“Strangers on a Train” is a straightforward thriller full of typical Hitchcock irony. It gets a bit too silly towards the end but was quite enjoyable throughout. The writing is quite good even though it eventually betrays the interesting premise and relies on that stupid lighter a bit too much. Nevertheless, Hitchcock is in great shape behind the camera with his crisp cinematography and some truly ingenious tricks like the reflection of the murder on the victim’s glasses, the fire projected on Barbara’s eyes, or the merry go round going crazy at the end.

Farley Granger’s performance is weak but well-balanced by Robert Walking continuously stealing the show as the lunatic stalker.

That tennis match went on for far too long but the merry-go-round stuff was great.

Not the very best from Hitchcock, but still great. Synopsis had me excited and the movie played out really well, with great acting and terrific directing but wasn't crazy about the ending but that's mostly because I expect the best of the very best from Hitchcock when it comes to the end of films or just films in general.

A strong, but not perfect entry for Hitchcock. There are so many elements that work: the premise is delightfully macabre and there are moments of real tension. Robert Walker's Bruno is one of my favorite Hitchcock characters--his sociopathy is so on the surface, but he never feels cartoonish, just childish (in a good way.) The smoothness with which he ingratiates himself with Guy gives shivers, and I can't get over the way he says "criss-cross." That said, the movie doesn't have quite enough plot to sustain the runtime and Hitch doesn't quite know how to end the movie--it falls apart in the third act with an absurd tennis match, a lighter just out of reach, and a merry go round ride from hell. Still, it's all good campy fun and ranks up there for me on the strength of Walker's performance--pity that he died so young.

B/w looks great. Good camera work. Awesome suits and hats. Awesome Mid-Atlantic accents. A totally empty D.C. Decent train service. (Sidenote: W/o phones, people still had time to make acquaintances on a train - even when that's creepy stalkers you happen to meet. And what happened to American trains?). Good, straight-forward story that is still suspenseful today. It's maybe a bit slow-paced but this gives you plenty time to enjoy the movie. The merry-go-round turned into a deadly battle venue is iconic. It's maybe not the greatest of all Hitchcock movies but it's Hitchcock after all.

I really played myself when I decided to cover queer coding for my dissertation, I’m just gonna be watching a bunch of gay characters dying in crazy ass ways for the next few months uh

The synopsis got me very excited, and this excitement kept growing during the film. But I found the ending laughably weak, a huge let-down... Otherwise it would have scored much higher in my rating

I am always expecting something great from master Hitchcock, one more time goal achieved.

Excellent thriller!

kriss'kross