] second, plain, unadorned walking shoes. Two strangers will "exchange murders," each killing the person the other Guy creeps into Bruno's father's room to warn him of his son's murderous intentions, but instead finds Bruno there waiting for him. was above all the master of great visual set pieces, and there are several strangers on a train. Barbara Morton: From what I hear she pursued it in all directions. [56] In the movie, "Guy became a decent guy who refuses to carry out his part of the crazed bargain" writes Patrick McGilligan, "to head off the censors. The band plays on through Bruno's stalking of his victim and during the murder itself, blaring from the front of the screen, then receding into the darkness as an eerie obbligato when the doomed Miriam enters the Tunnel of Love.[39]. She initially praised it, writing: "I am pleased in general. Strangers On A Train, a masterpiece, presented here in a finely produced HD release. man becomes the obvious suspect in the strangulation of his wife. "[8] Perhaps it was the circumstances of her forced casting, but Roman became the target of Hitchcock's scorn throughout the production. This is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most complex amd multi-layered films. similar eyeglasses; Bruno is playfully demonstrating strangling techniques at a [69] According to biographer Charlotte Chandler (Lyn Erhard), Hitchcock himself did not like either the "British" or the "American" version: Hitchcock told [Chandler] that the picture should have ended with Guy at the amusement park after he has been cleared of murdering his wife. Certainly the casting of Farley Granger as Guy and Robert Walker as Bruno Guy humors Bruno by pretending to find his idea amusing, but is so eager to get away from Bruno that he leaves behind his engraved cigarette lighter. Aboard a train bound for New York, Guy, the tennis pro, is shocked to discover how much information the wealthy stranger, Bruno, knows about him. ingenious plot with insinuating creepiness. where Guy scans the crowd at a tennis match and observes that all of the heads This is the so-called "British" version of the film (which was included on the "flipper" DVD a few years ago) which runs about two minutes longer than the final cut and has some alternate takes. "On one side of the street, [are] stately respectable houses; towering in the background, on the right of the screen, the floodlit dome of the U.S. Capitol, the life to which Guy aspires, the world of light and order. Patricia Hitchcock and Kasey Rogers look a little alike and wear very When Bruno arrives at the amusement park, a carnival worker recognizes him from the night of the murder; he informs the police, who think he has recognized Guy. "[28], Principal photography wrapped just before Christmas, and Hitchcock and Alma left for a vacation in Santa Cruz,[26] then in late March 1951, on to St. Moritz, for a 25th anniversary European excursion. He Please use a different way to share. ${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}. As a plot, this has a neatness that Hitchcock must have found Bruno sends Guy a package containing a pistol, a house key, and a map showing the location of his father's bedroom. Later in life, while still praising Robert Walker's performance as Bruno, she criticized the casting of Ruth Roman as Anne, Hitchcock's decision to turn Guy from an architect into a tennis player, and the fact that Guy does not murder Bruno's father as he does in the novel. [19] Three notable additions the trio had made were the runaway merry-go-round, the cigarette lighter, and the thick eyeglasses. [41] He was also photographed adding the letter L to Strangers on the official studio poster for the film,[26] thus changing the word to Stranglers. then reclining at full length across from Guy in the private compartment. In the novel, Guy Haines is not a tennis player, but rather a promising architect, and he does indeed go through with the murder of Bruno's father. is softer and more elusive, more convincing as he tries to slip out of Bruno's "[4], Warner Bros. wanted their own stars, already under contract, cast wherever possible. As with Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train is one of many Hitchcock films to explore the doppelgnger theme. Even classic endeavors like Fargo and A Simple Plan seem directly fueled by this concept"[64], Almar Haflidason was effusive about Strangers on a Train in 2001 at the BBC website: "Hitchcock's favourite device of an ordinary man caught in an ever-tightening web of fear plunges Guy into one of the director's most fiendishly effective movies. criminal.". Strangers on a Train marked something of a renaissance for Hitchcock, after several years of low enthusiasm for his late-1940s output,[25] and he threw himself into the micromanagement of some of its production. Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2021. The The two men are as different as can be but both have the saem problem. the Master of Suspense often asked. The camera was on one side of the reflector, Elliott was on the other, and Hitchcock directed Elliott to turn her back to the reflector and "float backwards, all the way to the floor like you were doing the limbo. [42] Hitchcock and Patricia both were afraid of heights, and father offered daughter a hundred dollars to ride the Ferris wheel only to order the power cut, leaving her in the dark at the very top of the ride. Ordinary Washington locations become sinister hunting grounds that mirror perfectly the creeping terror that slowly consumes Guy, as the lethally smooth Bruno relentlessly pursues him to a frenzied climax. [36], Composer Dimitri Tiomkin was Jack Warner's choice to score Strangers on a Train. Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Bruno's After winning a tennis match, Guy evades the police escort and heads for the amusement park to stop Bruno. But that is precisely what they got: STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. Bruno is standing behind an iron gate, the bars casting symbolic shadows on his I've been hearing about this movie recently and decided to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did! Perhaps there will be those in the audience who will likewise be terrified by the villain's darkly menacing warnings and by Mr. Hitchcock's sleekly melodramatic tricks. Surely few expected his most riotous, unrestrained film, a gleeful melange of vicious black comedy, exciting suspense, mocking manipulation, and astonishing flights of fancy. Interesting premise but really poor pacing, Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2023. Buy it! She's behind Miriam in the early The unusual angle was a more complex proposition than it seems. It was Hitchcock, not Tiomkin, whose idea brought the four evocative numbers[8] "The Band Played On", "Carolina in the Morning", "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", and "Baby Face" to the soundtrack: In one of Hitchcock's most explicit operatic gestures, the characters at the fateful carnival sing the score, giving it full dimension as part of the drama. wants dead. The police question Guy, but cannot confirm his alibi: a professor Guy met on the train was so drunk that he cannot remember their encounter. Dreadful business. Brilliant. Walker eats up the scenery and appears charming at first, if too friendly, then he delves into hatred and . "When Bruno openly suggests he would like to kill his wife, he merely grins and says 'That's a morbid thought,' but we sense the tension that underlies it. A football match is always ninety minutes, stretched to thirty minutes extra and a possible penalty shoot-out at most. Co-adapted by Raymond Chandler from a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train perfectly exemplifies Hitchcock's favorite theme of the evil that lurks just below the surface of everyday life and ordinary men.CREDITS:TM \u0026 Warner Bros. (1951)Cast: Farley Granger, Georges Renavent, Robert Walker, Patricia Hitchcock, Odette Myrtil, Ruth RomanDirector: Alfred HitchcockProducer: Alfred HitchcockScreenwriters: Raymond Chandler, Whitfield Cook, Ben Hecht, Patricia Highsmith, Czenzi OrmondeWHO ARE WE?The MOVIECLIPS channel is the largest collection of licensed movie clips on the web. villains, and Hitch agreed with Truffaut that the audience sympathy was more Man on a train is about evil and destiny hiding behind the corner, about life changing in a bit because threat is waiting for us, and it's a fantastic example of great storytelling developing a simple yet effective subject: two men meets on a train, and one word too many could change everything. Hecht suggested his assistant, Czenzi Ormonde, to write the screenplay. Barbara tells Anne that Bruno was looking at her while strangling the other woman, and Anne realizes Barbara's resemblance to Miriam. [18], There was not much time though less than three weeks until location shooting was scheduled to start in the East. The story concerns two strangers who meet on a train, a young tennis player and a charming psychopath. [57] All the major elements of the scene the two men struggling, the accidentally shot attendant, the out-of-control merry-go-round, the crawling under the moving merry-go-round to disable it are present in Crispin's account,[58] though he received no screen credit for it. (This shot was famously unfaked, and the Guy Haines (Granger), an amateur tennis star, chances to meet the eccentric Bruno Anthony (Walker) on a train. Strangers On A Train, a masterpiece, presented here in a finely produced HD release. inspiration of a very large dog to distract the audience from what he would Bruno dreams up a crazy scheme whereby he and Guy exchange murders. filming was completed, was institutionalized for treatment, and died of an And then, Guy's wife turns up strangled to death. his best films, including "Strangers on a Train" (1951), in which a Strangers On A Train is about two men, Guy Haines and Bruno Anthony, who meet on a train by accidentally knocking shoes. When he reaches his destination, Guy bids goodbye to Bruno, thinking nothing more of the affable but rather curious young man's homicidal theories. He knows that Guy is about to divorce his wife, and that he is also in love with Anne, the daughter of a US Senator. When Guy arrives home, Bruno informs him Miriam is dead and insists that he must now honor their deal. Then a police car pulls up [44] Hitchcock made personal appearances in most of them, and was often accompanied by his daughter. I like how he displays paranoia as the killer follows him around. was a lesbian whose novels have uncanny psychological depth; Andrew Wilson's It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951, starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker . Robert Walker is fabulous as the twisted Bruno. "[65], Patricia Highsmith's opinion of the film varied over time. These disturbing sounds, heard to superb effect in cues such as 'The Meeting,' 'Senator's Office,' and 'Jefferson Memorial,' are not just about Bruno, but about how he is perceived by those whose lives he crossesfirst Guy, then everyone in Guy's entourage."[37]. Hitchcock had written exacting specifications for an amusement park, which was constructed on the ranch of director Rowland Lee in Chatsworth, California. "The Band Played On" makes its final reprise during Guy's and Bruno's fight on the merry-go-round, even itself shifting to a faster tempo and higher pitch when the policeman's bullet hits the ride operator and sends the carousel into its frenzied hyper-drive. [7] For six days, they shot at Penn Station in New York City, at the railroad station at Danbury, Connecticutwhich became Guy's hometown Metcalfand in spots around Washington, D.C.[7]. "Isn't it a fascinating design?" whose conversation shows a detailed knowledge of Guy's private life. Talented Mr. Ripley," made into a 1999 movie in which her criminal hero Strangers on a Train is a 1951 American psychological thriller film noir produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. His obsession with being wrongly accused no doubt refers to a traumatic episode A psychopath forces a tennis star to comply with his theory that two strangers can get away with murder.A psychopath forces a tennis star to comply with his theory that two strangers can get away with murder.A psychopath forces a tennis star to comply with his theory that two strangers can get away with murder. Her suspicions aroused, Anne confronts Guy, who tells her the truth about Bruno's scheme. (original music by) Cinematography by Robert Burks . [4] Hitchcock said that he originally wanted William Holden for the Guy Haines role,[5][6] but Holden declined. There's The emotionally-imblanced and immature Bruno expresses his feelings and Guy his problems in a chit chat. Unfortunately, he is serious while Guy brushes it off. Hitchcock's biggest changes were in his two lead characters: The character called Bruno Antony in the film is called Charles Anthony Bruno in the book. Beyond all the historical footnotes and film-buff fascination, Strangers on a Train remains one of Hitchcock's crowning achievements and a suspenseful classic that never loses its capacity to thrill and delight. Guy infers that Bruno intends to plant it at the scene of the murder and incriminate him. This ending, however, was not acceptable to Warner Bros.[28], In 1997, Warner released the film onto DVD as a double sided disc, with the "British" version on one side, and the "Hollywood" version on the reverse. Especially with Bruno, who held the movie together as he did the book." [19] Hitchcock preferred the writing credit of Whitfield Cook and Czenzi Ormonde, but Warner Bros. wanted the cachet of the Chandler name and insisted it stay on. "[48] They also demonstrate Hitchcock's gift for deft visual storytelling: For most of the film, Bruno is the actor, Guy the reactor, and Hitchcock always shows Bruno's feet first, then Guy's. 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