Alfred Hitchcock’s tale of doubles, murder, light and dark, Strangers on a Train is a film with a
lot of deep and hidden subtext which sits underneath a nicely woven story.
Amateur tennis player and wannabe Politician Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is on
a train when he meets a chatty and confident man named Bruno Anthony (Robert
Walker). Bruno recognises the tennis ace and begins talking about stories of
Guy’s private life that he has read about in the newspapers. Guy is
uncomfortable but humours the strange man who soon begins to talk of murder and
how they could pull off the perfect murder by each murdering the other’s
problem person. Guy is on the way to speak with his wife about a divorce and
Bruno suggests murder. A few days later Guy’s wife is found murdered and Guy is
stalked by the shady Bruno who says that it is Guy’s turn to commit the crime.
Strangers on a Train
is far from my favourite Hitchcock film but it features some stunning
cinematography and a vast array of visual motifs which help to spell out the
plot and themes. The performance of Robert Walker is also noteworthy but I
rarely felt fully engaged with the story. It is perhaps a movie that would
benefit from a second viewing but like pretty much all of Hitchcock’s movies is
still worth watching.
Early on there are thematic similarities to Hitch’s 1948
film Rope in which a man tries to
pull off the perfect murder under the nose of his family and friends. The early
suggestions of killing without being caught echo that film but there are also
links with the 1943 film Shadow of a Doubt in which murder is afoot and two side characters debate about the
perfect unsolvable murder. Indeed the idea seems to be a frequent theme of
Hitchcock’s and here the dark and twisted Bruno Anthony is the perfect
protagonist for the Director’s gloomy ideas. A theme that runs through this
film is that of doubles. The word itself is mentioned a lot from drinks to
tennis and even the Director’s cameo famously finds him carrying a double bass.
The doubles theme runs as far as two men accompanying the murdered girl, two
girls with similar glasses, two detectives in two towns and even two
Hitchcocks’ with Alfred’s daughter Patricia playing Barbara Morton. It could be
suggested that Bruno is almost the darker version of Guy and had the film been
made fifty years later it is quite possible that the plot would have twisted to
reveal a Fight Club style imagining
of one character.
The idea of light and dark is also thoroughly explored here.
When Guy is first told of his wife’s murder we see the bright Capitol building
in the background, the seat of political power and to where Guy aspires to be.
In front of him though is the shadowy figure of Bruno who beckons Guy into the
darkness. Even Guy’s tennis whites oppose the dark suits worn by Bruno.
Darkness becomes important late on when Bruno returns to the murder scene for
the film’s exciting climax. A second link with Rope lies in the sexual ambiguity of the central characters. Bruno
is almost certainly painted as a homosexual and there is homoeroticism abound
during the opening scenes aboard the train.
Strangers on a Train
is a beautifully filmed movie. The picture garnered its only Oscar nomination
in the Black and White Cinematography category and cinematographer Robert Burks
creates a stunning contrast between light and dark while capturing typically
Noir like shots. The final scenes in particular really get the heart racing and
the quick editing during the finale is also excellent. Burks would go on to collaborate
with Hitchcock on twelve films beginning with this and ending with Marnie in 1964. Psycho was the only film during those thirteen years on which
Robert Burks did not work. The score is frenetic and busy and often distracting
but like the cinematography it spices up the final scenes. As for Hitchcock,
his direction is superb as usual, from simple shots of railway lines to
underneath an out of control carousel he always seems to be able to pick an
angle which works. The tennis scenes were also excellent and got close to the
action despite a mostly static camera. Of the actors, I enjoyed Robert Walker’s
performance and Ruth Roman was also very good and quite stunning in an icy sort
of way. Patricia Hitchcock had a cheeky sensibility to her which I liked but
central actor Guy Haines often felt lost amongst the chaos. Kasey Rodgers
shines briefly as the wicked wife whose murder sparks the movie’s plot.
Overall I wasn’t overly enamoured with Strangers on a Train but I enjoyed its aesthetics. The film lacks the
tension of some of the Director’s other work but is as beautiful as any of it.
It bursts with symbolism and metaphor but the plot isn’t gripping and I always
sensed the ending. It is still a fine piece of filmmaking though and more than
worthy of Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography.
7/10
Titbits
- As well as starring in this movie, Farley Granger also starred in Hitchcock's Rope three years ealier.
- Alfred Hitchcock's cameo was directed by his daughter Patricia.
- This was Robert Walker's final film. He died less than two months after its release due to a severe drug reaction. He was 32.
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