As with Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train is one of many Hitchcock films to explore the doppelgnger theme. DVD Features: . Senator Morton: She was a human being. [4] Hitchcock said that he originally wanted William Holden for the Guy Haines role,[5][6] but Holden declined. [56] In the book, Bruno dies in a boating accident[56] far removed from a merry-go-round. his best films, including "Strangers on a Train" (1951), in which a [4] "Granger is softer and more elusive, more convincing as he tries to slip out of Bruno's conversational web instead of flatly rejecting him. The aestheticizing of the horror somehow enables the audience to contemplate more fully its reality. [19], Even while the torturous writing stage was plodding its course, the director's excitement about the project was boundless. Bruno's father, and neither would ever be suspected. 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 [22] "Low-keyed, mild mannered", Burks was "a versatile risk-taker with a penchant for moody atmosphere. Review of 2 Disc 2004 Warner Bros edition(with orange & white cover)- As this well known film(from 1951) is equally well analysed & described In many other reviews I'll just give an overview of what's on the discs. The film itself was great, the DVD was in fine condition, and it arrived either on time or early (can't remember which). ingenious plot with insinuating creepiness. Rogers was effectively blind with the glasses on and needed to be guided by the other actors. [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. This is the so-called "British" version of the film (which was included on the "flipper" DVD a few years ago) which runs about two minutes longer than the final cut and has some alternate takes. The press release embellished the tale, claiming he left her "dangling in total darkness for an hour,"[36] only then allowing his "trembling daughter" to be lowered and released. Although Hitchcock He is also something of a hedonist. A psychopath forces a tennis star to comply with his theory that two strangers can get away with murder. In the casting of Anne Morton, Jack L. Warner got what he wanted when he assigned Ruth Roman to the project, over Hitchcock's objections. Please use a different way to share. Hitchcock's biggest changes were in his two lead characters: The character called Bruno Antony in the film is called Charles Anthony Bruno in the book. 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. [44] Of greater interest to Warner was the box office take, and the "receipts soon told the true story: Strangers on a Train was a success, and Hitchcock was pronounced at the top of his form as master of the dark, melodramatic suspense thriller. [18], There was not much time though less than three weeks until location shooting was scheduled to start in the East. 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. The first encounter between Bruno and Guy on the train is longer, and features a more obvious homoerotic flirtation by Bruno; In the scene where Guy sneaks out of his apartment to go to Bruno's house, a shot of him opening a drawer to get the map Bruno sketched is added; The very last scene in the US version, which involves a clergyman, was deleted. Bruno wants to kill his father, but knows he will be caught because he has a motive. Disc2 contains the (slightly longer) 'preview version' of the film,(not greatly different from the 'finished article' but still of interest). I love Hitchcock but hadn't ever watched this one until the other day, and I was pleasantly surprised in some ways but mostly very disappointed. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Anne's sister Barbara says that the police will think that Guy is the murderer since he has a motive. The more you watch, the more you'll see. The two men are as different as can be but both have the saem problem. Strangers on a Train . calculation, and usually got away with their crimes. [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]. "[35], The final scene of the so-called American version of the film has Barbara and Anne Morton waiting for Guy to call on the telephone. always used the convention that the left side of the screen is for evil and/or [38], Tiomkin's contrasting musical themes continued throughout the film, delineating two characters with substantial differences: "For 'Guy's Theme', Tiomkin created a hesitant, passive idea, made-to-order music for Farley Granger's performance. 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. "Isn't it a fascinating design?" Believing that Guy is trying to escape, a police officer shoots at him, but instead kills the carousel operator, causing the carousel to spin out of control. Mysterious Bruno (Robert Walker) hates his father. + a trailer. "[I]n one of the most unexpected, most aesthetically justified moments in film,"[29] the slow, almost graceful, murder is shown as a reflection in the victim's eyeglasses, which have been jarred loose from her head and dropped to the ground. "Me, I never do anything important." No Highsmith cameo Especially with Bruno, who held the movie together as he did the book." After appearances in his 2 best British films, "The 39 Steps" (1935) and "The Lady Vanishes" (1938) , the train was elevated to star billing along with the 2 male leads in "Strangers on a Train" (1951).Not only does the train move its passengers around, it is the location where one's diabolical "you do my murder, I"ll do yours" plot is hatched and used to seduce the other. Tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) hates his unfaithful wife. # travel # amazing # kit harington # you are amazing # youre amazing. This ending, however, was not acceptable to Warner Bros.[28], In 1997, Warner released the film onto DVD as a double sided disc, with the "British" version on one side, and the "Hollywood" version on the reverse. One could study it forever. 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. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 131 p 31 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551, Warner Bros. press release #HO9-1251, November 30, 1950, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, introducing citations to additional sources, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Influence on Carol Burnett's Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, "Armchair Audience: The Moving Toyshop (1946)", "The Screen In Review; 'Strangers on a Train,' Another Hitchcock Venture, Arrives at the Warner Theatre", "My Favourite Hitchcock: Strangers on a Train", "Two Men Inspired By 'Throw Momma from the Train' Fail To Get Away With Murder", "David Fincher, 'Strangers on a Train,' and the Tricky Business of Remaking Hitchcock", German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Strangers_on_a_Train_(film)&oldid=1134435612, Films based on works by Patricia Highsmith, Films with screenplays by Raymond Chandler, United States National Film Registry films, Articles needing additional references from June 2022, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking reliable references from June 2022, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 17:53. The creepiness factor holds up very well. Variety praised it, writing: "Performance-wise, the cast comes through strongly. [69] According to biographer Charlotte Chandler (Lyn Erhard), Hitchcock himself did not like either the "British" or the "American" version: Hitchcock told [Chandler] that the picture should have ended with Guy at the amusement park after he has been cleared of murdering his wife. ${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}. villains, and Hitch agreed with Truffaut that the audience sympathy was more Hitchcock had a crew shoot background footage of the 1950 Davis Cup finals held August 2527, 1950 at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York. "[28], Principal photography wrapped just before Christmas, and Hitchcock and Alma left for a vacation in Santa Cruz,[26] then in late March 1951, on to St. Moritz, for a 25th anniversary European excursion. Later in life, while still praising Robert Walker's performance as Bruno, she criticized the casting of Ruth Roman as Anne, Hitchcock's decision to turn Guy from an architect into a tennis player, and the fact that Guy does not murder Bruno's father as he does in the novel. "Hitchcock told me that this scene was the most personally frightening moment for him in any of his films", writes biographer Charlotte Chandler. fiction when she actually writes mainstream fiction about criminals. The emotionally-imblanced and immature Bruno expresses his feelings and Guy his problems in a chit chat. [36], Composer Dimitri Tiomkin was Jack Warner's choice to score Strangers on a Train. So Hitchcock had an oversized phone constructed and placed in the foreground. The original version (Side A) is an all-time thriller classic. the Forest Hills tennis club. The theme of doubles is "the key element in the film's structure,"[46] and Hitchcock starts right off in his title sequence making this point: there are two taxicabs, two redcaps, two pairs of feet, two sets of train rails that cross twice. "[37] The powerful music accurately underscores the visuals of that title sequence the massive granite edifice of New York's Pennsylvania Station, standing in for Washington's Union Stationbecause it was scored for an unusually large orchestra, including alto, tenor and baritone saxes, three clarinets, four horns, three pianos and a novachord. Unfortunately, that was about it. As Bruno dies, his fingers unclench to reveal Guy's lighter in his hand. [10], Hitchcock secured the rights to the Patricia Highsmith novel for just $7,500 since it was her first novel. criminal.". 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