Strangers On A Train (1951)

I initially expected this film to be a traditional murder mystery with little depth to the narrative, along with a slow paced storyline, instead it turned out to be a rather thrilling and humorous take on what may have potentially been a dull and repetitive film that could have easily been cast aside as a film not worth watching.

The film begins by more or less jumping straight into the world of psychopathic action; following the tale of a successful tennis player who, although admits to the tiresome troubles of his soon to be ex-wife, not surprisingly is actually opposed to resolving his frustrations by murdering her, as suggested by Bruno the psychopathic ‘stranger on the train’ he meets when on route home one day. Bruno essentially proposes to Guy that in order to complete the perfect crime they should ‘swap murders’; with Bruno getting rid Guy’s wife and Guy doing the same to Bruno’s father. To which Guy then politely declines this rather extreme and deranged proposition, expecting to never seen this disturbed stranger ever again… or so he thought. Bruno then takes it upon himself to go ahead with the genius plan, continuing to repeatedly appear in Guy’s life demanding that he must keep huis end of the bargain; popping up anywhere from outside his home, to his tennis matches, to family gatherings. As a plot, there is a particular smartness and cleverness that is present, in that although Guy doesn’t want to kill his wife, nor does he accept Bruno’s deal, he does in fact have a motive and frequently displays his frustration towards his wife both privately and publically. What elevates the film the most is the absurd antics that Bruno appears to get up to, coming across extremely humorous and entertaining to watch through the 21st century eye.

Overall, I felt that the film was extremely innovative and imaginative; especially due to the fact it is a 1951 film, showing that it was exceptionally a head of its time. The film is a perfect balance of both serious psychopathic thrill and light humour, this making the film distinct and very hard to forget.