Strangers on a Train - actors, characters and roles
All actors and their roles in the film "Strangers on a Train"
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Timing:
1:41 (101 min)
7.7/10
1860
1860
Actors and characters
Harry Hines
Character Man Under Merry-Go-Round (uncredited)
Paul McGuire
Character Train Passenger (uncredited)
Oliver Cross
Character Party Guest (uncredited)
Tom Ferrandini
Character Linesman (uncredited)
Stuart Hall
Character Tennis Match Spectator (uncredited)
Joel Allen
Character Policeman (uncredited)
Monya Andre
Character Dowager (uncredited)
Benjie Bancroft
Character Police Officer (uncredited)
Harry Baum
Character Tennis Match Spectator (uncredited)
John Butler
Character Blind Man (uncredited)
Edward Clark
Character Miriam's Boss (uncredited)
Jack Cushingham
Character Fred Reynolds (uncredited)
John Daheim
Character Detective at Merry-Go-Round (uncredited)
Marilyn Dialon
Character Girl on Carousel (uncredited)
Jay Eaton
Character General - Party Guest (uncredited)
Roy Engel
Character Policeman (uncredited)
Herbert Evans
Character Party Guest (uncredited)
Tommy Farrell
Character Miriam's Boyfriend (uncredited)
Kay Garrett
Character Tennis Match Spectator (uncredited)
Robert Haines
Character Bus Driver (uncredited)
Mary Alan Hokanson
Character Secretary (uncredited)
J. Louis Johnson
Character Mortons' Butler (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey
Character Tennis Match Spectator / Carnival Attendee (uncredited)
Mike Lally
Character Detective at Carnival (uncredited)
Perc Launders
Character Police Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Louis Lettieri
Character Boy with Balloon (uncredited)
George Magrill
Character Policeman at Merry-Go-Round (uncredited)
Charles Marsh
Character Bystander at Drain (uncredited)
Roland Morris
Character Miriam's Boyfriend (uncredited)
Odette Myrtil
Character Madame Darville (uncredited)
Richard Neill
Character Party Guest (uncredited)
Spec O'Donnell
Character Carnival Patron (uncredited)
Minna Phillips
Character Dowager (uncredited)
Anthony Redondo
Character Train Passenger (uncredited)
Dick Ryan
Character Minister (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock
Character Cop (uncredited)
Janet Stewart
Character Girl (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan
Character Carnival Patron (uncredited)
Shirley Tegge
Character Girl (uncredited)
Laura Treadwell
Character Mrs. Anderson (uncredited)
Joe Warfield
Character Soda Jerk (uncredited)
Howard Washington
Character Waiter on Train (uncredited)
Dick Wessel
Character Bill (uncredited)
Chalky Williams
Character Carnival Patron (uncredited)
What's left behind the scenes
- Hitchcock's cameo is a man with a double bass who gets on the train at the very beginning of the film, immediately after Guy gets off.
- Hitchcock purchased the rights to Patricia Highsmith's novel anonymously to prevent the price from increasing. This acquisition cost him only $7,500.
- Raymond Chandler is considered the main screenwriter of the film and is listed first in the credits, although the majority of the work was done by the second screenwriter, Cheney Ormonde.
- Alfred Hitchcock originally wanted William Holden to play Guy Haines.
- The train station scenes in Metcalfe were filmed at the former New Haven Railroad station (Danbury, Connecticut). It is now the Danbury Rail Museum.
- “Strangers on a Train” was Robert Walker’s last completed film; he died eight months after filming.
- The character of Bruno is named after Bruno Richard Hauptmann, the alleged kidnapper and murderer of the son of legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh.
- The version of the film shown in Germany was missing 5 minutes (the most violent scenes had been cut from the print). They were later added for television broadcast, but were accompanied only by subtitles, while the rest of the film was dubbed.
- “Strangers on a Train” marked the film debut of 67-year-old Marion Lorne, who played Bruno’s mother. The film also features the only notable role of Patricia Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter.
- This film determined the location of Carol Burnett’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1951, Carol worked as a ticket taker at the Warner Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, where “Strangers on a Train” was currently playing. Two people were late for a showing, and Burnett, having already seen the film, said that this wonderful picture should be watched from the beginning. The theater manager fired Carol. Several years later, when Carol Burnett was asked where she would like to have her star placed on the Walk of Fame, Burnett chose a spot directly in front of the Warner Theatre.
- From the very beginning, the role of the mentally unstable Bruno Anthony was intended for Robert Walker. When choosing an actor for this role, Hitchcock was guided by the fact that Walker had just been discharged from a psychiatric hospital. Six months after the completion of the film, Walker’s mental illness worsened, and he died due to an allergic reaction to medication.
- Robert Burks was chosen as the cinematographer – a specialist in complex optical effects, capable of creating the mood the director required. The director was pleased with his work and continued to collaborate with Burks for the next 14 years. It was Burks who managed to capture what Hitchcock had dreamed of throughout his 20-year film career – to film a murder reflected in the victim’s glasses.
- The film’s interiors were shot at the Warner studio, and outdoor scenes were filmed in Los Angeles (an amusement park), Washington (the Jefferson Memorial), New York (Pennsylvania Station), and Danbury (a provincial train station). In the summer of 1950, Hitchcock traveled to Queens to film the packed stands at the Davis Cup matches. On October 17, 1950, the film crew left for the East Coast, where filming took place at Pennsylvania Station (which was passed off as Union Station in the film) and in the small town of Danbury (which became the provincial Metcalfe in the film) over six days. By this time, the bulk of the script was already complete.
- The amusement park was constructed at the ranch of his colleague Rowland V. Lee in Chatsworth, according to Hitchcock’s detailed instructions. The actual “Tunnel of Love” was found in one of the areas of Los Angeles, Canoga Park. The director forced the actress playing Miriam to wear glasses with strong lenses, even though she had excellent vision. This disoriented her during filming. In one scene, it is visible how she feels her way, running her hand along the furniture. The tennis match was filmed on the courts of a tennis club in the suburban South Gate. Fred Reynolds portrayed Guy’s opponent in the shot, while Granger’s coach, Jack Cashingham, opposed him off-camera. The remaining scenes were filmed in the studio against landscape backdrops.
- Hitchcock personally devised a tie for Bruno with a lobster pattern featuring clasped claws, as if revealing Bruno to be a strangler.
- To promote his new film, Hitchcock, as usual, posed for photographers in unusual positions. One promotional photo shows him inserting the letter L into the word 'strangers' in the film's title. The pun is that it creates the word 'stranglers'. In another photo, he wraps his arms around the neck of his own daughter, Patricia (who plays Barbara). One press release claimed that Hitchcock, promising his daughter a hundred dollars for an evening ride on the Ferris wheel, ordered the electricity to be turned off when she was at the very top, causing the trembling girl to 'hang in complete darkness for a whole hour'. Patricia herself defends her father against accusations of sadism, calling such stories tall tales designed to generate interest in the film.
- Film critic Roger Ebert considers 'Strangers on a Train' to be one of Hitchcock's finest works; he included his analysis in his book about the greatest films in cinema history.
- The scene where a man crawls under a wildly spinning carousel is not a photographic trick; the actor actually crawled under the carousel. According to Hitchcock, it was the most dangerous stunt performed under his direction.
- In Raymond Chandler's screenplay version, Bruno Anthony was arrested at the end and placed in a mental hospital, with the final shot showing Bruno already in the institution, writhing in a straitjacket.
- For the episode where Guy's lighter falls into a drain and Bruno tries to retrieve it, Hitchcock personally selected the garbage lying at the bottom of the drain.
- Originally, the film did not end with the scene of Guy and Ann traveling by train; in another version, the film ends just before that episode. The reel containing this footage was mistakenly labeled as the “British version,” and studio executives decided that this was the version shown in the United Kingdom. The “incorrect” version of the film was also distributed in America.
- Hitchcock adored the stories of Edgar Allan Poe from a young age and made references to his favorite author in some of his films. In 'Strangers on a Train,' a certain analogy can be traced between the spinning carousel at the end of the film and Poe’s 'A Descent into the Maelström.'
- Hitchcock traditionally meticulously prepared the climactic scenes of his films. In 'Strangers on a Train,' the intention was for the expressionistic scene of the 'deranged' carousel, which falls apart as it moves, to remain in the viewer’s memory. The creation of this vivid image utilized the special effects available at the time – miniature models, background projection, and montage inserts. Editor William Ziegler was responsible for seamlessly combining all the elements. First, they filmed the explosion of a miniature carousel model. Then, the image of the explosion was projected onto a giant screen, against which they placed extras of crying children and screaming mothers, seemingly being hit by the wooden horses of the disintegrating attraction.
- In the final scene of the American version of the film, the Morton sisters wait anxiously in their home for the fateful phone call from Guy. To emphasize its importance, Hitchcock requested that the phone be visible in the foreground, with the girls in the background. The imperfect technology of the time hindered the realization of his vision, not allowing both the phone and the actresses to fit in one frame. To solve the problem, they placed a giant phone prop in front of the camera. When Ann hears the ring, she runs to the table and picks up the receiver. However, the receiver in her hand is normal size. 'It was all shot in one take,' Hitchcock recalled. As Ann walks forward, the camera subtly moves towards her, causing the phone to be momentarily out of frame. This was enough time for an assistant to hand the actress a regular phone receiver.
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