Strangers on a Train (1951)

Strangers on a Train tells the story of a tennis player and a man who are complete strangers on a train. The non-tennis player decides that since he hates his father and the other character hates his wife, they should do each other a favor and kill the other, with no motive they would get away with it easily. The tennis player is frightened by this seemingly insane guy and quickly leaves and dismisses the motion. Of course the guy is not only crazy, but serious and kills the tennis players wife. The rest of the film deals with the police trying to prove the tennis player is guilty and the actual murderer trying to get the tennis player to kill his father. The first two or three minutes of this film have some meaningless dialogue that establishes the two characters but isn't all that interesting. Other than that, pretty much every moment of the film is exciting.

The stars of this film are Robert Walker as the murderer and Farley Granger as the tennis player. As a villain, Walker is outstanding. His character is pretty insane and Walker is perfect. He doesn't come off as over-the-top at all, but seems like a real psychopath. Granger is pretty good, too but not on the same level as Walker. Also worth mentioning is the fairly significant role by Patricia Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock's daughter, who plays the sister of Farley Granger's mistress. While her part isn't a lead, she was billed as one of the stars of the film and does a pretty good job.

Overall, this is easily one of Hitchcock's top films, at about the same level as Vertigo and North by Northwest. Pretty much the only real problem with this film was the climactic scene near the end which, while very well-done, feels a little over-the-top at times. Still, this is better than the vast majority of films I've seen and is highly-recommended for everyone.

94.5/100
A

UP NEXT: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Dang, it must have been pretty good.

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I must study.