That Double Trouble

ON THE PLANE, after a successful attempt to be amused by Cher and Christina's Burlesque, I decided I was in the mood to see something with a little more substance and thought maybe a film under Classics would satisfy.

From the first couple of minutes, Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train was instantly captivating; involving a simple, stunning, graphic introduction of two characters opposite in manner and attire, on their way to board a train.

What follows the meeting between tennis star Guy Haines and stranger Bruno Anthony is a whole lot of suspense, impeccable styling, fantastic cinematography and a consistent theme of doubles played out to the very end.

From Wikipedia:

There are two respectable and influential fathers, two women with eyeglasses, and two women at a party who delight in thinking up ways of committing the perfect crime. There are two sets of two detectives in two cities, two little boys at the two strips to the fairground, two old men at the carousel, two boyfriends accompanying the woman about to be murdered, and two Hitchcocks in the film.

The two Hitchcocks seen in the movie are Alfred himself, who does a cameo in the beginning, and his daughter Patricia, who plays the supporting role of Barbara Morton.

Petite, bespectacled and outspoken, Barbara is quite an iconic character too.


So much style in storytelling and sight. It's movies like these that make me wish I were in cinema.

Strangers on a Train, 1951. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. Trailer images from commons.wikimedia.org and Patricia Hitchcock image from BrandonBrownPresents' flickr photostream.