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| Strangers On A Train - 1951 |
Coming up next is 1951's thriller "Strangers On A Train", a story in which we see two men meet by chance on board a train. There a murder swap is planned. However, one man is only joking and the other is deadly serious.
The film's cast includes Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, Leo G. Carroll, Patricia Hitchcock, Kasey Rogers, Norma Varden, Laura Treadwell, and Odette Myrtil.
Tennis star Guy Haines is traveling by train to have a meeting with his promiscuous wife, from whom he wants to obtain a divorce. While on the train, he strikes up a conversation with a man named Bruno Anthony.
The two men get to talking about their problems. Bruno thinks that maybe they can help each other out. Bruno will kill Guy's wife (enabling him to marry his girlfriend, a US senator's daughter), while Guy would kill Bruno's father, whom he hates. The idea is that the murders would go unsolved because nobody would suspect them of the killings.
Guy agrees that the idea is amusing, but nothing more. He doesn't want to participate in it. Bruno, however, has other plans. Guy leaves the train in a hurry and leaves behind his engraved cigarette lighter, which Bruno picks up and puts in his pocket.
Bruno goes ahead with the killing of Guy's wife, whom he finds out with another man having a good time at the local fair. He knocks off her glasses and then suffocates her. (Film students still study the technique used to film the murder through the glass lenses to this day.)
Afterwards, Bruno tracks Guy down and tells him that he's completed his part of the bargain, and now it is time for Guy to hold up his end of the "deal". Guy is horrified and threatens to go to the police. Bruno sufficiently frightens him into staying silent.
When he goes to visit his girlfriend Anne, he learns of his wife's murder from the police. Anne, her father Senator Morton, and her sister Barbara try to keep his spirits up in this difficult time.
It turns out that Guy is actually the number one suspect in the murder case. Any alibi that he had isn't useful because the man who can substantiate it was drunk at the time.
Bruno starts hounding Guy wherever he goes, standing in the shadows, and sending him notes.
Anne witnesses an exchange between the two men, and she thinks there is something very wrong with the situation.
Bruno continues making Guy uncomfortable, even appearing at one of his tennis matches and staring at him menacingly.
He even gets himself into the Morton social circle and shows up at a cocktail party they are hosting. Anne doesn't trust him, and neither does her sister Barbara.
Bruno talks with two guests, Mrs. Cunningham and Mrs. Anderson, about the ways to commit a perfect murder. He asks Mrs. Cunningham to volunteer her throat so he can show her what he means, generally speaking.
When Barbara sees him, she looks on with a scared look in her eye. Something about her glasses unnerves Bruno, and he loses his mind in the moment.
Poor Mrs. Cunningham ends up nearly choked to death, while Bruno passes out after having his hands pried off of her throat.
Anne comes to realize that Bruno killed Guy's wife, and she confronts Guy with the information. Guy admits that it is true, but he can't prove it.
Events bring Guy and Bruno back to the fairgrounds where the murder took place. A terrifying carousel ride brings things to a frightening conclusion with the happy result that Guy is completely exonerated.
Later, Guy and Anne are shown riding on a train, gazing happily into each other's eyes. A stranger tries to strike up a conversation, but they quickly move away.
Cast rundown:
Farley Granger.................................Guy Haines
Ruth Roman....................................Anne Morton
Robert Walker..................................Bruno Anthony
Leo G. Carroll...................................Senator Morton
Patricia Hitchcock.............................Barbara Morton
Kasey Rogers...................................Miriam Haines
Norma Varden..................................Mrs. Cunningham
Laura Treadwell................................Mrs. Anderson
Odette Myrtil....................................Madame Darville
And that's it for Strangers On A Train. In one of the scenes of the film, Ruth Roman hands Patricia Hitchcock a $10 bill. At the time of production, showing real U.S. money was illegal without the prior consent and permission of the U.S. Treasury Department. That law was later rescinded.
We also have a Hitchcock cameo. The famous director appears in a scene with Farley Granger carrying a huge double bass. His part in the film was directed by his daughter, Patricia.
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