Hitch #38 - Strangers on a Train (1951)

In our Hitch re-watch we had managed just six films in four years… but, like those buses…

I always expect to like/enjoy/appreciate Strangers on a Train, but I don’t think I ever do. It is really not a very nice film… most of the characters are either unpleasant or stupid - maybe Barbara is the only somewhat likeable one?

Strangers on a Train (1951)

The carousel crash is ridiculously over-the-top - this is the decision Hitch should have been disappointed in (the one in Sabotage is not a mistake at all IMO!) - having had the carny crawl under the roundabout to get it to stop to then have it crash in such a ridiculous way that kills Bruno and almost certainly would have killed many of the young children on the ride is stupidly brutal.

Fairground

Guy is in no better a position at the end than if he’d gone to the police in the first place. They still have no reason to suspect that he hadn’t hired Bruno, and maybe he was attacking him at the end to keep him quiet… which he does!

My ratings for this have basically gone the opposite way round to Stage Fright - I gave it an 8 in 2000, a 7 in 2012 - and now it’s getting a 6 and even that feels a bit generous?

I do like the fairground music that you hear - and always get an urge to see The Strawberry Blonde (1941) when I hear that song played, and sung. And that’s a film I enjoy more!!

• Source: DVD
• Rating: 6/10
• Hitchcock Zone: Strangers on a Train (1951)