Hitchcock Retrospective – Strangers on a Train Review

Hello discerning podcast listeners. This is Tom

Kenny and you are listening to the geek cast

radio network Hello and welcome to episode 208

of the cinema geeks I am one of your cinema geeks

optimist solo and joining me today as usual is

the comic concierge Hello, Dan. Hey, how are

things? Things are going well, a little crazy,

but going well. I feel like this time of year,

it's always a little crazy as you get after like

the, the post holiday slash. I don't know what

it is like between the Superbowl and like weather

and different things. I just feel like January,

February is always a little bit crazy. Um, at

least for me, I don't know. How are you doing?

Better now we had to skip we were recording a

week late because of me excited the flu My household

my kid got the flu and strap and then I eventually

got it as well. So that was not a fun time I'd

had like no voice to even record. So it was like

well, that's not happening but Luckily, but somehow

my oldest son was unscathed. But you know Wow,

well either he was patient zero and everyone

else got sick or he's just All those vaccines

worked. I don't know. Right something something

I'm just having to be able to breathe again.

So that's good, right? There's been a lot of

stuff going around since the beginning of the

year, too I think that's added to stuff because

we were all sick like the first week of the year

basically spent New Year's Eve sick and like

a lot of my People I know at work have been sick

and it's just been it's been a thing lately.

So hopefully yeah Hopefully it'll get better

here soon so everybody can get back to normal

but We're here today to continue our journey

through the Alfred Hitchcock filmography We're

covering 10 Alfred Hitchcock films today marks

number four on that journey So we're at the 40

% mark see the mass easy when you just do 10

I can do that all day So today we are covering

the 1951 psychological thriller film noir entitled

strangers On a train and I know we talked about

it briefly at the end of the episode last time

dan But just in case people didn't listen to

that one. What is your history background with

strangers on a train? This was one I had watched

before it was I realized it was before letterboxx

even existed. So it was like, you know 12 13

years ago, but I had I had this was a rewatch

for me Which I definitely realized as I was going

through it that I that i've seen this before

Would did you remember a lot of it or was it

a little bit foggy for you? I remembered like

the tennis piece like our energy remembered like

the the overall plot of it but like I I completely

forgot how it ended like the the carousel sequences

of like that that I can't remember but I just

The beginning it just felt familiar. So gotcha.

So as we said, this is obviously directed by

Alfred Hitchcock It says a screen plays by Raymond

Chandler and I'm not gonna try to pronounce that

name Senzi I guess I am going to try to pronounce

it, Senzi or Mond, but according to most things

I'm reading Raymond Chandler really didn't have

much to do with the final product. He did not

get along with Hitchcock. They had a falling

out and he was replaced, but he still got credited.

So I'll take that for what it is. Starring the

likes of Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker,

Patricia Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock's daughter,

Casey Rogers and a few other folks. Obviously

one of those folks is someone who we just talked

about when we talked about rope Farley Granger

had played Philip in that film the not as dominant

main character Killer, I guess you could call

him in rope and now he plays the main good guy

in this film guy Haynes opposite of Robert Walker's

Bruno Antony and This film is about two people

who meet on a train as the title alludes to which

it was interesting for me because this is a complete

first time watch for me and I don't know why

but for The better part of my life. I thought

the whole film was going to take place on a train

and I quickly found out that that's not what

this is about But not that that's a it's not

a negative about it or anything I just I don't

know why I thought the whole thing was going

to take place on a train But obviously these

two guys meet on the train They have some discussions

which one of them is obviously taking way more

serious than the other the idea of exchanging

murders comes up where one person can get rid

of somebody that's a pain in the The other person's

behind and then the other person can reciprocate

that favor for him and then it kind of goes down

that path as the one of them is obviously trying

to actually act out on this Exchange where the

other one wants nothing to do with it guy novel.

He's an architect in the movie He is a tennis

player. So we also get something that I I'm not

saying this is like the earliest because there's

a lot of films that come out before 1954 1951

excuse me, but it's one of the earlier instances

that I have seen a movie of that you could almost

like Qualify half of this film is like a sports

movie maybe not half but like there's definitely

more sports sequence than I was anticipating

as well and it's kind of interesting for me because

2024 which just ended obviously had the the movie

entitled challengers, which is about tennis players.

And so there was a lot of parallels that you

could draw between the two as far as how they're

shot when it's the actual tennis sequence, which

I found somewhat interesting. But what was your

initial take here on Strangers on a Train on

this rewatch? Going back to it, rewatching it,

one thing I think we talked about with Rope last

time, how it premise of it like kind of didn't

work as in that kind of hindered the overall

enjoyment. I really love the premise here. I

think this is like, you know, it is one you you

can understand nearly everyone's motivation and

understand like usually when someone doesn't

go to the police or something like that. It's

kind of like why wouldn't they just do that?

But here it all makes sense because it is this

happenstance that makes you wonder like how much

of this was planned by By Bruno is he just like

this and you like he clearly he sought this out

and just the machinations of how it undergoes

the Like Robert Walker's so good in this like

I think he he was good in rope too, but like

He's charming at times. You mean Friarly Granger

or Robert Walker? Friarly Granger was the one

in Rope. Robert Walker is the guy in this one.

I'm sorry. Yes, sorry. Robert Walker. Both were

really good, but I thought Robert Brunow, who

played Brunow, Robert Walker was especially really

good in this because you could see him be a bit

charming, but he seemed, let's underline, just

a bit of sadistic at times in a way. I really

appreciated how you had a lot of scenes that

just took their time. You know, you have the

carnival scene that leads to the first murder

and it really makes you wait for it. You're anticipating

it that even gives you like a nice fake out is

in the first when they're like going through

the tunnel. You hear the scream. You're like,

oh, that's when it happened. But when you found

out it didn't occur. But I thought it was really

good. I really enjoyed just. The concept of it

how it all came about and the only thing that

lost me a little bit was like the finale of this

the you know, the Sequence with the carousel.

I don't know. I just at times it felt like I

was like is this meant to be Funny yet like I

almost felt like there's a bit of comedy there

that I didn't know if it was intentional or not

intentional Because it's you know, it's on a

carousel and it just seems like a really random

place to have this you know, massive showdown

or whatever you want to call it. But beyond that,

uh, I thought there's a lot of, uh, interesting

ways that approach the story using the backdrop

of tennis. And you can see a lot of that playing

into the plot as well. Like this, this can just

send back and forth. Yeah. There's a couple of

things here that I just felt like we're done

to a more effective manner. You brought up rope

and I feel like one of the things that for a

rope didn't work for me is that it's a quote

unquote suspense or thriller that I didn't feel

any suspense or thrill from in a lot of ways.

I'm not saying it was completely amiss, but like

it just wasn't maximized. And in this one, you

get that like in spades like there's. From the

initial meetup between Bruno and Guy, you're

wondering. First, you're wondering like how serious

is Bruno, right? Like you kind of have a feeling

that he's not all Don't know if not all there

is the right term but like that there's something

amiss right? Like there's some yeah off with

him in the same way that you see from the characters

in rope But then you were trying to the ones

in rope There's no suspense because you just

they commit a murder immediately, right? So like

there's no like are they just talking about it?

Or are they gonna do it where you have a little

bit of that here where you're like, okay This

guy's a little off. But is he how you know, how

much is he how far is he gonna push this? Where

is he gonna go with it? And then you have a little

bit of suspense with guy because you're trying

to figure out if he's gonna Intentionally or

unintentionally become a part of this like is

he gonna come around because there is definitely

a sequence in the first third where guy is Because

well, let me back up at first in the train You're

you're clearly seeing a dichotomy of like one

person that's a little crazy and the other person

wants nothing to do with him and you're like

there's no way he's going to willingly go along

for this, right? He's going to humor the guy

and be polite because they're on the train and

then he's going to like find a way to get away

from him. And that's going to be the end of his

interactions with him. Like if you take this

into like a real world setting, but then there's

a sequence in that front third where guy has

a meetup with his current wife. And I feel like

that's such a intelligent and important sequence

and scene. To include in the movie because there

was definitely times during that sequence where

I was. Rationalized in my head how this guy is

going to. Say yes or like how he's gonna like

be a willing participant in this nonsense that

they were talking about on the train like there's

a split second or at least a few moments where

I'm like oh he he might actually. Get involved

more than I think he's going to now he doesn't

ultimately. But there was at least that moment

where I'm like, he might actually participate.

So even from the premise and the onset, I feel

like there was a little tension and there's a

little suspense that's built in immediately,

which I definitely appreciate how this one starts

in respect to how Rope started, because it just

builds it in more. And then I feel like you get

a lot more of that than throughout the rest of

it, because then we're introduced into this situation

where he's not a willing participant, but there's

going to be a number, like a series of things

that Bruno is going to be doing to try to force

him to be involved, right? Like there's lots

of little different ways that he's interjecting

himself into the guy's life, sending him things.

um you know putting more evidence out there that's

going to eventually possibly force him to take

an action what that action is where that's the

suspense but so i feel like they handled there

were just these like little moments built in

throughout that like really aided the suspense

part for me how about you yeah i think you make

a point regarding like making you wonder like

how much would guy actually buy into it because

you know clearly He doesn't seem like someone

that would murder anyone, you know, right? Yeah,

just because but he's also in a situation where

he has no escape from and this guy is making

good points like this this, you know, can he

be tempted? You know, he and I think that's something

that this had was you had those characters that

had the opportunity of being tempted in this

case guy and even you know his his His new relationship

as well and you kind of see them kind of get

sucked into that world trying to in one of those

things Where you know, you try to escape, you

know, like quicksand, but the more they do the

more they get sucked in so I thought that was

very effective and How it approached that just

like this unnerving? aspect of it where you know

it It felt good where you had characters that

would talk to one another. Yeah, and it wasn't

always I feel like sometimes they're There's

a show we watched called from and I like the

show but it's uh, like one of the biggest things

about it is that no one like so many problems

could be solved that people just had a conversation

And this had all those conversations, you know,

like, you know guy talking to his I guess I guess

you wouldn't say girl. I don't know how what

her relationship was but um, just like she figured

it out and you know rather than him denying it

they they kind of had that it felt kind of like

oh good, they're not just like they're people

are acting normally and yes, which felt was outside

of Bruno of course, who's a little crazy, but

you kind of saw that like he had that he felt

like a Hitchcock character, right? Because he

has we as you mentioned, you brought up many

times regarding how Hitchcock loves characters

that have clearly weird relationships with their

mother. That's that's definitely Bruno. But but

yeah, we get a couple of those things we get

like the relationship with his mother. We get

the person that is innocent that is not necessarily

on the run, but like in a defense mode where

we're seeing, you know, that's obviously what

we saw in the 39 steps specifically. So like

we definitely are seeing a lot more of like the

Hitchcock aspects, Hitchcockian aspects in this.

I agree. But I think what you and I'll let you

continue. I didn't mean to cut you off. But the

other thing that you said, like these people

are. It's not just that they're having conversations,

but they're having real conversations. Like they're

having conversations that you believe the everyday

person would have in these situations. So it's

not where they're either number one, just not

talking or number two, where they're like having

these like. And I'm all for like some clever

dialogue in movies, like I love that in situations,

but like this doesn't call for it. And so they're

like having real conversations that you can picture

like. friends or family members having if they're

in this situation or as they're trying to work

through this so it made it it added a sense of

realism that otherwise you could have gone like

you could have really amped this up in this film

and made it just like completely like I don't

know like gone too far with it to me in a way

that it wouldn't have felt real and I'm I appreciate

like the restraint that he had to not do that

here yeah there's there's restraint all over

the thing that's a good word because A lot of

like the you talked about this had a lot of suspense

to it as you'd hope for a thriller and a lot

of that just happened in a lot of scenes where

there was that restraint like when you had guy

going into Bruno's home and it's just him walking

down the stairs that thing goes on for quite

a while and Not a lot of conversation. You know,

it's just like is he gonna do it like it right?

I did a really good job of just letting that

play out to eventually where it comes to its

conclusion. And I think that in, like I mentioned,

too, in the first carnival scene, which one?

I want carnivals that have boats like that, like

where they can go on a boat and like you just

go out into a little island and stuff like that.

I don't know if I need them with the Cupid dolls,

though. That's true. That's true. Maybe you wonder.

It's like, yeah. Although he never got the prize

for hitting the hammer all the way up. He immediately

show him in the next sequence and he's not carrying

around the creepy doll. Just I guess gave it

to a kid or something. I don't know. Maybe the

kid that he blew he Popped a balloon of with

his right But yeah, so that I think restraints

a good word because I think there is a lot like

We're hitchcock just allow scenes to play out

and like gives them time and I think that was

very effective here yeah, and I think another

thing too you mentioned I'm glad you brought

it up because I There's a couple of sequences

here where yes, you know the movies from 1951

a lot of people have seen it this that the other

But I think it did a good job too of not necessarily

for a first -time watch not telegraphing What

and it's not like the whole game where like you're

trying to predict what's happens And if you can

predict that it's bad and if you can't it's not

you know Or whatever that type of thing is but

but there's like legit moments in here where

you as a first -time watcher for me I wasn't

sure which way they were going like I wasn't

gonna predict the the events that happen when

he visits Bruno's house. When he goes to, not

like, I don't think he had been there. Was that

the first time he was there? Was he only there

once? I think so. So when he goes to that house,

I'm not predicting what's gonna happen when he

gets up. you know, up to the top of the stairs.

And I'm also not going to I wasn't able to predict

what was going to happen when he's going down

those stairs. Like there was multiple points

in there where I'm like, which way are we going

here? And is it going to happen like this or

is it not going to happen like this? So there

was like suspense within that, too. That was

like it helps. It helps when you have little

moments like we talked about before that are

just naturally adding suspense. But then when

there's situations here where you're legit, like

not seeing what's coming, like that adds another

level of suspense. So I feel like You know, that's

all over this place. I think all the I think

restraint is a good word to a point Because I

think he shows a ton of restraint through like

90 of this movie And that's like he was showing

so much restraint that he just had to like let

it all go. Yeah The final sequence like amanda

has been watching all of these films or most

of them with me And that sequence happens in

like we're just like oh, we're oh, we're going

we're going there. Like this is happening Like

what is going on? It's a little off the rails,

crazy and no pun intended, I guess. But yeah,

there's one moment where he doesn't show restraint.

Yeah, because it starts with a cop just shooting

into a crowd of people, which and then kills

the guy operating the carousel, which also makes

you wonder like they made a carousel go that

fast. But I'm like, I guess it's the fifties

and have the regulations they do now. So it seems

like a bad design. Yeah Like that's what I did

feel like at times like that scene was meant

I don't know like I don't know if it was meant

to be as communicate as it came off at times

like Sometimes it was because you had the police

arguing because you just have this old guy just

nonchalantly Going under this speeding carousel,

which apparently he really did. Yes. I read that

too. Yeah And then the police are like, you know,

you want to stop him? He's like, I'm not doing

it But it was just every time they cut to that

guy, though, I just felt really funny because

it's just like he was so unmoved by it. He's

like, I guess I got to do this now. Right. And

then I feel like the people at that time, though,

probably didn't find it as comedic as we might

now. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Because I was feels like

it could have been like an awesome power scene

because they're on a carousel and like fall off.

It's like two feet. I guess I guess they're going

maybe if they're going super I don't know how

fast I've never seen a carousel go as fast as

that thing seemingly was going No, no. Yeah,

I that that's the one part where I'm like, all

right this felt like you know that We get to

the Marvel movie where it's like the unnecessary

just way too long Final battle sequence that

goes on forever. I mean definitely that version

of it for that time Oh, you have this crazy,

you know carousel thing. I mean it was like exciting

I guess and entertaining but it did go and then

it it's destroyed. I don't know. I was I was

wondering too speaking of the ending if Maybe

his cock originally wanted maybe a darker ending

and it has because it like it hints that it's

gonna end up pretty You know, like everyone loses

in the end, but it doesn't go that way. I almost

makes me wonder if like that was what he wanted

to do with the movies at the time. Couldn't exactly

do that. Yeah, I could see that totally because

there is a lot of writing on this film about

how like they're really trying to make these

two characters talking about Guy and Bruno as

a lot more similar than you would think on the

surface level. Like just that the way they shoot

this and everything, like especially the introductory

sequence where they're showing, you know, they're

taking the same path onto this train. You know,

yeah, they might be wearing different shoes to

like differentiate the two of them. But like

there's a lot of like showing these two. I don't

know. I read somewhere that they even use the

word doppelganger, which I don't know about that

because they don't look alike at all in my opinion.

But like there were some things that were trying

to like get them to to be seen almost as very

similar. even though they're obviously very different

individuals. So like I could see that being something

where he was going to let them all, you know,

come to a grave end. What did you think of the

so obviously he has, I guess you call it a love

interest that is not at the time his current

wife. So I don't know if it's his mistress, his

love interest, his future wife, whatever you

want to call it. But he has a relationship with

her and that character's name is Ann Morton played

by Ruth Roman and then there's Barbara Morton,

which is her younger sister who is Patricia Hitchcock

That's Hitchcock's daughter and then the senator

there their father Leo Carroll What did you think

of the three of them as kind of like supporting

characters and and what they added? To the film

and did those characters work for you? I didn't

know those just got started. That's interesting.

But it also kind of makes sense because she was

the one kind of you know going in and Almost

explaining what was happening, pretty verbatim.

Right. Just pointing it out. I thought his love

interest is, you know, his future wife. I thought

she I liked I really liked her character because

it was good seeing someone who was able to put

the pieces together and figure things out on

their own. You know, seeing for now act the way

he did connect the dots. But at the same time.

Also still trust guy like it wasn't it didn't

like artificially create like this Separation

like you know, yeah, like awesome. I hate you.

Yeah. Yeah that she kind of she believed him

Which I guess I guess there's different ways

of taking that but I really like their character

because I thought it It made the story That going

back to like I said like the conversations feeling

like all these are type of conversations You

always want these characters to have she was

a big part of that. How about yourself? Yeah,

I actually did enjoy Patricia Hitchcock as well.

I thought that she added, like yes, she is doing

some explaining of different things in that manner,

but I thought she added like a little bit of

levity to some dark themes that we're kind of

going through. And I thought she added, not necessarily

from like a comedic standpoint, But I thought

from a levity standpoint, like just lightening

the mood a little bit helped out a little bit.

And I thought that. The senator, too, like it

was believable, like I don't think that was overplayed.

I think there was some restraint shown there,

too, like he is a senator and he does like try

to help out in the ways that you would expect

somebody of in a position of power to help out.

But it's not like this like. Untouchable, like

he can do anything he wants. He's just going

to save the day type. depiction of a senator

as well. So like I kind of enjoyed the the trio

of them and they all bring like a little bit

of a different aspect to the film, which I appreciated.

Yeah, yeah, I that little that whole family.

I think it was really important for the story

to work as well as it did. Yeah. And then you

have Casey Rogers, who plays his current wife,

who I thought did a good job of of coming across

as unlikable from go. Like that whole sequence

at her workplace or whatever it was was like,

oh, this person's like despicable in a way, like

not in the same way that obviously Bruno is.

But Miriam's definitely not a likable character,

which I think added a lot because that was helping

you to like see like a strand of or like if you

follow this one strand, like how this could impact

guys decision making for the rest of the film.

Or at least from the that first part of if he's

gonna decide to like join in on this or not so

I thought like I don't think they're as Fun as

the side characters that we got in the 39 steps

But I don't think they needed to be I think they

were They added stuff so it wasn't like just

characters that I didn't care about like which

we saw Well, one of my complaints and rope was

that some of those characters at this party?

Really added nothing in my opinion to the overall

plot or the overall feel of the film where I

feel like each one here does even the detective

or police captain or whichever I don't know what

his rank was but the one that's Kind of tailing

them and following them and they all know that

and they're like riding together in the cars

and stuff like that like I thought even him like

Added a little bit of something to the film where

it's like yeah, he's i'm not saying like any

of them are like these standout like knock them

dead like steal the show type supporting characters

but they all had a purpose and they i felt like

they all added something like even you could

go as far as like there's a i don't know if it

was a party or what was going on what the occasion

was or what the reason for the occasion was but

they're at an event basically at I'm assuming

the Senator's house. I'm trying to remember specifics

about the movie, though, where there's a lot

of folks there that Bruno kind of crashes. And

he's talking to, you know, a number of women,

like older women and stuff like that, and having

fun and trying to like, you know, really chew

on that scene a little bit. And then there's

leads to him actually pretend choking one of

them. Even those women, like I felt like they

were well done and well placed and like added

something to like the How you can be close to

this individual and let him in and like lower

your defenses to the point where he's literally

almost killing one of them on the on the couch.

So like I appreciated that. What about you for

some of these other like supporting cast? Yeah,

I thought the castle for all was pretty strong,

even like in also played a big role. You go back

to the carnival. You know, I I. Like how you

little scenes that ended up coming back is you

have when bruno ends up making that murder you

have this guy that spots them and sees them and

you want him in or if you know any clocks and

we wonder if that's gonna come back again and

it does and that's something i think hitchcock

is really good at is like foreshadowing or kind

of leaving those seeds or having his little pieces

of trinkets that come back like you know this

time being a lighter like he likes using lighters

a lot i don't know why but yeah. I did I did

feel like the lighter was a little bit of a I

don't want to call it a MacGuffin necessarily

But it was like a little bit of like a stretch

like we're gonna plant this one lighter and that's

gonna mean That you're gonna be found guilty

because nothing's gonna happen to that lighter

and then somebody's magically gonna find it Give

it to the police like I'm like, okay. We'll just

go with it Yeah, and of course he's gonna drop

it in the drain and you know, you have to there

was you know, it was a bit much Yeah, we're gonna

Yeah, yeah, that's definitely you know Hitchcock

it likes to you know Although that like the the

the script I think the overall creation of the

story was good There were those moments where

it's like, okay We got a we got to like throw

some stuff in here that may be a little bit too

much But you know, I was I was and I was in for

the ride there. But yeah Yeah, absolutely. You

you mentioned like the the tennis sequences and

how there's you know Seeing how did you think

overall? Obviously, they're not a huge part of

the story except for the ending where obviously,

you know You have the tennis game and it's yeah

building tension overall. Like how did you feel

those were we're we're done because it's You

know, this is the first time we've gotten a Hitchcock

film where you have, you know, right sports being

playing such a danger role Yeah, I wasn't not

only was I not expecting it but I wasn't expecting

it to last as long as it did like they actually

stay with that for quite some time it feels like

Which I guess is like trying to add to the tension

because you know He's trying to win this game

like as quick as possible and obviously it doesn't

go his way because he's being distracted and

you know it's affecting him but I thought like

from a from the way it was shot it was done fairly

well and from the Decisions to either have the

I guess he I guess Hitchcock went to like a tennis

tournament and like film some stuff from like

Far away type things to get some realistic stuff.

Then you have obviously the use of like showing

the crowd and showing them following the ball

back and forth, which seems like a really boring

thing, but it somehow works at times as long

as it's done right. And then seeing the folks

in the crowd that are just following it versus

those that are maybe distracted on other things,

which is where I got the parallel to the challengers

from 2024. But I thought it was done well. It

helps that the one guy playing opposite of him

is a tennis professional. And I guess he was

used to help coach I'm gonna forget his name,

but Guy is the actor that plays Guy Haynes. He

helps coach him and then plays the other part.

So I think there was enough there that made it

work. I was glad it didn't go on any longer.

I thought it maybe had overstayed its welcome

at one point, but I was pleasantly surprised

for someone that's not like a, you know, I know

what tennis is and I... I've played it in like

gym class, but I'm like, not a tennis a Christian.

I was still like, yeah, it's and if they didn't

really, and it was interesting too, cause it

didn't like explain it at all. It's like you

kind of, you know, in a sense of like who was

winning and that was part of like the game. I

thought that was interesting. One of my favorite

shots in the entire movie was at, was not the

final. tennis game but the you know in the in

the middle where you have we're now showing up

to the tennis match and you see everyone's head

moving back and forth with the game him like

like just looking straight on i thought that

was really effective like that felt like one

of those iconic pitchcock moments and i think

that's something that this had uh on a on a number

of occasions that being one of them that something

you know rope i felt like didn't so yeah i agree

with that i think yeah i think it worked i do

have to comment like I don't know if they ever

explain how far apart these two places are like

the place that Bruno is from and the place that

guy is at with his uh with the senator and all

that stuff but this Bruno guy is getting to and

from places with no problem like it's it's I

know it's a movie and it has to like work that

way but there's a couple times where I was like

How far away is this? Cause we had like the long

train ride, but then this guy's going back and

forth with like seemingly ease. Like it's like

next door. They must have a lot of, I mean, I

guess they did have a lot of trains back then,

but they still seem to have a lot of trains.

Right, right. Um, so this one obviously got,

uh, is, is well received when it goes, I don't,

I didn't do as much of looking at the actual

time, the, like the Contemporary reviews of it

while it was out. I don't know if you did that

or not for this one As far as like overall Rotten

Tomatoes, I think it has like a 98 % Obviously,

it's it's well received as one of One of the

films that makes Hitchcock, you know the iconic

director that he is known to be Roger D recalled

at one of his five best films It's on like a

billion list, so I'm not going to list them all

because it's just, you know, all the different

lists like the movies you need to see before

you die and the all the greatest lists. So it's

well received. It was actually one of his first

box office success films is what I read. How

do you feel like once all is said and done, like

this stacks up with, you know, the ones that

you've seen before, at least the ones we've covered

here before, like I had a feeling. Because I

was I was really torn on this one at one point

and I'll try to explain why but the first third

maybe of this film or the first like quarter

of it. I had this overwhelming feel of like we

had leveled up. Like. I have nothing against

the films that we have watched previous to this,

but it seemed like not. I'm not saying like overall

it was better or worse, but I felt like from

a filmmaking standpoint. from a production standpoint,

from like all the things that Hitchcock is known

for. I was like, oh, we are like on another level

now. Like we've arrived at something different.

And I was like really hooked in from the beginning

because I was like. I don't know, I just felt

like we had gone up an echelon or something like

that. Now I don't know if it's as rewatchable

as or if I like. Had as much fun with it as I

did with maybe a couple of his other films But

I'm not saying that makes it a worse film I'm

just I'm really torn on how I like come down

and rank this film amongst the other ones that

we've talked about Not that I want to give away

like every time we talk about a film where we

all rank it all and then you know We get to the

the final of this retrospective there won't be

any suspense, which would be ironic, I guess

but How did this one work for you overall? Did

you have a feel that this was like on a different

level or made in a superior fashion compared

to the others or did it just kind of fit in with

everything we've watched? I think it I don't

know if I said it leveled up completely because

I It's interesting looking at what we've seen

so far because you look at something like I'm

not broke but the movie before and which felt

like a notorious which was at the Time people

were serious it was more of a relationship drama

where this to me felt like when like Hitchcock

when you think Hitchcock you think thriller and

this felt like Hitchcock just felt like the type

of atmosphere you'd want from him as I mentioned

like those number of scenes where it you had

great amount of tension just because he was allowing

those scenes to play out so I think in the sense

of Just on a thriller aspect or you know feeling

like you're getting that guy that kind of commands

the screen Makes you nervous throughout that

definitely felt like the most that's Just so

far. This is a movie that has done that the most

um now overall quality wise or you know, I or

you know general story I don't know if i'd say

leveled up compared to some of the other stuff

But on the sense of like exciting um Moments

or scenes like this to me had the most thus far,

but I think notorious was a very different film

I showed a very different side of him. So I think

this this to me is getting in more into like

That what he's down for type deal. Yeah. Yeah

So obviously both of us do some reading on the

films beforehand was there any little like bits

of trivia that you had come across that we haven't

you hadn't had a chance to share yet about this

film and then I had a couple and then a couple

more questions for you as well Only thing I really

saw and we talked about already was how in that

final casino in the Sequence at the end where

the guy was really crawling under the actual

Carousel and how that you know wasn't so that

that I didn't know that was interesting, but

that's the only thing I saw regarding Yeah, and

apparently Hitchcock said that that was the most

dangerous stunt ever performed under his direction

and that he would never allow it to be done again,

so I guess it was Somewhat scary for those people

that were involved with it as well Um, I didn't

know this was a thing, but I read that there's

a sequence basically between Ruth Roman and Patricia

Hitchcock. Those are the two sisters at the tennis

match where they give and show an actual real

U S $10 bill. Um, I did not know that that was

illegal unless you got permission from the U

S treasury department. Uh, and it wasn't until

like eight or nine years later for psycho that

they had removed that like legality. But apparently

back in the day, you couldn't show real money

on a film. So that was interesting to me. This

was the last completed acting role for Robert

Walker, who plays Bruno Anthony. He dies eight

months after filming from an allergic reaction

to a drug used to treat his alcoholism as one

version of the story. But there seems to be multiple

versions of the story that say that it was, uh,

that there was maybe something else involved.

It's kind of a whole little mystery and some

suspense, I guess, about how he died. But the

interesting thing and the reason why I brought

it up was because he does have another film.

and I found it interesting that there's a film

called My Son John that came out in 1952 the

next year that he had filmed some stuff and then

they had to like try to figure out how to finish

it so obviously they rewrote part of the script

they did different things but they actually use

outtakes from this film and like put it in their

film with Hitchcock's permission in order to

like complete the film so I've never seen my

son, John, but I'd be interested to see that

and see if you could pick out like which parts

were actually from Strangers on a Train instead,

just to make it work for that. Like that's kind

of interesting. And then there was two other

ones that I wanted to mention. Casey Rogers,

who is the one that plays Guy Guy's actual wife.

And there's a thing there between Casey Rogers

and Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia, where they're

both wearing like very thick glasses, like almost

like those Coke bottle glasses. And apparently

Casey Rogers has like perfect vision. But putting

those on made her completely blind. So like that

she had to have like all kinds of assistance

and be guided when she was wearing those to like

help make sure she didn't like have accidents

fall over. And I guess if I was to rewatch it,

they say you can watch the sequences she's in.

And there may be a couple of times where you

see her like running her hand like along a table

or a wall or a chair or something. Which was

her doing it on purpose to try to like make sure

she knew where she was and like not run into

things and stuff like that So I thought that

was kind of interesting and then one of the older

ladies that's on the couch I don't know if it's

the one that gets choked or if it's just one

of the ones that's sitting next I didn't do enough

research on that But this was her final film.

I find this crazy though So this actress had

an 18 year career in Hollywood or in film. She

appears in 77 films 65 of which she's uncredited

in, including this one. So 65 out of the 77 films

she doesn't get credit for. I mean, I'm sure

now that she's listed, I'm sure they picked her

out and like she's on the IMDB for just as uncredited.

But like that's crazy to have that long of a

career and only have 12 of your appearances out

of 77 actually have your name on the film. So

the other one, which is the one I wanted to ask

you a question about because I didn't. necessarily

pick up on this, but we did mention it when we

talked about Rope. I don't think we talked about

it with Notorious or The 39 Steps, but I did

read one trivia bit that says Alfred Hitchcock

and Robert Walker, who plays Bruno Anthony, worked

out an elaborate series of gestures and physical

appearance to suggest the homosexuality and seductiveness

of Bruno's character while not getting caught

by like the censors of the time. Did you pick

up on any of that when you watched this or did

you sense like I know we kind of did a little

bit with Rope, but did you sense it at all when

you were watching this one a little bit like

or I think mostly kind of a little bit with this

portrayal or at least In the way that I feel

like people viewed homosexuals at the time and

like in this relationship with his mother I felt

like that was kind of you know, how I don't know

and how he felt very antagonistic against his

father so I didn't I felt like if that was if

those pieces were meant to end that like, you

know, maybe his father his issues with his father

because Perhaps that's a reason it wasn't as

I think as overt by any stretch of the imagination

as a rope was but I could As you say that looking

back on it I could some things are starting to

click a little bit Yeah, and then last question

for you if you had to choose One if you had to

choose either Bruno's mom in this or the Villains

mom from notorious to be your mom Which which

would you choose? Um, I well, I guess you gotta

give Bruno's mom the credit for trusting her

boy, right? I mean, yeah And I guess her hobbies

are just painting. She's not like plotting Death

and yeah destruction She's not a Nazi. So I'm

gonna go with her. I guess that's a good choice

That's gonna that's gonna give her give her the

win So and then last question before we round

this one out What's the over under on how many

more people we have six films to cover still

the over under on how many? Instances of strangling

we're gonna see for the rest of the way out six

films Man, I would put the over under at six

point five at least one point Want one per movie

so he likes to strangling that's for sure Hitchcock

is a point that a lot Well, I did forget to that

I think there might have been an instance where

we would have also had a Hitchcock blonde in

this film but apparently he was Ruled against

he didn't have any choice on the it seemed like

he didn't have any choice on these Casting for

Ruth Roman who plays the like the love interest

because at the time you had to basically choose

actors or actresses that the studio employed,

which seems like something that's so far removed

from today, obviously. So they basically had

to use an actress or the studio basically forced

him to use it. And I guess he was very vocal

about not liking her and not wanting her as a

part of the film. And there's a few actors that

were involved in the film that basically said

that Like he did not treat her very well on set,

things of that nature. So I wonder if that's

where he wanted like another one of his Hitchcock

Blondes. That's that's a complete inference.

I have no idea if there's anything to that. But

I did find it interesting, too, because they

did get permission to borrow. I guess is the

term they used one of the other actors. I think

it was. The Robert Walker character, Bruno Anthony,

I think he was borrowed from another studio,

but it's just kind of a crazy. Studio system

that was existing back in the the 50s. Were you

aware of that before? Yeah, yeah, just okay just

from reading different things and so like either

movies or story or books that took place during

that time that whole studio era and you know,

you especially like Judy Garland and those stars

and Like yeah, they had these crazy contracts

and that's who you worked for that's who you

were signed with and you know, it was It's almost

like It was more akin to like the way sports

stars are treated now, you know, you would sign

with a franchise they'd have like people they

try to bring up and you know Start them, you

know put them in different, you know movies to

help forward their career and then try to make

them into Massive stars. Yeah, it would like

the whole studio era is crazy good and bad. It's

just there's a lot of interesting documentaries

about it. So All right any final thoughts on

strangers on a train No, it just makes you realize

don't talk to people you don't know on trains

because which they do show you at the end of

the film Yeah, it's better to just walk away

into the other card. I guess the other car Don't

dine in somebody's personal car. Like you have

to go to the dining car or wait Wait the 20 minutes

until it's available You can't do this movie

now because like people don't use public transit

as much and when they do they're on their phones

or so. Yeah It wouldn't. It would have never

have happened. I did. That was that was also,

yeah, like I completely didn't see the whole

thing happening with the guy that like he's using

as his witness. Like, yeah, I didn't see that

coming either because I didn't realize how inebriated

I guess he was at the time when he's watching

all of that. That's not going to work. So. So,

yeah, another interesting chapter in our Hitchcock

filmography. Next time we're going to be going

a few years into the future. I think this one

was released in 1951. We're going to move. to

1954 for Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. Dan,

I know we do this every time, but have you seen

Dial M for Murder before? I have. I actually

realized because I had like I wasn't a box set,

but it was like a DVD set of like Hitchcock movies

and Dial M for Murder, as well as Strangers on

a Train was on both. So that's how I watched

both of them. Nice. It'll be a first time watch

for me So I'm looking forward to it to see like

where we go from there and see if we get anybody

strangled on that one or not As far as how people

can stay in contact with you with you reach out

to you get questions or see other Content that

you create Dan. How can people do that? I just

search comic concierge on all the different platforms

Facebook Twitter. I talk Instagram threads blue

sky. There's so many so many things. So how about

yourself? Yeah, you can search out either optimist

solo for my Twitter and and that type of thing

or if you want to See some of the other nerdy

content I put out you can search out the geek

showcase There's a bunch of different types of

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You can also search the show out at the cinema

geeks. You can search cinema geeks on all the

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and then you can also stay in touch with the

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along the world of geekdom, cartoons, video games,

and all kinds of other stuff. So that does it

for this episode of The Cinema Geeks. Tune in

next time for another chance to listen to more

Hitchcock Talk from The Cinema Geeks.