Strangers on a Train

Genre: crime thriller (in black and white)

With: Farley Granger (Guy Haines), Ruth Roman (Anne Morton), Robert Walker (Bruno Antony), Leo G. Carroll (Senator Morton), Patricia Hitchcock (Barbara Morton), Kasey Rogers (Miriam Joyce Haines), Marion Lorne (Mrs. Antony), Jonathan Hale (Mr. Antony), Howard St. John (Police Capt. Turley)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, Whitfield Cook and Ben Hecht (from the novel by Patricia Highsmith)

Release: 1951

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, First National

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.6/10 

 

‟Criss-cross.” 

 

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Story-line: on the train from Washington to New York City, tennis player Guy Haines meets Bruno, an avid fan but mostly an obnoxious fellow. He manages to shake off this unwelcome admirer but is forced to share a table with him in the dinner car. It is then, while speaking candidly about life, that Bruno says ‟I've got a theory – that you should do everything before you die.” And, in this pesky man’s parlance, ‟everything” can even mean murder.

Pluses: excellent performances by Farley Granger (as Guy the straight man) and Robert Walker, fine support from a good cast (especially Kasey Rogers and Patricia Hitchcock who steals the show with her zingers), flawless direction by a master of the genre, a suspenseful and very logical screenplay that sticks to business and creates a cold, macabre mood, several perversely funny moments that temper the drama (the test of strength, Mrs. Antony’s painting and the little cowboy), fine cinematography, adequate production values and an effective musical score (Dimitri Tiomkin).

Minuses: none I can think of… and I watched this movie intently.

Comments: the credible and efficient STRANGERS ON A TRAIN recalls the closed-in, ghoulish atmosphere of another Hitchcock thriller, ROPE, but surpasses it with its more compelling story – about evil thoughts, revenge, remorse and other human weaknesses – and its great villain, the insidious and inescapable Bruno. It plays like an itch that won’t go away and dares you to scratch back. Could anyone but Hitchcock make a movie as tense and entertaining as this one? Some… but not many.    

 

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Applaus

English title: Applause

Genre: psychological drama

With: Paprika Steen (Thea Barfoed), Michael Falch (Christian Barfoed), Otto Leonardo Steen Rieks (William Barfoed), Noel Koch-Søfeldt (Matthias Barfoed), Sara-Marie Maltha (Maiken), Lars Brygmann (George), Shanti Roney (Tom), Uffe Rørbæk Madsen (Peter)

Director: Martin Zandvliet

Screenplay: Anders Frithiof August and Martin Zandvliet

Release: 2009

Studio: Koncern TV-og Filmproduktion, New Danish Screen, Nordisk Film-& TV-Fond 

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.1/10

  

Bitterness on Stage, Struggles in Real Life    

 

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Story-line: APPLAUS begins with a scene from a stage play in which Martha, a hard-drinking woman, shows her love but also her captiousness toward her husband George. The film then focuses on Thea, the actress behind Martha, and her efforts to start anew after an addiction to alcohol and her failed marriage.

Pluses: first-rate acting by all, highlighted by Paprika Steen’s enormous screen presence and eloquent face, adept direction that faithfully tends to the drama, a serious, non-linear screenplay populated by likeable characters in dicey situations and featuring sometimes acerbic dialogues, crisp cinematography (especially close-ups), solid production values, an understated but helpful musical score and a suitably open ending.

Minuses: none I can think of.

Comments: as it alternates between snippets of Edward Albee’s Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and episodes from Thea’s life before, during and after rehab, the modest but interesting APPLAUS weaves a touching, very human story of people in flux. Thea is determined to do better but her progress is often slowed by her frustration and the tentativeness of people around her. Although I can’t give it more than an 8.1 rating, this European film – a fitting companion to DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES – is as worthy as any and a good bet for movie buffs who like their dramas grounded and thoughtful. When fences have been broken, mending them is hard to do.  

 

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