Amazon.com Essentials:
From its cleverly choreographed opening sequence to its
heart-stopping climax on a rampant carousel, this 1951 Hitchcock
classic readily earns its reputation as one of the director's finest
examples of timeless cinematic suspense. It's not just a ripping-good
thriller but a film student's delight and a perversely enjoyable
battle of wits between tennis pro Guy (Farley Granger) and his
mysterious, sycophantic admirer, Bruno (Robert Walker), who proposes a
"criss-cross" scheme of traded murders. Bruno agrees to kill
Guy's unfaithful wife, in return for which Guy will (or so it seems)
kill Bruno's spiteful father. With an emphasis on narrative and visual
strategy, Hitchcock controls the escalating tension with a master's
flair for cinematic design, and the plot (coscripted by Raymond
Chandler) is so tightly constructed that you'll be white-knuckled even
after multiple viewings. Better still, the two-sided DVD edition of
this enduring classic includes both the original version of the film
and also the longer prerelease British print, which offers a more
overt depiction of Bruno's flamboyant and dangerous personality, and
his homoerotic attraction to Guy by way of his deviously indecent
proposal. In accordance with the cautious censorship guidelines of the
period, Hitchcock would later tame these elements of Walker's
memorable performance by trimming and altering certain scenes, so the
differences between the original and prerelease versions provide an
illuminating illustration of censorship's effect on the story's
thematic intensity. Beyond all the historical footnotes and film-buff
fascination, Strangers on a Train remains one of Hitchcock's
crowning achievements and a suspenseful classic that never loses its
capacity to thrill and delight. --Jeff Shannon
