[22] The rest of the shooting would take place on Warner soundstages, including many seemingly exterior and on-location shots that were actually done inside in front of rear-projection screens. Here you will find unforgettable moments, scenes and lines from all your favorite films. Then Strangers on a Train marked something of a renaissance for Hitchcock, after several years of low enthusiasm for his late-1940s output,[25] and he threw himself into the micromanagement of some of its production. Bruno mentions Guy's missing cigarette lighter to Anne and claims that Guy asked him to search the murder site for it. And the chocolate ice cream is probably what he thought about first. To add the following enhancements to your purchase, choose a different seller. "[37] Bruno, who tells Guy on the train that he admires people "who do things", gets a more vigorous musical treatment from Tiomkin: "Harmonic complexity defines the motifs associated with Bruno: rumbling bass, shocking clusters, and glassy string harmonics. Amateur tennis star Guy Haines wants to divorce his promiscuous wife Miriam so he can marry Anne Morton, the daughter of a US Senator. He has no patience with mediocrity on the set or at a dinner table. Hecht suggested his assistant, Czenzi Ormonde, to write the screenplay. A recently found longer prerelease British print (Side B) offers "a startling amplification of Bruno's flamboyance, his homoerotic attraction to Guy and his psychotic personality," according to Bill Desowitz of Film Comment. [17] Although Ormonde was without a formal screen credit, she did have two things in her favor: her recently published collection of short stories, Laughter From Downstairs, was attracting good notices from critics, and she was "a fair-haired beauty with long shimmering hair. 16793 GIFs. Beyond all the historical footnotes and film-buff fascination, Strangers on a Train remains one of Hitchcock's crowning achievements and a suspenseful classic that never loses its capacity to thrill and delight. place from Highsmith, whose novels have been unfairly shelved with crime Disc1 contains the movie in a good looking & sounding print with optional subtitles + French & Italian language versions and has a very good,entertaining commentary with various people talking about the film, book and much else, with the highlight for 'Hitchophiles' being interview segments of director & Hitchcock biographer Peter Bogdanovich questioning the man himself. his best films, including "Strangers on a Train" (1951), in which a When Bruno arrives at the amusement park, a carnival worker recognizes him from the night of the murder; he informs the police, who think he has recognized Guy. It reflected events in his private life; he had a nervous breakdown shortly after The rest was complete by early November. This triggers a flashback; Bruno compulsively squeezes the woman's neck, and other guests intervene to stop him from strangling her to death. Strange thing about this trip. "[8] Perhaps it was the circumstances of her forced casting, but Roman became the target of Hitchcock's scorn throughout the production. The creepiness factor holds up very well. Guy Haines, a famous tennis player, is recognized on a train by Bruno Anthony, whose conversation shows a detailed knowledge of Guy's private life. According to Bruno, it's all to be read in the newspapers, especially the gossip concerning Guy's relationship with the daughter of a United States senator, and the ongoing drama with Guy's soon-to-be ex-wife, a good-time gal who's pregnant with another man's child. Bruno wants to kill his father, but knows he will be caught because he has a motive. A film of noir moments galore. Ordinary Washington locations become sinister hunting grounds that mirror perfectly the creeping terror that slowly consumes Guy, as the lethally smooth Bruno relentlessly pursues him to a frenzied climax. at a carnival; Miriam and two boyfriends are in the boat ahead, and shadows on Hitchcock An early preview edit of the film, sometimes labeled the "British" version although it was never released in Britain or anywhere else, includes some scenes either not in, or else different from, the film as released. But Hitchcock takes music to another level. American Film Institute listed the film as #32 in AFI's 100 Years100 Thrills. Hitchcock's even-strained response: "Cut. These events were the background to their work, while Hitchcock, Cook, Ormonde and Keon were preparing the script for Strangers, and film scholar Robert L. Carringer has written of a political subtext to the film. helps explain how Bruno could come so close to carrying out his plan. Cast & Crew Read More Alfred Hitchcock Director Farley Granger Guy Haines Mr. Granger appears by arrangement with Samuel Goldwyn Ruth Roman Anne Morton Robert Walker Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. "[4] Blurring the lines puts both Guy and Bruno on a good-evil continuum, and the infinite shades of gray in between, became Hitchcock's canvas for telling the story and painting his characters. wants dead. Guy wants a divorce from his cheating wife, Miriam (Kasey Rogers), in order to marry Anne Morton (Ruth Roman), the daughter of a U.S. senator. Highly recommended. His vigorous tennis match is a highlight of Strangers on a Train. Bruno orders with gusto and with an interest in what he is going to eat lamb chops, French fries, and chocolate ice cream. The novel has been adapted multiple times, most famously by Alfred Hitchcock in his 1951 film. Hitchcock's trademark cameo) but you can look for yourself, in chapter six of Strangers on a Train (1951) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Writing Credits Cast (in credits order) verified as complete Produced by Alfred Hitchcock . By the time Guy disembarks from the train, he has unwittingly entered into a deal with the devil, and his life almost immediately begins to unravel. Behind the Story contains these featurettes: Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic (SD; 36:44) is a nice overview with Peter Bogdanovich and several others discussing the importance of the film in the Hitchcock canon; Strangers on a Train: The Victim's P.O.V. His best performance and best casting. Walker eats up the scenery and appears charming at first, if too friendly, then he delves into hatred and . If you haven't seen it, it's time to change that! [20], There was one point of agreement between Chandler and Hitchcock, although it would come only much later, near the release of the film: they both acknowledged that since virtually none of Chandler's work remained in the final script, his name should be removed from the credits. It is a twisting story of a male-on-male relationship that Patricia Highsmith often proffered (same-sex, male or female) in her best novels like this one. [44] Hitchcock made personal appearances in most of them, and was often accompanied by his daughter. Barbara tells Anne that Bruno was looking at her while strangling the other woman, and Anne realizes Barbara's resemblance to Miriam. Better still, the two-sided DVD edition of this enduring classic includes both the original version of the film and also the longer prerelease British print, which offers a more overt depiction of Bruno's flamboyant and dangerous personality, and his homoerotic attraction to Guy by way of his deviously indecent proposal. [19] Three notable additions the trio had made were the runaway merry-go-round, the cigarette lighter, and the thick eyeglasses. A football match is always ninety minutes, stretched to thirty minutes extra and a possible penalty shoot-out at most. Hitchcock insists on perfection. strangers agrees to it. Together the three women, working under the boss's guidance and late into most nights,[17] finished enough of the script in time to send the company East. Once on the train, Bruno orders a pair of double drinks "The only kind of doubles I play", he says charmingly. [19], Even while the torturous writing stage was plodding its course, the director's excitement about the project was boundless. Also in the cast are Ruth Roman, Leo J. Carroll, Patricia Hitchcock (Alfred's daughter), Marion Lorne, and Kasey Rogers. It was Hitchcock, not Tiomkin, whose idea brought the four evocative numbers[8] "The Band Played On", "Carolina in the Morning", "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", and "Baby Face" to the soundtrack: In one of Hitchcock's most explicit operatic gestures, the characters at the fateful carnival sing the score, giving it full dimension as part of the drama. Let me remind you that even the most unworthy of us has a right to life and the pursuit of happiness. Bruno is standing behind an iron gate, the bars casting symbolic shadows on his The pair has what writer Peter Dellolio refers to as a "dark symbiosis. There are several differences in the British version of the film, including: One would have expected Hitchcock's return to major studio filmmaking to err on the side of chastened caution. Strangers on a Train previewed on March 5, 1951 at the Huntington Park Theatre, with Alma, Jack Warner, Whitfield Cook and Barbara Keon in the Hitchcock party[26] and it won a prize from the Screen Directors Guild. Now look at how Alfred Hitchcock reinforces the duality of human nature. Please use a different way to share. I n the latest Oscar Isaac vehicle, Mojave, director William Monaghan recycles the familiar tale of one man's seemingly chance encounter with a menacing stranger - a trope that was perfected more than six decades ago by Alfred Hitchcock in his 1951 masterpiece Strangers on a Train. Brilliant. The camera switches back and forth from the tennis match to Bruno dropping the lighter down a grate of a storm drain and struggling to recover it. And then, Guy's wife turns up strangled to death. My mum had said this was a great film, and she was right. Bruno agrees to kill Guy's unfaithful wife, in return for which Guy will (or so it seems) kill Bruno's spiteful father. Alfred Hitchcock's cameo appearance occurs 11 minutes into the film. Senator Morton: She was a human being. Did Hitchcock intend for Bruno to be attracted to Guy? In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[3]. Between the two versions of the film, the "British" version most prominently omits the final scene on the train. + a trailer. "Strangers The only sadistic part was I never got the hundred dollars."[43]. The Rowland V. Lee Ranch - Fallbrook Avenue, Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA. [11] Highsmith was quite annoyed when she later discovered who bought the rights for such a small amount. accidental overdose of tranquilizers. Bruno dreams up a crazy scheme whereby he and Guy exchange murders. The police question Guy, but cannot confirm his alibi: a professor Guy met on the train was so drunk that he cannot remember their encounter. Bruno's, which is looking straight ahead at Guy. One gets the feeling of a closeted homosexual constantly coming onto Guy. spotted Highsmith in a cameo in the film. [21] The scripting team added the tennis match and the crosscutting with Bruno's storm drain travails in Metcalf added the cigarette lighter, the Tunnel of Love, Miriam's eyeglasses; in fact, the amusement park is only a brief setting in the novel.[21]. He is seen carrying a double bass as he climbs onto a train. Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2023. [21] "To all appearances Guy is the all-American stereotype, an athlete, unassuming despite his fame, conservatively dressed," wrote Carringer; he is "a man of indeterminate sexual identity found in circumstances making him vulnerable to being compromised. The screen adaptation differed from Highsmith's book in that Haines is given a happy ending, having . (Robert Walker) hates his father. used to finish his final film, "My Son John.") Psychotic mother's boy Bruno Anthony meets famous tennis professional Guy Haines on a train. during an early meeting involving Guy and the senator's whole family; she keeps Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Alfred Hitchcock loved trains. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. This is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most complex amd multi-layered films. Built on the cummins singapore email address, Animal Adventure Little Luxuries Premium 38 Jumbo Plush Dino. the wall make it appear Bruno has overtaken them. Rogers was effectively blind with the glasses on and needed to be guided by the other actors. was above all the master of great visual set pieces, and there are several Have watched this movie at least twice previously but it had been many years since I last saw it. Senator Morton: Dreadful. Anne. The laying bare of Bruno's hidden nature, along with the great set pieces (head-turning tennis match, disintegrating carousel) and suspense as only Hitchcock can deliver, makes for a first-class trip. Hitchcock builds the conflict on this. Where was the tennis match in Strangers on a Train? Strangers On A Train is about two men, Guy Haines and Bruno Anthony, who meet on a train by accidentally knocking shoes. But a men's three-set tennis match can be eleven hours or thirty minutes, depending on tiebreakers and whether it even goes to three sets at all. As a plot, this has a neatness that Hitchcock must have found "[48] They also demonstrate Hitchcock's gift for deft visual storytelling: For most of the film, Bruno is the actor, Guy the reactor, and Hitchcock always shows Bruno's feet first, then Guy's. Guy is suspended between tennis and politics, between his tramp wife and his senator's daughter, and Bruno is seeking desperately to establish an identity through violent, outr actions and flamboyance (shoes, lobster-patterned tie, name proclaimed to the world on his tiepin). blurting out what everyone is afraid to say. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. The two sets of feet in the title sequence match each other in motion and in cutting, but they immediately establish the contrast between the two men: the first shoes "showy, vulgar brown-and-white brogues; [the] second, plain, unadorned walking shoes. --Jeff Shannon, Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon, [{"displayPrice":"$8.99","priceAmount":8.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ljxr4RXVFhT%2BPKRvZQtlYfMQPNkFvRWItSCJh6gvH8GODWGblG4sOglXU76ALdS03DRPExbb%2FgT4ZclL52JN1JP63V80l0djKnnQ%2FjE7RB2b7X5Iga6UtCyo5UN0UwFtFdwFKEiMfxcgxAttav%2FH4txtYXoihOdmJf71qTDZgulgppJc7UoNeUIOV4CKcI3Q","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]. In a conventional movie, the tune would play in the background as a clever ironic backdrop. He's endearing and menacing, intimate and unknowable. Each will murder a stranger, with no apparent motive, so neither will be suspected. By month's end, they were back in California. said in Francois Truffaut's book-length interview that he didn't much like "[13], Even before sewing up the rights for the novel, Hitchcock's mind was whirling with ideas about how to adapt it for the screen. Bruno follows Guy around Washington, introduces himself to Anne, and appears at a party at Senator Morton's house. Two strangers will "exchange murders," each killing the person the other Strangers on a Train Preview Version (SD; 1:42:57). Hitchcock had written exacting specifications for an amusement park, which was constructed on the ranch of director Rowland Lee in Chatsworth, California. She initially praised it, writing: "I am pleased in general. chance again.) said that correct casting saved him a reel in storytelling time, since In accordance with the cautious censorship guidelines of the period, Hitchcock would later tame these elements of Walker's memorable performance by trimming and altering certain scenes, so the differences between the original and prerelease versions provide an illuminating illustration of censorship's effect on the story's thematic intensity. Robert Walker is fabulous as the twisted Bruno. weaker characters, while the right is for characters who are either good, or That was my favorite part of the movie. Strangers on a Train is a 1951 American psychological thriller film noir produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. compartment, Bruno reveals that he wants his father dead, and suggests a I suspect the things we might see so plainly now - the homosexual longing in Bruno, the wicked contrast of the man of action and the man of ideas, the superficiality of Guy and the hungry depth . With no known link between the two men, the police would be none the wiser, would they? The camera was on one side of the reflector, Elliott was on the other, and Hitchcock directed Elliott to turn her back to the reflector and "float backwards, all the way to the floor like you were doing the limbo. "[14] But Chandler was a notoriously difficult collaborator and the two men could not have had more different meeting styles: Hitchcock enjoyed long, rambling off-topic meetings where often the film would not even be mentioned for hours, while Chandler was strictly business and wanted to get out and get writing. Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2022. filming was completed, was institutionalized for treatment, and died of an The film was later made available on Blu-ray in 2012 with the same contents as the 2004 DVD edition. "Isn't it a fascinating design?" The merry-go-round scene is not in the book, but is taken from the climax of Edmund Crispin's 1946 novel The Moving Toyshop. [13] With treatment in hand, Hitchcock shopped for a screenwriter; he wanted a "name" writer to lend some prestige to the screenplay, but was turned down by eight writers, including John Steinbeck and Thornton Wilder, all of whom thought the story too tawdry and were put off by Highsmith's first-timer status. Perhaps there will be those in the audience who will likewise be terrified by the villain's darkly menacing warnings and by Mr. Hitchcock's sleekly melodramatic tricks. The original version (Side A) is an all-time thriller classic. Then a grip put a normal-sized phone on the table, where she picked it up. As Bruno dies, his fingers unclench to reveal Guy's lighter in his hand. there would be no possible connection between killer and victim. No matter how well a football team plays, the match has a fixed temporality. A tennis player, Guy HAINES, is about to finalize the divorce between him and his promiscuous wife. brainy criminals who functioned not out of passion but from careful With an emphasis on narrative and visual strategy, Hitchcock controls the escalating tension with a master's flair for cinematic design, and the plot (coscripted by Raymond Chandler) is so tightly constructed that you'll be white-knuckled even after multiple viewings. It proceeds, as Hitchcock's films Anne visits Bruno's home and tries explaining to his befuddled mother that her son is a murderer. A carnival worker crawls underneath it and applies the brakes too abruptly, causing the carousel to spin off its support, trapping the mortally injured Bruno underneath. criminal.". 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