Strangers on a Train (1951)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Raymond Chandler (screenplay) and
Czenzi Ormonde (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 July 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance | Sport | Thriller

Tagline:

A girl in love with young America's idol--and a good-looking stranger in search of sensation--that's how it all began..! Warner Bros. bring a pounding new tempo to motion picture entertainment!

Plot:

A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement.

Plot Keywords:

Tennis | Stranger | Senator | Murder | Amusement Park

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Farley Granger	...	Guy Haines
Ruth Roman	...	Anne Morton
Robert Walker	...	Bruno Anthony
Leo G. Carroll	...	Sen. Morton
Patricia Hitchcock	...	Barbara Morton
Kasey Rogers	...	Miriam Joyce Haines (as Laura Elliott)
Marion Lorne	...	Mrs. Anthony
Jonathan Hale	...	Mr. Anthony
Howard St. John	...	Police Capt. Turley
John Brown	...	Prof. Collins
Norma Varden	...	Mrs. Cunningham
Robert Gist	...	Leslie Hennessy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joel Allen	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Murray Alper	...	Boatman (uncredited)
Monya Andre	...	Dowager (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Tennis umpire (uncredited)
Al Bridge	...	Tennis judge (uncredited)
John Butler	...	Blind man (uncredited)
Leonard Carey	...	Anthonys' butler (uncredited)
Edward Clark	...	Miriam's boss (uncredited)
Jack Cushingham	...	Fred Reynolds (uncredited)
John Daheim	...	Detective at merry-go-round (uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Det. Hammond (uncredited)
Roy Engel	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Party guest (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Party guest (uncredited)
Tommy Farrell	...	Miriam's boyfriend (uncredited)
Sam Flint	...	Train passenger requesting light (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Lt. Campbell (uncredited)
Al Hill	...	Carnival game proprietor (uncredited)
Harry Hines	...	Man under merry-go-round (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man boarding train carrying a double bass (uncredited)
Mary Alan Hokanson	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Edna Holland	...	Mrs. Joyce (uncredited)
J. Louis Johnson	...	Mortons' butler (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Detective at carnival (uncredited)
Perc Launders	...	Police desk sergeant (uncredited)
Louis Lettieri	...	Boy with balloon (uncredited)
Charles Marsh	...	Bystander at drain (uncredited)
Paul McGuire	...	Man on train (uncredited)
David McMahon	...	Bystander at drain (uncredited)
Charles Meredith	...	Judge Donahue (uncredited)
Ralph Moody	...	Seedy man at carnival (uncredited)
Roland Morris	...	Miriam's boyfriend (uncredited)
Odette Myrtil	...	Madame Darville (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Bystander at merry-go-round (uncredited)
Minna Phillips	...	Dowager (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Monsieur Darville (uncredited)
Dick Ryan	...	Minister (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Cop (uncredited)
Janet Stewart	...	Girl (uncredited)
Shirley Tegge	...	Girl (uncredited)
Laura Treadwell	...	Mrs. Anderson (uncredited)
Howard Washington	...	Waiter on train (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	Bill (uncredited)
Robert Williams	...	Bystander at drain (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Raymond Chandler		(screenplay) and
Czenzi Ormonde		(screenplay)
Whitfield Cook		(adaptation)
Patricia Highsmith		(novel)
Ben Hecht		uncredited

Produced by
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin

Cinematography by
Robert Burks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
William H. Ziegler		(as William Ziegler)

Art Direction by
Ted Haworth		(as Edward S. Haworth)

Set Decoration by
George James Hopkins

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mel Dellar	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Dolph Thomas	....	sound

Special Effects by
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H. F. Koenekamp)

Stunts
John Daheim	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Leonard J. South	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leah Rhodes	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Ray Heindorf	....	musical director

Other crew
Barbara Keon	....	production associate

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (1952) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1952) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS) (UK version)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS) (US version)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD) (UK and US versions)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD) (two-disc special edition)
• Warner Home Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2008) (USA) (TV)
• Varus Video (19??) (Russia) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)  this picture made under the jurisdiction of (as I.A.T.S.E.)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some violence and tension.

Runtime:

101 min | Portugal:96 min (cut version) | 103 min (preview version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Spain:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Sweden:15 | Germany:12 (DVD) | West Germany:16 (nf) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) (2004) | South Africa:PG | Brazil:16 | USA:TV-PG | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #14946) | USA:PG (new rating) (1996) | Argentina:13 | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Danbury Railroad Station - 120 White Street, Danbury, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Raymond Chandler seems to have gone out of his way to behave disagreeably to Alfred Hitchcock. When Hitchcock arrived at Chandler's home for a story meeting, Chandler hollered from his window, "Look at the fat bastard trying to get out of his car!"

Goofs:

Continuity: When Miriam's glasses drop to the ground as Bruno strangles her, they land softly on the grass and don't break. However after the struggle, when he reaches down to pick them up they are seen to be cracked in one of the lenses.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bruno Anthony: I beg your pardon, but aren't you Guy Haines?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Peep Show: (#1.5)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Ain't We Got Fun

Strangers on a Train - a Review by Jo Henshaw

"Lets swap Murders- your wife, my father"- seemingly innocent conversation between two strangers - Bruno Anthony and Guy Haines when they meet over lunch on a train journey. Guy, a solid, respectable tennis player, whose problem is that his wife, the flirtatious Miriam, won't divorce him so he can marry senators daughter Anne, laughs the whole conversation off as a joke. The following week he isn't laughing any more. In a scene of classic Hitchcock suspense, Bruno stalks Miriam through a carnival and strangles her. As he does, her glasses fall off and we see the murder eerily reflected twice through her lenses. Cold hearted and amoral Bruno, his part of the deal completed, approaches an appalled Guy expecting, even pressuring him into 'doing his bit.' Matters are not helped when Anne's precocious and outspoken younger sister turns up suspecting Guy of Miriam's murder. So accused of a murder he didn't commit and expected to commit another, what is Guy going to do? The power of this film is in the presentation of human beings as having a murderous side to their nature - and this Hitchcock does to perfection.