Strangers On A Train

Strangers on a Train is a 1951 psychological crime thriller that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker. Unfortunately, it would be Walker’s last ever film as he died of an accidental overdose a few months after the film was released.

On a train, Guy Haines (Granger), a relatively famous tennis professional, accidentally bumps into Bruno Anthony (Walker) in the dining room and a conversation strikes up between the pair. Persuading Guy to have a private lunch in his compartment, Bruno brings up that he knows that Guy wants to divorce his wife and marry Anne Morton (Roman), but his wife is refusing to grant a divorce. He then brings up his theory of the perfect murders: he will kill Guy’s wife and Guy will kill Bruno’s father, who he doesn’t get along with (“criss-cross” – a reference to train track crossovers). Thinking he’s crazy, Guy refuses and gets off the train at the next stop. Guy leaves his cigarette lighter behind, and Bruno takes it.

Guy meets with his wife, Miriam, at work. Previously she had indicated she would grant him a divorce but out of pure spite she changes her mind. Guy gets angry and as he starts to strangle her onlookers step in and make him leave the workplace. Guy then phones Anne and tells her his wife won’t divorce him while saying how he wants to strangle her.

Later that night, Bruno arrives in town and follows Guy’s wife and two male friends at the local carnival. The man who operates the tunnel of love boat rides makes a note of Bruno’s face as he is passing through. After passing through the tunnel of love, they come to an island and while Miriam is hiding from her friends while playing a game, Bruno sneaks up and strangles her to death before quietly sneaking off. Meanwhile, Guy is on a train back to Washington and the only witness to him is a drunk professor. Later, Bruno appears outside Guy’s house and informs him he has done his part of the deal, and it is now Guy’s turn. Shocked, Guy tells him to leave him alone.

Over the next few days, Bruno stalks Guy wherever he goes in Washington, greatly disturbing Guy. One amazing shot is the above image of Bruno standing on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial all by himself watching Guy pass by in a taxi.

Guy is the main suspect in the killing of his wife as there appears to be no one else with a motive for the crime, although there is no hard evidence connecting him with the crime scene. He is put under constant surveillance outside his house. Bruno mails Guy the keys to his house, a map of the house indicating his father’s bedroom, and a pistol to kill his father with. A few nights later at a party thrown by his girlfriend’s father, Bruno shows up to Guy’s horror and starts mingling with the guests. While using a guest as a demonstration of how to strangle someone without them screaming, Bruno sees Anne’s younger sister Barbara (played by Hitchcock’s own daughter Patricia) and due to the similarity between her and Miriam, he has a flashback and after actually strangling the guest faints. Anne realises what is happening and confronts Guy after he has sent Bruno away and he confesses about what Bruno really is up to.

Eventually, having enough of Bruno stalking him, Guy sneaks out of his apartment at night, evading the police and makes his way to Bruno’s house. He sneaks into the father’s bedroom and tries to talk to him about Bruno, but Bruno is waiting in bed. Confirming he won’t fulfil his part of the deal, Bruno announces he will frame Guy for the murder of his wife.

Concerned, Anne visits the Bruno household and tries to talk to Bruno’s mother about his behaviour, but the woman is too deluded to believe what her son has gotten up to. Bruno overhears the conversation between Anne and his mother and informs Anne that he will plant Guy’s cigarette lighter back on the island to frame him for the murder. Guy has a vital tennis match coming up, and Anne and he devise a plan so he can play the match, escape his police (who want to arrest him after the match as they believe they have enough evidence to prosecute him) and stop Bruno from getting away with his plan.

Guy wins his tennis match, but it takes him much longer to finish off his opponent than he anticipated. Bruno is also delayed as after stepping off the train Guy’s cigarette lighter slips out his hand and down a drain, and it takes him a long time to reach down and grab it out. Using Barbara to cause a distraction, Guy escapes the police and heads for the train station to get back to the island. Unknown to him, the police are also on the same train but are planning to follow him from a distance to see what he is up to.

While waiting in line to get back to the island, the tunnel of love operator remembers his face and informs the police. Bruno panics and moves away, just as Guy reaches him and a fight breaks out. They begin to fight on the carousel. Thinking that Guy is trying to escape them, a policeman fires a shot that accidentally hits the carousel operator, causing the ride to speed up and go out of control. It crashes and Bruno is killed, not before revealing in his hand Guy’s cigarette lighter. The tunnel of love operator tells police that Bruno is the mysterious man from the night of the murder. This proves to the police that Guy is innocent and he is let go. He phones his girlfriend back in Washington and reveals the good news.

Rope

Rope is a psychological crime thriller film that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1948. It stars James Stewart, John Dall and Farley Granger. It would be the first time that Hitchcock worked with Jimmy Stewart, and they would go on to make three other successful films in the 1950s. Rope is based on the real life crime of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, a homosexual pair from Chicago who killed a fourteen year old boy just to prove their superiority and commit the perfect crime, although they would get arrested for the murder soon after. It is surprising that the film was allowed by the censors at the time, as the implications that the two murderers in the film are homosexuals is quite clear, for example there is only one bedroom in the apartment they both share, and homosexuality and any references to it was seriously frowned upon by censors at the time. The film was one of Hitchcock’s more experimental films, and the original idea was to film it in one take, although constraints prevented this. However, thanks to clever cuts, it appears to be one continuous take by zooming in and out of characters backs when a reel change was required. In total, there are ten cuts in the film.

The film opens with two students, Brandon Shaw (Dall) and Phillip Morgan (Granger) strangling their friend David Kentley to death. They did this to prove that they could commit the perfect murder and prove their superiority. They are to host a dinner party, and convinced David to turn up early so they could kill him. After killing him, they put his body in a large chest in the living room. Brandon then decides to move the cutlery from the dining room to on top of the chest, just for the thrill of it. Although Brandon is calm, Phillip is a nervous wreck, which will play up throughout the film. The idea for the murder came from conversations with their professor, Rupert (Stewart), who had discussed such theories as Nietzsche’s Übermensch with them at university. As the first guests arrive, Brandon says the fun is just beginning.

The guests at the party are the pair’s housekeeper, David’s father Mr Kentley and his aunt Mrs Atwater, his fiancée Janet Walker and her former lover and David’s former best friend Kenneth Lawrence. Rupert is also invited, as Brandon feels that he will appreciate what they have done. Throughout the party, Brandon keeps hinting at David’s absence, which leads to everyone worrying about him, little realising his dead body is in the chest in the room. Brandon gets Rupert to share his theory of murder being a privilege for the chosen few, which greatly upsets David’s father. Rupert realises that something is off with Phillip and questions him about David’s absence, although he denies all knowledge. He also notices strange behaviour between the two, such as Phillip denying he had ever strangled a chicken even though Rupert had previously seen him strangling several chickens before and Brandon stammering when talking, which Rupert knows he only does when he is excited.

Brandon increases the tension by trying to set up Janet and Kenneth which greatly annoys the pair of them. He also makes numerous mentions of death which further serves to increase the tension surrounding David’s disappearance. As the party dies down, the housekeeper begins to remove the cutlery and candles from the chest and prepares books to put back in the chest. Just as Rupert is offering to help her lift the books into the chest, Brandon rushes over and insists they not bother, which further raises Rupert’s suspicion. Eventually, David’s mother rings and says he hasn’t been home. This leads to everyone leaving, not before Brandon hands David’s father some books, tied with the same rope they used to kill his son. The pair think they have got away with the crime, but Rupert calls up and claims he left a cigarette case and asks to come back up. Nervously, the pair agree.

When he arrives and when the pair are not looking, he hides the case behind some books and the chest and then to talk to them about David’s disappearance. Although Brandon is excited and eggs him on, Phillip, by this time very drunk, snaps and says the famous line, “Cat and mouse, cat and mouse. But which is the cat and which is the mouse?” Suspicious of the chest, Rupert goes to open it although Brandon tells him he won’t like what he sees. He opens it and is shocked and horrified by what he sees, David’s dead body. Rupert realises he is a cause for the murder, and turns his back on his previous theories of murder being for the privileged few. Another famous quote from this scene is, “Did you think you were God Brandon?”

Noticing Phillip is preparing a gun in his pocket, a struggle ensures before Rupert seizes the gun. He fires a few shots out the window and as the police sirens draw nearer, Rupert pulls a seat and sits down waiting for the police to show up.

Notorious

Notorious is a thriller that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1946. The main stars are Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, with Claude Rains in a supporting role. The film marked the second time that Hitchcock worked with both Grant and Bergman.

The film opens outside a Miami courtroom, where Alicia Huberman’s (Bergman) father is convicted of being a Nazi spy. Living a loose life, she has a party before leaving the country the next day to get away from all the scandal. She has a certain reputation as a promiscuous and fast living woman. At the party, a mysterious figure sits by himself and does not interact with anyone else. When the party dies down and only Alicia and this man are left, a conversation starts that eventually leads to Alicia suggesting a midnight picnic. Clearly drunk, she insists on driving anyway.

She wildly drives until a policeman stops the car. He leaves however when the mysterious man shows him his wallet and his profession. After this, he knocks Alicia out after she refuses to let him drive and then takes her back home. The next morning, he reveals himself to be T.R. Devlin, an American agent who wants Alicia to spy on a group of Nazis down in Rio De Janiero since she would be trusted by them all. She refuses until he plays a recording of an argument between Alicia and her father that was secretly recorded, in which she criticises her father’s activities and stated her love for America. She accepts the offer, and cancels her previous plans to leave the country.

On the flight down to Rio, Devlin informs Alicia that her father was found dead in his cell. Alicia reacts with shock and reveals to Devlin that her disgust at her father is the cause of her fast and self-destructive lifestyle. She is relieved that she no longer has to feel shame or disgust at her father’s life.

After arriving in Rio and waiting for more information on her assignment, Devlin and Alicia become closer. Alicia hopes she can repair her damaged reputation and show the world she is a changed woman, although Devlin has his doubts. After some teasing from Alicia, Devlin kisses her passionately.

When Devlin arrives at the US Embassy, he is concerned that Alicia does not know what her work will actually entail. Prescott, Devlin’s superior, is confident that Alicia is the perfect woman due to her promiscuous behaviour. The assignment is to seduce the leader of the Nazi exiles, Alexander Sebastian (Rains). Back with Alicia in her rented apartment, the longest film kiss in history takes place, lasting over three minutes! They kiss and nuzzle whilst talking. (The reason for the kissing then nuzzling then kissing etc. is because the Production Code at the time forebode kisses over three minutes. It was classic Hitchcock to get around the restrictions in such a way.) During the kiss, Devlin receives a phone call that Prescott needs to see him right away.

Devlin initially resents the plan for Alicia, until it is revealed to him that Alexander is a former flame of Alicia’s, although Alicia wasn’t very responsive at the time. Back with Alicia, Devlin is noticeably colder and unfriendly towards her. After being told the full details of her assignment, Alicia is furious that Devlin would allow the Embassy to think of her in such a way. Devlin insists on leaving the decision up to her, failing to show his love for her. Heartbroken, Alicia agrees to the assignment.

At the local riding club, they engineer a situation where Alexander will meet Alicia by having Devlin set her horse charging off. As planned, Alexander comes to her rescue and they begin to renew their past relationship at a restaurant.  She denies that she is in love with Devlin when Alexander inquiries about him. The meeting goes smoothly and Alexander invites her to attend a dinner party at his house the next night.

At her apartment, she receives instructions from Prescott while Devlin is deliberately unhelpful to her. When she arrives at Alexander’s house, she meets his mother, who is very wary and indifferent towards her. Alexander rescues her and takes her to meet his five friends, all Nazi spies. While in the dinner hall, Alicia notices the anger that surrounds a misplaced wine bottle in the room. Intrigued, she makes a mental note of the incident. The man who made the mistake is presumably killed off-screen.  The rest of the party turns out rather uneventful.

Devlin and Alicia meet at the racetrack the next day while Alex is occupied with his bossy mother. She tells Devlin about the wine bottle, while revealing she has added Alex to her list of ‘playmates’. Devlin is shocked, and begins to make passive-aggressive remarks towards her, which leads to her breaking down in tears. Alex appears and Devlin makes his excuses to leave. Alex hints that he wants Alicia to marry him.

Back at the embassy, they are all delighted with how successful the mission has been so far. They are all surprised when it is announced that Alicia will be making a surprise visit. While Prescott and his colleague question Alicia’s character, Devlin, for the first time in the film, stands up for her and defends her from the accusations being made against her. Alicia arrives and stuns them all with the news that Alex wants her to marry him, and wants her answer by noon. After asking them if she should go through with it, Devlin responds that it would be a useful idea even though he is privately furious with the news. Alex’s mother is opposed to the marriage but Alex stands up to her for once and tells her that the marriage is going ahead, and they would be happy to have her at the wedding.

After the honeymoon, Alicia returns to Alex’s house and begins to unpack her things. Noticing the closets are locked, she asks Alex for the keys. He agrees (after another argument with his mother), but she notices that one room is still locked- the wine cellar. When Devlin and Alicia have their next meeting, in a public park, she tells him about the locked door and he suggests she throw a party and invite him so that he can have a look around. She agrees. In a tense and nail-biting scene, she steals the key from Alex’s keyring while he is getting changed in the bathroom. However, as she turns to leave with the key in her hand, he emerges and grabs her closed hands. He opens the left one and kisses it, then as he goes to open the right Alicia throws herself at him for a hug and drops the key under the bed, to be retrieved later.

An incredible crane shot shows the whole party before zooming in from up high to Alicia’s hand, where the wine cellar key (the UNICA key) is being held tightly. When Devlin arrives, Alicia allows him to kiss her hand, allowing him to take the key. When the opportunity arises, Devlin and Alicia sneak off to the wine cellar. While snooping about, Devlin accidently knocks a bottle over and discovers that a type of sand is being stored in it. After taking a sample for testing, they hurriedly repair the mess that they have made. As they are leaving, Alex heads down the stairs. To cover up, Devlin grabs her and passionately kisses her. Alex interrupts them and Devlin quickly heads for the exit. Alicia assures him it meant nothing and Alex seems to buy it.

In the night, while Alex is unable to sleep, he notices that the missing has been replaces on his key ring. He realises he has been tricked by his wife and tells his mother. In order to prevent their fellow Nazis from executing them, they decide to slowly poison Alicia and not reveal her betrayal. Alicia drinks down the poison in cups of coffee over time and begins to feel the effects. In a meeting at the Embassy, Prescott reveals to her that it wasn't sand but uranium in the wine bottle. He also reveals that Devlin has asked for a transfer to Spain, unable to deal with losing Alicia. Alicia views it as a personal offence and has tears in her eyes when told, assuming that Devlin was just playing her this entire time.

At their next meeting, Devlin notices Alicia is not herself and wrongly assumes she has turned back to alcohol. Devlin refuses to admit his feelings for Alicia and they depart in acrimonious circumstances. Back at home, Alicia realises the truth about her illness when in a meeting one of Alex’s Nazi friends goes to drink her cup of coffee by mistake and Alex and his mother shout out to him to stop. In agony, she is confined to her bedroom with the phone line cut off.

Devlin becomes concerned that Alicia has failed to show up in the past few days and before he leaves for Spain he makes a house call. Told by the servant that Alex is busy in a meeting, he demands to know where Alicia is. Told she is in her bedroom, he heads up and finds her in a serious condition. She tells him she is being poisoned and he finally admits he loves her, which she reciprocates. Devlin takes her out but they run into Alex and his mother. Devlin tells them he knows what’s going on as they head down the stairs, in full view of the other Nazis, who are puzzled as to what is going on. Alex and his mother play along as if they don’t the betrayal will be revealed.

Devlin accidently dooms Alex and his mother when he says he phoned for an ambulance from the bedroom, even though Alex ordered the phone lines cut. As they take Alicia to Devlin’s car, Alex begs to be let in but Devlin refuses. As the new couple drive away to the hospital, Alex is summoned to his death by his fellow Nazis: “Alex, will you come in please? I wish to talk to you.” The door closes behind Alex as he enters.

Rebecca

Rebecca is a gothic suspense/mystery film that was released in 1940 and was the first picture that Hitchcock filmed in the USA. He was lured across the ocean by producer David O. Selznick who was one of the main industry figures in Hollywood at the time, especially after the release of Gone with the Wind in 1939. Hitchcock had previously wanted to film Rebecca in England, but was unable to afford the film rights to the book. The film stars Laurence Olivier as Mr De Winter and Joan Fontaine as the 2^nd Mrs De Winter, with Judith Anderson in a memorable supporting role as Mrs Danvers.

Whilst on holiday in Monte Carlo as a paid companion, Fontaine meets Olivier. The first meeting takes place on a windy cliff top and the impression given is that Mr De Winter is contemplating suicide, until Fontaine shouts out to stop him. After a whirlwind romance, they marry and move back to Manderley, the De Winter estate, in England. Mrs De Winter the 2^nd is very shy and uncomfortable in her new surroundings, especially in the presence of Mrs Danvers, the head of the housekeepers on the estate. She also notices that Mr De Winter seems uncomfortable at the very mention of the name of his first wife, Rebecca.

One afternoon, whilst the married couple are out walking their dog, the dog runs off and Mrs De Winter spots a beach house. While the dog barks and scratches at the door of the cabin, Mrs De Winter, ignoring her husband’s shouts not to go near it, opens the door and finds a strange and mentally unsound man who rambles on about Rebecca. She also notices the place is filled with cobwebs and seems to be untouched for a long while, which is strange since Rebecca’s possessions are all in the house. Confused, she thanks the man and then runs back with her dog to Mr De Winter.

One day while Mr De Winter is away on business, Mrs De Winter overhears Mrs Danvers talking to someone in Rebecca’s old room. Eventually it is revealed to be Rebecca’s favourite cousin, Jack Favell, who suggests that Mrs De Winter not mention his visit to her husband.

Since returning to Manderley, Mr De Winter becomes colder and colder towards his wife. Worried, she takes the advice of Mrs Danvers and gets her husband to agree to allow her to hold a costume ball for all the families’ friends and associates, just like Rebecca used to do. While thinking of a costume to wear, Mrs De Winter takes the advice of Mrs Danvers and wears a dress just like the one on one of the many portraits in the hall. Attempting to surprise her husband, he instead reacts in horror and demands she go back upstairs and change into something else. It is the exact same costume that Rebecca had once worn to a costume ball. While running up to her room, she notices Mrs Danvers going into Rebecca’s room. Angry and humiliated, she follows to confront her.

When confronted, Mrs Danvers admits to knowing how Mr De Winter would react. She dislikes Mrs De Winter as she was devoted to Rebecca, and will not allow any woman to replace her in Manderley. After Mrs De Winter breaks down into tears, Mrs Danvers opens one of the large windows and try’s to tempt Mrs De Winter into jumping to her death. Just as it seems as if she is about to, she is snapped out of it by the sound of an airborne flair from a ship that just hit the rocks. After everyone runs down to the beach, it is discovered that the ship actually hit a sunken boat that contained the body of Rebecca, who apparently committed suicide by sinking the boat.

Seeking answers, Mrs De Winter demands answers from her husband. He admits that he identified a body previously that he knew was not Rebecca’s. He reveals in the beach house that his marriage to Rebecca was a sham, and she was not the person everyone thought she was. Although she seemed the model of perfection to everyone else, she was carrying out a number of affairs, including one with her cousin Jack Favell, her cousin. To avoid disgrace, Mr De Winter pretended his marriage was fine to avoid a scandal and social humiliation. However, one night Rebecca told him she was pregnant with someone else’s child. Laughing at him, she told him that the child would inherit the Manderley estate one day. A vicious argument then took place and according to Mr De Winter Rebecca fell, hit her head and died. He then put her body on the boat and sunk it. After these revelations, he declares that he loves the 2^nd Mrs De Winter much more than he ever did Rebecca, which greatly reassures her.

After this, Mrs de Winter loses her naïve innocence and coaches her husband on how to lie to the police. While the police initially believe the suicide, Favell produces a letter written by Rebecca on the day of her death which proves she was not suicidal and then tries to blackmail Mr De Winter. Mr de Winter informs the police of the blackmail attempt but as a result is put under investigation of murder by the police. Favell informs the police that Rebecca has visited a doctor just before she died, and brings in Mrs Danvers to prove this. A trip to the doctor reveals that Rebecca checked in under Mrs Danvers name. It is then revealed that she was not pregnant but on that fateful day she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and told she did not have long left to live. Rebecca then tried to goad Mr De Winter into killing her so both their lives would be ruined as a final act of cruelness. This revelation proves to the police that Mr De Winter is innocent.

After he is acquitted, Favell phones Mrs Danvers to tell her the true story. Mr De Winter leaves the coroner’s office and heads back to Manderley to meet up with his life. While driving up to the house, he notices that the house is on fire (“That’s not the Northern lights, that’s Manderley!”). Outside, he finds his wife who tells him that Mrs Danvers has gone crazy and set the whole house on fire, dying in the fire. Finally, the couple are free of Rebecca.