Do you want to see ‘Strangers on a Train’?

Strangers on a Train (1951)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 8.8/10
Reviews Counted: 42
Fresh: 41 | Rotten: 1

A provocative premise and inventive set design lights the way for Hitchcock diabolically entertaining masterpiece.

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

A provocative premise and inventive set design lights the way for Hitchcock diabolically entertaining masterpiece.

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Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 32,346

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Movie Info

In one of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classics, tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger) chances to meet wealthy wastrel Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train. Having read all about Guy, Bruno is aware that the tennis player is trapped in an unhappy marriage to to wife Miriam (Laura Elliott) and has been seen in the company of senator's daughter Ann Morton (Ruth Roman). Baiting Guy, Bruno reveals that he feels trapped by his hated father (Jonathan Hale). As Guy listens with detached amusement,

PG, 1 hr. 41 min.

Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

In Theaters: Jul 3, 1951 Wide

On DVD: Aug 27, 1997

Warner Home Video

Strangers on a Train Trailer & Photos

Cast

Farley Granger
Guy Haines
Robert Walker
Bruno Anthony
Ruth Roman
Ann Morton
Leo G Carroll
Senator Morton
Patricia Hitchcock
Barbara Morton
Laura Elliot
Miriam Haines
Marion Lorne
Mrs. Anthony
Jonathan Hale
Mr. Anthony
Howard St. John
Capt. Turley
John Brown
Prof. Collins
Norma Varden
Mrs. Cunningham
Robert Gist
Hennessey
John Doucette
Hammond
Joel Allen
Policeman
Murray Alper
Boatman
Monya Andre
Dowager
John K. Butler
Blind Man
Leonard Carey
Butler
Edward Clark
Mr. Hargreaves
Roy Engel
Policeman
Tommy Farrell
Miriam's Boyfriend
Sam Flint
Man
Edward Hearn
Sgt. Campbell
Al Hill
"Ring the Gong" Concess...
Harry Hines
Man Under Merry-Go-Roun...
Edna Holland
Mrs. Joyce
J. Louis Johnson
Butler
Charles Meredith
Judge Dolan
Ralph Moody
Seedy Man
Rolland Morris
Miriam's Boy Friend
Odette Myrtil
Mme. Darville
Minna Phillips
Dowager
Georges Renavent
Monsieur Darville
Dick Ryan
Minister
Laura Treadwell
Mrs. Anderson
Joe Warfield
Seedy Man
Dick Wessel
Bill
Louis Lettieri
Boy
Janet Stewart
Girl
Shirley Tegge
Girl
Mary Alan Hokanson
Secretary
Kasey Rogers
Leo Carroll

Critic Reviews for Strangers on a Train

All Critics (43) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (1) | DVD (23)

Winds up with a scene in which a merry-go-round goes wild, spins like a pin wheel, and crashes in a gaudy blaze of explosions that no earthly carrousel could touch off. The movie itself is the same way: implausible but intriguing and great fun to ride.

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

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TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Perhaps Strangers on a Train still hasn't yielded all its secrets.

February 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Hitchcock was above all the master of great visual set pieces, and there are several famous sequences in Strangers on a Train.

January 15, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Given a good basis for a thriller in the Patricia Highsmith novel and a first-rate script, Hitchcock embroiders the plot into a gripping, palm-sweating piece of suspense.

February 13, 2001 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety

Top Critic

...his basic premise of fear fired by menace is so thin and so utterly unconvincing that the story just does not stand.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comments (3)

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

Arguably one of Hitchcock's masterpieces, this intrguing film deals with all the autuer's issues, including the double motif, moral ambiguity, fine line between hero and villain.

May 5, 2012 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Classic nail-biter is a must for thriller fans.

January 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

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Scott G. Mignola

Common Sense Media

the work most necessary for a deeper appreciation of Hitchcock's late masterpieces.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

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Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

Even more marvelous after a second viewing

February 17, 2008 Full Review Source: Film and Felt

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Gabe Leibowitz

Film and Felt

Hitchcock's handling of the suspense is deadly effective and a quality cast breathe life into some delicious dialogue.

February 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

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Film4

Hitchcock erects a web of guilt around Granger, who 'agreed' to his wife's murder, a murder that suits him very well, and structures his film around a series of set pieces, ending with a paroxysm of violence on a circus carousel.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Time Out

The prototypical Hitchcock thrill ride.

October 14, 2005 Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star

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Phil Villarreal

Arizona Daily Star

Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" is about weakness crisscrossing with evil, with evil pushing hard for the upper hand. Nobody comes away unscathed.

November 16, 2004 Comment

Christopher Smith

Bangor Daily News (Maine)

worthy vehicle that displays Hitchcock's narrative ability and explores some of his favorite themes

October 27, 2004 Full Review Source: Old School Reviews

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John A. Nesbit

Old School Reviews Source: Old School Reviews

...if the intellectual games, the fancy camera work, and the outright suspense don't get to you, there is always the superb performance of Robert Walker to consider.

September 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

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John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

Most of the film is a journey through pure Hitchcockian irony and suspense, and well worth the trip.

September 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

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John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

Patricia Highsmith's malicious writing seems perfectly suited to Alfred Hitchcock.

September 20, 2004 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Strangers on a Train

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Alfred Hitchcock loved to plunge ordinary people into extraordinary situations culminating in feverish life or death climaxes, and Strangers On A Train is one of his finest efforts. This film is fantastically atmospheric with a palpable malevolence throughout. It also features unforgettable performances, particularly

March 7, 2012

Clintus Maximus

Super Reviewer

Everyone has someone they want dead. From this casual statement of a very secret everyman wish comes a suspenseful amusement park ride, a descent into madness wrapped in a candy box. Walker's Bruno is one of the most seductive of cinematic villains and certainly one of the best reasons to see one of the best of Hitchcock films.

February 25, 2012

moon rivers

Super Reviewer

Strangers on a Train Quotes

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1. Guy Haines: Doesn't that bloodhound ever relax? He sticks so close he's beginning to grow on me, like a fungus.
– Submitted by Chad E (10 months ago)
1. Guy Haines: When an alibi is full of bourbon, sir, it can't stand up.
– Submitted by Chad E (10 months ago)
1. Bruno Anthony: My theory is that everyone is a potential murderer.
– Submitted by Chad E (10 months ago)

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