Strangers on a Train

The 1951 film, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN is quite the accomplishment. It features great acting, and Hitchcock's recognizably pleasing direction. It was co-written by Raymond Chandler, and is about two strangers, one a lazy psychopath, the other a tennis player, who meet on a train and plot to kill each other's annoyances. Robert Walker (the psychopath) and Farley Granger (the tennis player) are the two men, who talk of this prospect. It would be perfect. No one would suspect, and neither could be implicated in the other's crime. But when Granger leaves the train for his hometown, the idea leaves his head, as he was never actually serious about it. But the completely serious Walker goes through with the plot, and kills Granger's troublesome wife. This shocks Granger, and now Walker expects Granger to kill his father. Walker plays such a great character, fiddling around with Granger's lighter which could implicate him in the crime, going to tennis matches, and in the midst of the people looking back and forth stares straight ahead. Hitchcock uses his trademark obsession of items, showing us Walker while the camera sits beside the lighter, and obsessing over a certain style of glasses. STRANGERS ON A TRAIN is a damn good Hitchcock film.
Strangers on a Train: ★★★1/2