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 Strangers on a Train 

What grade would you give this film?
A 60%  60%  [ 3 ]
B 40%  40%  [ 2 ]
C 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 5

 Strangers on a Train 
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Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:01 pm
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Post Strangers on a Train
Strangers on a Train

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Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker, and features Leo G. Carroll, Patricia Hitchcock and Laura Elliott.

The film was based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.

This film is number 32 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills.


Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:33 am
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B+

Fun, though not one of His best by a longshot. Acting was a somewhat sloppy, and the merry-go-round was a bit ridiculous. There was also a couple poor plot devices like Bruno just happening to drop the lighter in the drain, and Barbara just happening to look exactly like the wife. Definitley one of His lighter pictures, enjoyable for sure, but no masterpiece here.

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Sun May 13, 2007 3:44 pm
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The Lubitsch Touch
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Great film, but I don't consider it quite as good his best pictures.

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Last edited by Johnny Dollar on Sun May 20, 2007 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.



Sun May 20, 2007 12:41 am
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^Agreed, but still one of my favorites.


Sun May 20, 2007 1:16 am
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What's you guys talkin' about?!?

This is a great Hitchcock! it's verrry cool. Right up there with the best of them (eg: Vertigo and The Lady Vanishes)...


Mon May 21, 2007 10:23 am
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Post Re: Strangers on a Train
It's good, but easily the worst Hitchcock I've seen. The story is thrilling enough, but the acting - aside from Robert Walker, whose quiet psychopath is utterly terrifying - is fairly bland all around. The character of Barbara is incredibly irritating, made even more so by the annoying performance. It's fairly suspenseful throughout, but the end is just over-the-top silliness. It's like they kept piling ridiculous events on top of one another. Still, the direction is top-notch and Walker's performance is great.

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Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:25 pm
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Post Re: Strangers on a Train
It's very entertaining and has loads of great stuff, but yeah, it lacks the sort-of "event" feel that most Hitchcock's have. And yeah, the plot devices are quite ridiculous, even by Hitchcock standards, but the film somehow manages to stay on the serious side of camp rather than something like "The Birds" where the camp is in the film's unflinching seriousness, and all of it works, even the merry-go-round scene, with one exception [the lighter dropped in the sewer inter-cut with the final points of tennis match is Hitchcock's worst attempt at suspense ever]. The shadow sequence in the love-boat tunnel is pretty brilliant.

The acting is relatively bland as trixster said, but I'd say the performance that holds the film together is Guy's (Farley Granger), as he really maintains the earnest, genuine niceness the character needs. If he had played it less convincingly, the film either falls to complete camp (if his niceness had looked ridiculous), or to an utter bore (if we hadn't such sympathy for a pseudo-conspirator). Hmmm...Babara....well, I just kept thinking "Velma velma velma!"

All in all, a very good, fun film that never goes out of its way to be something more than what it is.

Oh btw...I just read that the actress cast as Barbara was Hitch's daughter...so, I mean...it could have been Godfather III bad.


Sun Nov 30, 2008 6:56 am
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Strangers on a Train

Another good Hitchcock thriller. Robert Walker is great as the dark and conniving Bruno Antony. A role that would surely be fun to play. And Barbara is a well-written character. The plot is really engrossing, but the ending is rather weak, and I had a difficult time rooting for Guy Haines because he is so bland and proper. But Hitchcock has a way of setting up circumstances that is fascinating to see play out. The finale isn't good by any means, though. I mean, even if Bruno did drop the lighter, what would he do, ask the police to check the site again, which would also implicate himself? It is an odd one. I think it would have worked better if it continued in a psychological battle. For example, if Bruno wasn't able to retrieve the lighter from the drain, and then he acted as if he had planted it at the murder scene. This would have opened up a cleverer ending whereby Haines may have made himself look guilty without Bruno needing to do much. Just a thought, because anything would have been better than the merry-go-round ending. But it was still a good film, mostly because of Walker's performance as Bruno Antony.

B

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