Strangers on a Train See's Chilling Chaos Emerge From Murderous Conversations

Murder is usually afoot in an Alfred Hitchcock movie and Strangers on a Train is no exception. The murder here starts out as merely a conversation between tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger) and an obsessive fan by the name of Bruno Atony (Robert Walker), one that occurs by total chance on a train ride the two men are sharing. While they exchange low-key chit-chat, Bruno brings up this idea he's had of a pair of people deciding who in their lives they'd most want to see murdered and then have the other person commit that murder. That way, nobody would suspect the actual culprit of these grisly crimes! Guy brushes it off as just quirky talk from a quirky man but he quickly realizes it's far more than that when his estranged wife, Miriam (Laura Elliot), turns up dead at an amusement park.

North By Northwest Review (Classic Write-Up)

It's practically become a custom for modern spy movies to incorporate the plot thread of a normal person (typically the lead character) getting wrapped up in spy shenanigans to sometimes humorous, other times dramatic, effect. Just look at offerings from 2010 onward like Cars 2, Killers, Bridge Of Spies, Argo, Abduction and (kinda) Salt. It's easy to see why this storytelling device is utilized frequently since it allows for the lead character to engage in high-concept spy going-ons while also being the type of everyday individual the audience can immediately relate to. Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock could be considered a "hipster" in this one case, since he was utilizing that plot scenario "before it was cool" way back in 1959 with his (rightfully) acclaimed motion picture North By Northwest.