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At-A-Glance Film Reviews

Strangers On a Train (1951)

Rating

[5.0]

Reviews and Comments

One of Alfred Hitchcock's most nervewrackingly suspenseful films, Strangers On a Train is a twist on one of Hitchcock's favorite themes, that of an innocent man on the run. The hero in this one is approached by a stranger (on a train, no less) who proposes the idea of trading murders. He doesn't take the stranger as seriously as he should, and soon he finds himself on the run from those on both sides of the law. Robert Walker turns in a profoundly creepy performance as the stranger.

The climax is one of the tensest sequences in the movies, involving a tennis game and a merry-go-round that spins out of control. When I saw this as a young teenager, it instantly became one of my favorite films, and it remains a favorite to this day.

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