Strangers on a Train

Theatrical Release Poster

Robert Walker

**Strangers on a Train** is a 1951 American psychological thriller film noir produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.

## Plot

Amateur tennis star Guy Haines wants to divorce his vulgar and promiscuous wife Miriam, so he can marry the elegant Anne Morton, the daughter of a senator, and hopefully have a career in politics. On a train, Haines accidentally meets Bruno Antony, who recognizes Guy from the sports pages and knows about his situation from the gossip pages. Bruno tells Guy about his idea for the perfect murder scheme: the two should "swap murders". Bruno will kill Miriam, and, in exchange, Guy will kill Bruno's hated father. Each murderer will kill a perfect stranger, having no identifiable motive, so neither will be suspected. Guy does not take Bruno's suggestion seriously; he humors Bruno by pretending to find it amusing, but Bruno interprets Guy's response as agreement to the scheme. Guy lets Bruno light a cigarette with Guy's monogrammed cigarette lighter; eager to get away from Bruno, Guy forgets to take the lighter when he leaves the train, and Bruno keeps it.

Guy meets with Miriam, who is pregnant by someone else, at her workplace. She tells him that she is no longer willing to agree to a divorce. She threatens to follow Guy to Washington, D.C. and cause a scandal, saying that the baby is his. They argue loudly in front of Miriam's co-workers before Guy leaves. Guy calls Anne with the bad news and, speaking figuratively, tells her he would like to "break [Miriam's] neck" ... that he could "strangle her." Meanwhile, Bruno follows Miriam and her new beau to an amusement park, stalks her through various rides, and strangles her to death on the "Magic Isle". While this is happening, Guy is on a train, the only other person in his car is a university professor that has had too much to drink. When Guy arrives home, Bruno arrives and they talk across the street in the shadows. Bruno tells Guy that Miriam is dead and that Guy must honor his part of the deal and kill Bruno's father. Guy is horrified, and during this conversation the police arrive to talk to Guy (leaving when he doesn't answer his door).

Guy goes straight to the home of Senator Morton, Anne's father, who informs Guy that his wife has been murdered. Guy feigns ignorance, but Anne's sister Barbara jokingly says that the police will think that Guy is the murderer. The police question Guy; he gives them his alibi, but when they find the passenger from the train, he cannot remember Guy (or anything else from that evening due to being drunk). The police examine the train schedule and determine that Guy could have left the train in time to commit the murder, and then completed his trip on another train. The police do not arrest Guy, but assign a police escort to ensure he does not flee while they continue to investigate.

Meanwhile Bruno expects Guy to fulfill his obligation, sending him his house key, a map to his father's room, and a pistol. To further pressure Guy, Bruno introduces himself to Anne. Soon after, Bruno appears at a party at Senator Morton's house. To amuse another guest, Bruno demonstrates how to strangle someone by playfully putting his hands around her neck. His gaze falls upon Barbara, who physically resembles Miriam and wears similar glasses. Her resemblance to Miriam triggers a flashback. Staring at Barbara, he begins actually strangling the guest, and then blacks out. Barbara tells Anne: "His hands were on *her* throat, but he was strangling *me*." Her suspicions aroused, Anne confronts Guy, who tells her the truth about Bruno's crazy scheme.

Guy pretends to agree to Bruno's original plan. He creeps into Bruno's father's room hoping to warn him of his son's murderous intentions, but the father is away, and Bruno is waiting for Guy there. Bruno was suspicious when Guy suddenly agreed to kill Bruno's father, so he made sure his father was away when Guy snuck in. Guy unsuccessfully tries to persuade Bruno to seek psychiatric help. Bruno responds by threatening to punish Guy for betraying him. He menacingly reminds Guy that he, Bruno, is "a very clever fellow".

Anne visits Bruno's house and attempts to explain to his befuddled mother that her son is responsible for a murder, but the woman does not believe her. Bruno tells Anne that he has Guy's cigarette lighter and intends to incriminate Guy by planting it at the amusement park at night. Anne and Guy devise a plan for Guy to finish his tennis match quickly, evade his police escort, and reach the amusement park first and prevent Bruno from planting the lighter.

Guy eventually wins the long match at Forest Hills, then, eluding the police, heads for the amusement park. Bruno is also delayed when he accidentally drops Guy's lighter down a storm drain and has to recover it, and then has to wait for it to get dark. Guy arrives at the amusement park. Bruno stays out of sight until sunset when he can plant the lighter on the "Magic Isle". A worker recognizes Bruno from the night of the murder and informs the police. Guy catches up to Bruno, and they fight on the park's carousel. Thinking Guy is trying to escape, a police officer shoots at him, but his shot misses and kills the carousel operator instead. The dead man falls onto the carousel's control panel and the carousel spins wildly out of control. Guy and Bruno continue to fight until eventually a carnival worker crawls under the carousel and reaches the controls, stopping the carousel, causing it to crash, mortally injuring Bruno. The worker who recognized Bruno tells the police chief that Guy is innocent. Guy tells the police that Bruno was attempting to plant Guy's lighter at the murder scene. Bruno lies to the police, but, as he dies, his fingers open to reveal Guy's lighter in his hand. Guy walks off with the worker who recognized Bruno to call Anne; when he asks Guy who Bruno was, he says he was "a very clever fellow".

In the American version of the movie, a final scene shows Guy reunited with Anne on a train home. A minister, who is also a tennis fan, recognizes Guy and attempts to strike up a conversation, but Guy, remembering the trouble he got into by talking to a stranger on a train, leaves the train car with Anne, without replying to the minister.

## Cast

* Farley Granger as Guy Haines
* Ruth Roman as Anne Morton
* Robert Walker as Bruno Antony
* Leo G. Carroll as Senator Morton
* Patricia Hitchcock as Barbara Morton
* Laura Elliott as Miriam Joyce Haines
* Marion Lorne as Mrs. Antony
* Jonathan Hale as Mr. Antony
* Howard St. John as Police Capt. Turley
* John Brown as Professor Collins
* Norma Varden as Mrs. Cunningham
* Robert Gist as Detective Hennessey

## Trivia

* Alfred Hitchcock's cameo in the film was directed by his daughter, Patricia Hitchcock.
* Alfred Hitchcock personally designed Bruno's necktie with its threatening lobster claw image.
* This was the last full feature for Robert Walker, who died eight months after filming finished.
* The stunt where the man crawled under the carousel was real. Alfred Hitchcock claimed that this was the most dangerous stunt ever performed under his direction, and would never allow it to be done again.