Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train – A Thrilling Delight

Strangers on a Train | ★★★★★ 5 out of 5 stars
1951 Psychological Thriller (Black and White)
A Highline Journal Exclusive Movie Review by Daniel Magill

There have been great directors from all eras of film. One of the challenges for modern film-lovers is going back to watch all the ‘old’ stuff because unless someone tells you about them, how do you know what to watch? But it’s also one of the great rewards, because hundreds of superlative works have been created over the last hundred years, and we do ourselves a grave disservice if we write off anything older than our own lives.

It is with this in mind that I took in, for the first time, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Strangers on a Train.

Like many of us, I’ve heard this film mentioned many times over the years, but never took the time to see it. 

What an incredible treat.

I have seen many of Hitchcock’s most well-known films – Vertigo, Psycho, Rear Window, North By Northwest, and others – and I am pleased to add this one to the list of some of his greatest works.

The film starts off presenting us with an uncomfortable but entirely relatable scenario – being stuck on a long trip with a talkative passenger who won’t leave us alone or mind their own business. It can happen on a bus or a plane too, but in this case, it’s a train. 

Famous tennis player Guy Haines finds himself beset by Bruno Antony, who at first seems like a typical fan, offering obligatory hero-worship to a well-known athlete. But it soon takes a darker turn as this passenger suggests the perfect crime – each of them could kill someone the other person wishes were gone. This would conceal them from having any motive, and thus would avoid all suspicion.

Guy rightly brushes this notion off and escapes his brief interlude with this deranged passenger as soon as possible.

But then, the real dilemma for Guy crashes into his world when he discovers that Bruno has in fact gone forward with the plan and murdered Guy’s soon-to-be ex-wife, a truly despicable person in her short screen time. 

Now, he wants Guy to kill Bruno's father in return, something Guy never agreed to. 

This setup propels the film through its remaining run-time. A deranged killer demanding an innocent and unwilling co-conspirator fulfill a deal he never agreed to, and that person beset with guilt over knowing who killed his wife and being confined within an ever-shrinking prison of terrible choices. 

Though it lacks the star power of some of Hitchcock’s other works, Strangers on a Train has a terrific setup, and it delivers on it all the way through to the ending. One particular delight was how it worked Guy’s tennis skills into the narrative, making this an essential component of his character and the plot. 

There are also several impressive visuals, the sort of thing that only movies can achieve -  images that communicate both meaning and tension while also being faithful to the world of the story and the narrative. One memorable moment happens at the tennis match, where all the fans watch the ball being hit back and forth. All except one.

A story about obsession, guilt, power, and the courage to tell the truth even at great risk, if you haven’t yet seen Strangers on a Train, make this your next choice when you want to venture back to the classics.

Daniel Magill is the published author of the Readers Favorite 5-star sci-fi time travel thriller Future In Doubt and the Galactic War Virus series. He lives in Burien with his wife and kids.