- Perhaps not his best, but Hitchcock
still delivers.
When I decided to do a black and white
film month back in March, I thought yeah, I'll dive into some
classics and give them quite the lashing. But, as you can see from
the previous three reviews, I've seen nothing but good to great
films. While Chaplin's comedy didn't quite resonate with me, Persona
isn't for the everyday viewer and The Apartment doesn't dive deep
into serious issues, each certainly have cause to view and this
week's is no different with the twisted mind of one Alfred Hitchcock.
Strangers on a Train has a pretty
simple beginning, a simple random meeting between two gentlemen, Guy
Haines (played by Farley Granger) and Bruno Antony (played by Robert Walker). A conversation of pleasantries and discussing personal woes
turns perverse as Bruno suggests how to commit the perfect murder.
It's a terrible thing when one person in a conversation is dead
serious and the other is just playing along to get rid of the
troublesome person and their conversation. Bruno gets enough
information out of Guy before they part ways to make enough trouble
for an entire film. I thought the random meeting and the hell that
Bruno leaves upon poor Guy's life is certainly something worthy of
viewing. From Guy choking out a socialite as a game, to the obvious
committed murder it's one story that offers up a grand finale. Or at
least I wish it did. It's not that I didn't agree with the ending,
it all seems just a bit too convenient for it to end the way it did.
Bruno plays the part of the bad guy so well, almost without flaw or
error, but in the end he just gives up. It's anticlimactic, and
perhaps in a way it had to be, but still it left a sting.
A critical scene near the end involves
a merry-go-round. Something that is just about an all you can be
sweet little ride for the children. It goes a bit out of control,
however, and a man has to go underneath the violently turning
merry-go-round to turn it off. It's said to be the riskiest stunt
Hitchcock did and is quoted as saying he'd never do it again. Well,
that's good you don't want to do it again, the thing doesn't seem
like it should be a normal day occurrence in thriller flicks. I'm
also guilty of not really seeing the big fear during the scene. The
guy going to fix it is just that. Some guy. Great stunt, I'm sure
his spine could have been sheared clean off had it gone wrong but
within the confines of the movie, why would I even care?
 |
| She seems to be having fun at least. |
I enjoyed this very interesting
Hitchcock movie, for the simple fact that there is no standard “blond
bombshell” who is being frightened half to death by Hitchcock. His
antics against ladies in his films are well-documented, but in case
you didn't know Tippi Hedren had one terrible time on the set of The
Birds. The movie is different from the movies I've seen from him, so
it sticks out a little more clearer in my mind. I also thought Bruno
(up until the climax) was a fantastic thriller villain.
The movie features a well-written story
without the big Hollywood actors of the time. It does well for itself
though it lacks any real lead females as they are all backdrop plot
devices rather than any real form of character and I think that hurts
the film a little bit, even if it is something that made me remember
it more. I also would have killed for a little more information on
Bruno's mother. Not quite as devious as Bruno himself but I felt a
greater sense of intellect than what was shown.
I give it a 8/10
IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (51,559 votes)
PS: Anonymously does anyone want to get
rid of someone? Of course I jest...
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