cinephiliabeyond: One of the most popular psychological crime thrillers that Hitchcock ever made is
cinephiliabeyond: One of the most popular psychological crime thrillers that Hitchcock ever made is definitely Strangers on a Train, the master’s adaptation of crime novelist Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel that hit theaters back in 1951. Even though a lot of film scholars over the years considered the movie at least to a degree inferior to Hitchcock’s landmark films such as Vertigo or Rear Window, this captivating story of two people meeting on a train and conversing about the execution of a perfect murder has forever remained a much desired topic of analysis and debate among film enthusiasts all over the world. What distinguishes Strangers on a Train from similar films, even within Hitchcock’s own canon, is the fascinating idea at the center of it–the motif of doubles, the inner battle of good and evil in all human beings–as well as impressive technical virtuosity we grew accustomed to when talking about the works of the British highly commercial artist. The suspense is so powerful it can be felt though the screen, the acting is great, mostly thanks to Hitchcock’s old friend from Rope Farley Granger and his antagonistic counterpart Robert Walker, the script… oh, the script. If acquiring the rights to Highsmith’s novel was a walk in the park–by purposely leaving out his name from the negotiation process, Hitchcock managed to get the rights for a meagre 7,500 dollars–the process of finding the right screenwriter and producing a satisfactory script was nothing less than a hike over the Himalayas.Writer Whitfield Cook satisfied the filmmaker with his treatment of the story, but it is here that real problems began for Hitchcock, eager to make a successful thriller that would wipe away the memory of financially lacklustre couple of projects at the end of the previous decade. Desiring a strong name from the literature milieu, he contacted and was turned down by eight writers, including Thornton Wilder, Dashiell Hammett and John Steinbeck. He finally managed to strike a deal with Raymond Chandler. Unfortunately, due to the writer’s allegedly difficult character and the stubbornness of both of them, the collaboration fell through and Hitchcock was right back where he started his search from. During the time they strenuously worked together, Chandler wrote two drafts, but upon handing in the second one, he received Hitchcock’s dismissal. Ben Hecht was next on the filmmaker’s list, but “the Hollywood screenwriter” was too busy and suggested his assistant Czenzi Ormonde, who had recently published a critically acclaimed collection of short stories called Laughter From Downstairs. Explaining to Ormonde that Chandler’s versions were unacceptable rubbish and that work needed to be started from scratch, the new screenwriter joined forces with the director’s wife Alma Reville and his associate producer Barbara Keon to complete a satisfactory script, allowing for the production to finally begin. Chandler’s name, however, remained on the script, as the studio felt it could help in the promotion of the project, despite objections from both the writer and Hitchcock.In the visual sense, Strangers on a Train owes its style to the excellent cinematographer Robert Burks, who would continue to work with Hitchcock on a whole series of his films, but the two sequences that mostly stand out in the picture are at the same time undeniable reminders of Hitchcock and Burks’ technical prowess. The first one is, of course, the shot of strangulation caught in the lenses of the assaulted woman’s glasses flung to the ground. The other astonishing visual set piece is the fight occurring on the carousel gone wild at the end of the film. “You never have any trouble with Hitchcock as long as you know your job and do it. He insists on perfection”, said Burks on one occasion. As you watch these sequences, it’s easy to hear his words echoing in the background. This is simply perfect artistry. With Dimitri Tiomkin’s symbolic score, perpetuating the omnipresent theme of duality, and William H. Ziegler’s masterful editing, Strangers on a Train is easily one of the top exhibits in the genre’s history.‘Strangers on a Train’: A Technically Perfect Psychological Carousel as One of Hitchcock’s Best -- source link