Strangers on a Train (1951)
November 10th, 2007
Classic Hitchcock. The setup is exquisite: Two angry men meet on a train. Each has someone he wishes was dead. In a stroke of genius, they agree to commit each other’s murder; then, motiveless, they are unlikely to be caught.
The problem is that only one of the men agrees to the plan.
This is a lot of fun, suspenseful and stylishly shot. Here Hitchcock invents such classic set pieces as the tennis crowd whose heads swivel in unison to follow the ball, the shootout on a runaway merry-go-round, and the villain whose glowing eyes are seen under the brim of his hat. Great stuff.
Highly recommended.
