Strangers on a Train (1951) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this months episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron hatch a most sinister plan for murder as they discuss “Strangers on a Train.”

The Picture:

Picture Title: Strangers on a Train

Written by:

Screenplay by Raymond Chandler and Czenzi Ormonde

Adaptation by Whitfield Cook

Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith

Starring: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, Leo G. Carroll, Patricia Hitchcock and Kasey Rogers (as Laura Elliott)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Year Released: 1951

Our Favourite Trivia:

DIRECTOR CAMEO: Early in the movie boarding a train carrying a double bass as Guy gets off the train.

Sir Alfred Hitchcock bought the rights to the original novel anonymously to keep the price down, and got them for just $7,500.

Sir Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Walker worked out an elaborate series of gestures and physical appearance to suggest the homosexuality and seductiveness of Bruno’s character while bypassing censor objections.

Warner Brothers wanted their own stars, already under contract, cast wherever possible. In the casting of Anne Morton, Jack L. Warner got what he wanted when he assigned Ruth Roman to the project, over Sir Alfred Hitchcock‘s objections. Hitchcock found her “bristling” and “lacking in sex appeal” and said that she had been “foisted upon him”.

An amusement park was created according to Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s exact specifications at the ranch of director Rowland V. Lee in Chatsworth, California. However, the tunnel-of-love scenes were shot at a fairground in Canoga Park.

The stunt where the man crawled under the carousel was not done with trick photography. Sir Alfred Hitchcock claimed that this was the most dangerous stunt ever performed under his direction, and he would never allow it to be done again.

Kasey Rogers noted that she had perfect vision at the time the movie was made, but Sir Alfred Hitchcock insisted she wear the character’s thick eyeglasses, even in long shots when regular glass lenses would have been undetectable. Rogers was effectively blind with the glasses on, and needed to be guided by the other actors and actresses. In one scene, she can be seen dragging her hand along a table as she walks. This was in order for her to keep track of where she was.

Similar to the scene of Bruno at the Morton’s party, Sir Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed showing people in social situations how to strangle someone. Also, a famous sequence of photos by Philippe Halsman shows Hitchcock doing various things to a bust of his daughter, including strangling her.

The train station scenes in Metcalf were filmed at the former New Haven Railroad station, Danbury, Connecticut, which is today the home of the Danbury Railroad Museum.

Some posters showed Sir Alfred Hitchcock inserting the letter “L” into the word “Strangers” in the title to make “Stranglers”.

This was the last theatrical movie for Robert Walker, who died eight months after filming finished from an allergic reaction to a drug.

Author Patricia Highsmith’s opinion of this movie varied over time. She initially praised it, writing: “I am pleased in general. Especially with Bruno, who held the movie together as he did the book.” Later in life, while still praising Robert Walker’s performance as Bruno, she criticized the casting of Ruth Roman as Anne, Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s decision to turn Guy from an architect into a tennis player, and the fact that Guy does not murder Bruno’s father, as he does in the novel.

The Random Draw for Next Picture:

Next up, we’ll be discussing “Frenzy.”

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