Strangers on a Train Review

I recently saw Strangers on a Train released in 1951 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This movie is really like nothing that I have ever seen before. The title may be a little misleading because only a few scenes are actually shot on trains. The beginning is somewhat confusing and slow but once the plot starts to unfold, it’s one of the most suspenseful and exciting movies that I’ve seen in a long time. The movie starts off with the opening scene only showing the feet of the two main actors whose names in the movie were Guy and Bruno. By doing this, the viewer really can’t tell what to expect other then the fact that they’re on a train. Once Bruno introduces himself to Guy, a rich tennis player dating the senator’s daughter, Guy’s life starts to unravel.

The main plot is that Bruno is “a little wacky” and tells Guy that if he kills his father for him, then Bruno would kill Guy’s old wife who won’t divorce him. Guy laughs it off and goes about his regular routine but the next night Guy returns home from a tennis practice and Bruno is waiting for him across the street in an alley. Bruno tells him that he “did the job” of killing Guy’s wife and that he awaits for Guy to return the favor and finish off his father. Throughout the rest of the story Bruno follows Guy around and threatens to plant one of Guy’s lighters at the crime scene so that he will be charged for a murder he didn’t have anything to do with.

What starts to happen here is what makes the movie truly exciting. Even though Guy had nothing to do with the murder of Merriam, his wife, it seems like he’s already defending himself and that he’s going to have to do a lot to prove his innocence. Anne, the senator’s daughter and Guy’s girlfriend, explains to her father what happened and they all meet to talk about how there’s nothing to worry about. This all changes however when Guy’s alibi, a man he spoke with on a train during the murder, can’t vouch for him because he says that he was to drunk and couldn’t remember anything. This is when the problems start and Guy and Anne begin to panic.

While Bruno is following Guy there is one scene in particular that really plays a big role. While Guy is out with Anne, Bruno comes out of no where and starts talking to Guy. There is then an extreme close up on a necklace that Bruno is wearing that says “Bruno” in gold letters. What makes this really significant is that Guy tells Anne that he’s never met this person before but then later in the movie Bruno goes to talk to Guy and he is again wearing the same gold necklace. This is when Anne realizes that something very bad is happening to them.

I think the reason that I really enjoyed the movie was due in part to the work of the main actors: Farley Granger (Guy Haines) and Robert Walker (Bruno Anthony). These two really did an amazing job of playing their roles and really made the plot very believable. I would characterize their dialogue as very realistic with the exception that most of the things Bruno said where completely crazy. Hitchcock really does a great job of creating suspense that lasts throughout the movie without having to have any big Hollywood things such as fighting or explosions.

Overall if I had to rate this movie on a scale of 1 to 100; I would give it an 86. It was really a great movie that kept me on the edge of my seat. It had great acting combined with some very interesting locations. This is definitely one of my favorite “old movies” being that it was in black in white and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to experience something a little different then what our modern day movies can offer.