Strangers on a Train (film)

• Release Date: 1951
• Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock
• Writer(s): Raymond Chandler ; Czenzi Ormonde
• Principal Actors and Roles: Farley Granger (Guy Haines); Ruth Roman (Anne Morton); Robert Walker (Bruno Antony); Leo G. Carroll (Sen. Morton); Patricia Hitchcock (Barbara Morton); Marion Lorne (Mrs. Antony); Kasey Rogers (Miriam Joyce Haines (as Laura Elliott))
• Book / Story Film Based On: Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller that tells the story of two men, strangers, who meet on a train and agree to exchange murders so neither man is suspected for the respective crimes. The story was adapted from a novel written by Patricia Highsmith, also titled Strangers on a Train. Alfred Hitchcock, the film’s director, kept himself anonymous during negotiations to secure the rights to Highsmith’s novel and in doing so, kept the price low, ultimately purchasing the rights for just $7,500. After the fact, Highsmith learned that it was to Hitchcock that she had sold the rights, and was upset that she had not received more money.

Although Hitchcock got a good deal on the rights to the novel, the process to take the story through the treatment process and into a finalized screenplay was a long one. After just one previous attempt, Hitchcock obtained a satisfactory story treatment, written by Whitfield Cook. Hitchcock sought out a well-known writer to pen the screenplay because he believed this would add cachet to the project, since the novel was Highsmith’s first. He was turned down by every writer he approached, however, and finally settled on Raymond Chandler, who won an Oscar for his work on Double Indemnity (1944). Hitchcock and Chandler repeatedly feuded during the process, and after two drafts of a script were submitted, Hitchcock unceremoniously fired Chandler with just less than three weeks to the beginning of filming. Hitchcock hired Czenzi Ormonde, who quickly finished the script with the help of Barbara Keon, Hitchcock’s associate producer, as well as Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s wife.

Plot

Strangers on a Train begins on a train, where an affluent man, Bruno Anthony, recognizes up-and-coming tennis star, Guy Haines. The two men strike up a conversation, and it is soon revealed that Guy is unhappy in his marriage to his adulterous wife, Miriam, and wishes to divorce her so that he can marry Anne Morton, the daughter of a senator. Bruno reveals his deep disdain for his father, and notes that they each have someone in their lives that they want dead. Bruno believes it would be the perfect crime if the two men swapped murders—with Bruno killing Miriam and Guy killing Bruno’s father. This way, neither man would be suspected of committing the crime, since they are complete strangers. Guy, who believes Bruno to be innocuous, agrees that it would be the perfect crime, and departs the train, forgetting his monogrammed lighter in the car, which Bruno takes, believing that the two men have agreed to the plan.

Guy later meets with Miriam, who is pregnant by another man, but refuses to get a divorce. Afterwards, Guy and Bruno talk on the phone and Guy explains that Miriam has refused the divorce. One night soon thereafter, Bruno follows Miriam and two of her boyfriends to an amusement park, where he strangles her. Bruno then gives Miriam’s thick glasses to Guy along with keys to Bruno’s house and a pistol, reminding Guy that he must uphold his end of the bargain. Guy is soon informed that his wife has been killed, and the police begin questioning him. However, after his alibi falls through, Guy is given a police escort.

At a party held by Anne’s father, Senator Morton, Bruno appears, introducing himself to Anne and her sister, Barbara, who heavily resembles Miriam. After Bruno accidentally begins strangling a stranger at the party, Guy confesses to Anne what Bruno has done. Later on, Anne visits Bruno’s house to tell his mother he is guilty of murder, but she does not believe Anne. Overhearing their conversation, Bruno lets Anne know that he has Guy’s lighter, and will plant it at the scene of Miriam’s murder to frame him.

Anne and Guy plan to beat Bruno to the amusement park, and succeed when Bruno is delayed after he drops the lighter in a gutter. When Bruno arrives at the park, a worker recognizes him from the night of the murder and alerts the police. Guy and Bruno begin to wrestle on the merry-go-round ride, and the police arrive, firing shots. One of the shots accidentally hits the carousel operator, whose death sends the ride out of control, eventually crashing. In the chaos, Bruno is shot and killed, and when the police discover Guy’s lighter in Bruno’s hands, and Guy’s name is cleared.

Significance

Strangers on a Train was shot on location on both the east and west coast of the United States, as well as interior shots at Warner Bros studios. One of the film’s most famous scenes, the altercation on the merry-go-round, did not appear in Patricia Highsmith’s novel. Instead, Hitchcock drew inspiration from another story, The Moving Toyshop, written by Edmund Crispin in 1946. The filming of this scene was challenging, and involved the construction of a miniature carousel, as well as screen projections. The entire scene was shot in miniature, and then later blown up on a projection so that the live actors could be shot as well. Setting up the shot took nearly half a day, because the actors had to be completely lined up with the projected images. In addition, the shot of the man crawling beneath the carousel was done completely live and could easily have gone very wrong.

Another iconic scene from Strangers on a Train is the scene in which Bruno murders Miriam. The entire murder is shown via a reflection in Miriam’s thick glasses, which have been dropped to the ground during the struggle. In order to achieve this shot, a gigantic distortion lens was constructed. In this lens, the actors appeared reflected at a ninety-degree angle. The actress who played Miriam, Laura Elliott, had perfect vision at the time of filming, but Hitchcock insisted she wear Miriam’s prop glasses at all times. Therefore, with the glasses on, Elliott was rendered blind, and needed help getting around set.

Strangers on a Train was a box office success, especially compared to Hitchcock’s previous four films, which were considered box office failures. However, the critics’ reviews of the film were varied. Many considered Hitchcock’s directorial work to be outstanding, but found the story lackluster. Strangers on a Train was only nominated for one Academy Award, for Robert Burks’ work in the category of best cinematography, but ultimately lost. More recently, the film is generally highly praised, and Roger Ebert considered Strangers on a Train one of Hitchcock’s five best films.

Awards and nominations

Nominated

• Academy Award (1951) Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)

Bibliography

Halliwell, Leslie. Halliwell’s Film Guide. New York: Perennial, 1995. Print.

Highsmith, Patricia. Strangers on a Train. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.

Spoto, Donald. The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures. New York: Anchor, 1992. Print.

"Strangers on a Train (1951)." Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Turner Entertainment Networks, 2015. Web. 18 July 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16135/Strangers-on-a-Train/>.

Truffaut, Francois. Hitchcock. New York: Schuster, 1985. Print.