Comments on Screen Savour: Strangers on a Train (1951)

This may well have been your most detailed and ent...

2008-12-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

This may well have been your most detailed and enthralling review of this entire series, and I must say that this film fully deserves it. It is definitely "as you contend" one of the master's greatest films, and one that would rank very high on my own list with VERTIGO, REBECCA, THE LADY VANISHES, NOTORIOUS, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, I CONFESS and THE 39 STEPS.
In 1951, there were two performances, which rank among the greatest of all-time. One was given by Alistair Sim in A CHRISTMAS CAROL and the other was given by Walker as the sociopath in this film. Your accentuation of his work here couldn't be more apt and dead-on. (by the way, Humphrey Bogart won the Oscar that year for THE AFRICAN QUEEN--one of the most laughable decisions in Oscar history, it was pay back and nothing more) Walker and Sim weren't even nominated! LOL!!
Kudos for you for mentioning the "brilliant script," "the darkly funny" vein, the "doppelganger effect," and the unbeknownst to me anecdote of the intended casting of William Holden.
Of course you rightly celebrate one of Hitchcock's most famous scenes ever--the murder at the amusement park seen through the eyeglasses on the grass.

Magnificent work here.

Wonderful look back on this one, TS. The gate bars...

2008-12-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

Wonderful look back on this one, TS. The gate bars as prison bars is evidence of Hitchcock's great way of giving the viewer subtle hints along the way without beating them over the head with symbolism.

And I'm a complete novice when it comes to noir, but this movie was, in fact, one of the movies I reviewed for MovieZeal's Month of Noir.

Oh, DCD... somehow I knew that comment might rub y...

2008-12-09T22:04:00.000-05:00

Oh, DCD... somehow I knew that comment might rub you the wrong way!

It doesn't surprise me that there's a bit of a critical consensus that at least Strangers on a Train, and to a lesser extent I Confess and The Wrong Man, qualify as film noir. I think most noir scholars would hate the idea of leaving Hitchcock out of the noir game because he's such an essential director when it comes to crime and guilt. And far be it from me to call the shots and lay out the definitions (many more people, including yourself, are more knowledgeable on the style than I). My gut feeling is that too much is classified as noir and the effect sort of muddies the water. For my purposes I prefer to think of noir as that hard-boiled, fatalistic, pessimistic atmosphere that absorbed post-war America. Gently scrolling through the Wikipedia page on film noir it's impossible not to see how expansive the definition as become. I have no qualms about classifying the three Hitchcock films as noir-ish, or related to noir at least by blood (Burks's cinematography feels like it almost seals the deal), but, knowing what I know about the thematic parameters of the style, I can't buy them as straight-up noir. I'd be happy to read other thoughts on this, though.

TYPO:Marnie, was [their] 2nd and last collabora...

2008-12-08T20:16:00.000-05:00
TYPO:Marnie, was [their] 2nd and last collaboration together.
T.S. said,"Burks mostly shot in Technicolor with the director, but the gorgeous and shadowy black-and-white cinematography here is among the best. No doubt it's Burks's chiaroscuro camerawork that so often leads the film to be mistaken as noir; while it doesn't share much of noir's thematic elements, Strangers on a Train is among Hitchcock's most noir-looking films (alongside I Confess and The Wrong Man)."
Ahh!...T.S., "mistaken" :-O in the "world of noir" that I have resided in for 2 and half years, these three films "are" considered noir or at least have "elements" of noir.
If you want to find out why these 3films are considered noir check out! author Spencer Selby's book DarkCity:Film Noir and a list called The Complete Consensus...It is a list that list 10 different authors agreement or disagreement whether a film is considered a noir or not considered a noir that was released between...
1940-1959.
Stranger on a Train... 9 authors
Wrong man...8 authors,
I confess... 3 authors

Tks,
darkcitydame ;-)

Nice analysis. Wouldn't you say that scene where ...

2008-12-08T20:05:00.000-05:00
Nice analysis. Wouldn't you say that scene where the two leads duck behind the iron gate is a good example of the transference of guilt that is said to take place in every Hitchcock film?

Didn't you think the ending when the carousel goes into the spin cycle is a little unlikely?

Otherwise, I agree. Bruno is one of Hitchcock's best villains, and Strangers on of his best films.

Hi! T.S.,
First of all,"Strangers on a Train...

2008-12-08T19:03:00.000-05:00
Hi! T.S.,
First of all,"Strangers on a Train" is most definitely, one of my favorite of all of Hitchcock's films that I have watched.(Which I own btw, on the most excellent 2 disc set)

Secondly,I also agree with you about director Alfred Hitchcock most excellent use of Trains in his films such as The 39 Steps, Shadow of a doubt,
The Lady Vanishes, North By Northwest and Strangers on a Train.
A Note On Hitch's Weight:
T.S. said, "At a meeting that would prove to be their final, the director walked out on drunk author, who followed Hitchcock to the driveway and called him a "fat bastard." For all intents and purposes, Chandler was dead to Hitchcock; he never spoke to the writer again..." I think actress Tippi Hedren made the same "fatal" mistake in a moment of Hitchcock's smothering,overbearing hand in her life.And like you referenced in your review Hitchcock's self-consciousness once again came into play and Marnie was there 2nd and last collaboration together.

Finally, What a very well written and very detailed review of Hitchcock's 1951 film "Strangers on a Train."

Tks,
darkcitydame ;-)

Comments on Screen Savour: Strangers on a Train (1951)

This may well have been your most detailed and ent...

Wonderful look back on this one, TS. The gate bars...

Oh, DCD... somehow I knew that comment might rub y...

TYPO:Marnie, was [their] 2nd and last collabora...

Nice analysis. Wouldn't you say that scene where ...

Hi! T.S.,First of all,"Strangers on a Train...

Hi! T.S.,
First of all,"Strangers on a Train...