Strangers on a Train (1951)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Raymond Chandler (screenplay) and
Czenzi Ormonde (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 July 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance | Sport | Thriller

Tagline:

A girl in love with young America's idol--and a good-looking stranger in search of sensation--that's how it all began..! Warner Bros. bring a pounding new tempo to motion picture entertainment!

Plot:

A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement.

Plot Keywords:

Tennis | Stranger | Senator | Murder | Amusement Park

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Farley Granger	...	Guy Haines
Ruth Roman	...	Anne Morton
Robert Walker	...	Bruno Anthony
Leo G. Carroll	...	Sen. Morton
Patricia Hitchcock	...	Barbara Morton
Kasey Rogers	...	Miriam Joyce Haines (as Laura Elliott)
Marion Lorne	...	Mrs. Anthony
Jonathan Hale	...	Mr. Anthony
Howard St. John	...	Police Capt. Turley
John Brown	...	Prof. Collins
Norma Varden	...	Mrs. Cunningham
Robert Gist	...	Leslie Hennessy

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (USA) (complete title)
L'inconnu du Nord-Express (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Der Fremde im Zug (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Främlingar på tåg (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Verschwörung im Nordexpress (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
мЕГМЮЙНЛЖШ Б ОНЕГДЕ (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
De maniak (Netherlands) [nl]
De onbekende van de Noord Express (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Delitto per delitto (Italy) [it]
Estranys en un tren (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Extraños en el tren (Argentina) (video title) [es]
Extraños en un tren (Spain) [es]
Farligt møde (Denmark) [da]
L'altro uomo (Italy) [it]
Muukalaisia junassa (Finland) [fi]
Nepoznati iz Nord-Ekspresa (Croatia) [hr]
Nieznajomi z pociagu (Poland) [pl]
O Desconhecido do Norte-Expresso (Portugal) [pt]
Pacto Sinistro (Brazil) [pt]
Pacto siniestro (Argentina) [es]
Zarrim B'Rakevet (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]

MPAA:

Rated PG for some violence and tension.

Runtime:

101 min | Portugal:96 min (cut version) | 103 min (preview version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Spain:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Sweden:15 | Germany:12 (DVD) | West Germany:16 (nf) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) (2004) | South Africa:PG | Brazil:16 | USA:TV-PG | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #14946) | USA:PG (new rating) (1996) | Argentina:13 | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Danbury Railroad Station - 120 White Street, Danbury, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Alfred Hitchcock bought the rights to the original novel anonymously to keep the price down, and got them for just $7,500.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Bruno takes a taxi from the Anthony house in Arlington, Virginia, to travel to Union Station in Washington, the taxi crosses a bridge over the Potomac River, which separates Virginia and Washington, D.C. The taxi is crossing the bridge in the wrong direction, because the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument (located in D.C.) are shown through the rear window of the taxi.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bruno Anthony: I beg your pardon, but aren't you Guy Haines?

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Baby Face

Criss-Cross

In Strangers On A Train, it's obvious from the start that playboy wastrel Robert Walker has singled out Farley Granger as an unwilling accomplice to a pair of murders. Granger's a semi-public figure, he's a tennis pro, but not an especially high one. High enough however for him to know that Granger is trapped in a loveless marriage and would like to be free to marry Ruth Roman.

So when they meet as complete Strangers On A Train one afternoon, Walker knows enough that Granger will at least be intrigued enough with the possibility that if the two of them, complete strangers, did commit homicide on parties that the other would be convenienced by their demise. Though Granger is repulsed by the idea, one of the beautiful things about this film, is that you can see in the performance he gives that Granger just might submit to temptation.

In fact when Walker kills Laura Elliot, Granger's wife whose been two timing him and even gotten pregnant by another man, he expects that Granger will in turn murder Walker's father so that Walker can inherit his estate. Today Walker would be called a trust fund baby and a pretty malevolent one at that.

Alfred Hitchcock directed Walker to his career role, ironically in his last complete film. Walker died the following year with most of My Son John finished. Hitchcock does not do too bad by Farley Granger either.

Of course when Granger does balk at committing homicide on people who never did anything to him, the tension. Strangers On A Train is also characterized by great editing, first in the tennis match in which Granger has to finish the match and waylay Walker before he plants evidence convicting Granger at the crime scene. And also in that final climax with a fight on a runaway carousel between Walker and Granger.

Strangers On A Train is Hitchcock at his best, it should not be missed and ought to be required viewing when film classes study editing.