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Robin enthuses about one of Hitchcock's greatest films and the one that kicked off his greatest decade.

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52 Weeks of Hitchcock: 22. Strangers on a Train

Robin gets overenthusiastic about the film that started Hitchcock's greatest decade, also one of his greatest films.

Comments

Anonymous

Thanks for starting the weekend with a bang. Okay, I'll pitch a different book for you to write: "Hitchcock 1951-1961." And, yes, it's "The Big Sleep" where Chandler couldn't tell the filmmakers who killed the Sternwood chauffeur.

Anonymous

Well, you've certainly convinced me! I fell that I must have seen it before, in the dim before-time, certainly the concept is familiar, but I don't recall the details. I shall have to look it out and watch it, especially now that I know the special things to look for.

Anonymous

Great talk! It's a shame about Chandler. He was a great writer, and one of my two favourite novelists (the other being William Burroughs). He was fine during his sober periods, but a bad drunk when on a bender; petty, self-pitying, and belligerent. He was associated with some good films, but his novels and short stories are where the gold is. This film is an example of the villain problem, specifically the problem of the villain being more interesting than the hero. No problem for the viewer if they enjoy indulging their inner psychopath in a harmless way (something I think most horror fans understand), but a problem for the artist if they intend their work to have what is sometimes called "moral uplift". I don't know if that's what Hitchcock intended here; ideally he probably wanted a more ambivalent protagonist, but once he gave up on Granger that element was effectively lost. That lack of dimension is probably one of the things that stops Stranger On A Train from being in the very top tier of Hitchcock films.

Anonymous

Great video this is just a wonderful film. It’s look and feel all work perfectly. As for the Tennis, I never thought of it till you said it, but my guess is Guy is a man of honour so it never occurs to him to lose.

Anonymous

I find it interesting how "bad" they make Miriam; they come as close as they can to outright stating she's pregnant with another man's child and only staying married to the protagonist for his name--further, it's implied that she may not know who the father is! Now, she's certainly not the first bad girl in a crime drama, but it's very very rare to be so relatively blunt about her "moral laxity," as it were. I guess after they were done showing Bruno as gay in everything but name they figured might as well hang for a sheep as a lamb.

darkcorners

I suppose it's important that the audience does not care that she's killed, and back then 'moral laxity' was enough for her to deserve it. rb