When Guy realizes his wife has been murdered and then Bruno starts contacting him and harassing him about his side of their bargain, he panics but knows he can’t reveal what he knows to the cops or else he’ll be implicated in the conspiracy. As the heat turns up and Bruno begins to exhibit true stalker behavior, Guy finally confides in Ann and her precocious younger sister, Barbara (Patricia Hitchcock), as he feels sure Bruno is out to frame him. Will the truth come out before Guy is doomed?
Strangers on a Train is classic Hitchcock at its best and although I am a big fan of Hitchcock’s films, I must admit to having never seen the film prior to this review. For starters, the transfer looks fantastic, aside from a few scenes that look pixely. For the most part, though, it looks crisp and clear. Since Strangers on a Train is a black and white film, the contrast is very important and it’s clear that the restoration crew did an amazing job. The concepts in Strangers on a Train were also quite ahead of their time. Hitch always liked to push the envelope in his films, but having a brazen character like Miriam who openly cavorts with two men was quite forward for the time, plus this might be the first appearance of an actual stalker on film. The scene that stands out most in my mind is one where Guy is on the tennis court and the entire audience is watching the ball bounce back and forth, but Bruno is staring straight at Guy. It’s quite chilling and a picture perfect Hitchcock scene.
As far as special features go, there are two versions of the film to view, the Final Release with commentary and the Preview version, which was shown to focus groups prior to release. The Final Release version has some minor differences, but has a much better closing scene that adds that classic bit of Hitchcock humor. There’s a documentary featurette on the making-of Strangers on a Train, plus featurettes on Miriam, with Laura Elliott providing some really interesting insight into her role, one on the Hitchcock family (Patricia and her daughters) talking about their memories of Hitch, M. Night Shyamalan’s appreciation of the film classic and Hitchcock as a director and finally, Alfred Hitchcock’s Historical Meeting, with is video of Hitch meeting some people in front of a train. I’m not sure if there was supposed to be audio, but when I viewed it, there was none, so it didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Regardless, it’s very short at like a minute or two. There is also a classic trailer for the film.
If you have never seen Strangers on a Train but like Hitchcock’s films, do yourself a favor and see this classic. Robert Walker as Bruno Anthony is fantastically creepy and the film is just beautifully shot. It’s a perfect example of Hitchcock’s genius. If you already added this classic to your collection when the previous release came out a few years back, there ins’t anything additional on this release aside from the excellent transfer of the film to high def, so keep that in mind. However, if you don’t already own this film, the special features are the icing on the cake and this is the version to add to your collection if you are a mystery fan.
