Friday, July 6, 2007

Strangers on a Train (1951)



18 comments:

Al said...

The words Cafe Creme spring to mind.

Away from Hitchcock I know, but I just saw this for the first time.

http://www.horror-wood.com/sunday.jpg

I'm sure it's familiar to you but it is a striking poster.

MacGuffin said...

al- It is very orange isn't it? No, I've never seen this one. The piercing eyes & starkly contrasting colours are used to nice effect. Thanks for sharing the image.

Mob said...

Nice poster, it looks familiar...

MacGuffin said...

It does, doesn't it?

Blancodeviosa said...

it is a nice one! and the movie was great. probably one of my favorite hitchcocks

MacGuffin said...

I'm glad you like it, you see often enough. :)

Johnny Yen said...

Great poster-- interesting layout-- best friend Jim, who is a graphic designer by training and profession gets me looking at things like this.

I haven't seen this movie. When the DVD came out, I read the description, and it reminded me, in a way, of aother Hitchcock movie, one of my favorites,"The Lady Vanishes." The connections are slim-- mystery, on a train. But similar in that nobody does a red herring like Hitchcock.

MacGuffin said...

Thanks! I have this one on my mantle. I never tire of looking at it. Yeah, the overall juxtapostion of type and collage combined with the bright orange colour is just graphic genius to me.

You need to queue it up, it's one of his better ones. I believe it was adapted from Patricia Highsmith and one of the main themes, both visual & verbal, is the idea of the double or opposites and duplicity itself, tacit or otherwise. Classic Hitchcock.

Johnny Yen said...

I just added it. I also added "Dial M For Murder," which I realized I hadn't seen since college (1982!).

Ambiguity is a theme running through Hitchcock's work, isn't it? His work has really stood up well over time.

MacGuffin said...

Dial M is considered by most to be Hitchcock lite but I love it simply for Milland and Kelly (the direction doesn't hurt). Ambiguity is very key to his films in that his villains are usually likeable and charming, and he very often manipulates the audience into identifying with them, even rooting for them, probably most famously in Psycho. I always wanted to see Dial M in 3-D which is what it was oddly enough filmed in.

Al said...

I ordered this the other day:-

http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=418081

They're all films I love, know well and cherish - but strangely don't own on DVD (except Rear Window and Vertigo).

If you haven't yet, but do get the chance, you must try and see the 70mm restored print of Vertigo - outstanding.

Also, c'mon I'm waiting for some Jacques Tourneur posters from you...

You know it makes sense. ;)

MacGuffin said...

Wow, what a deal. You've got alot to look forward to. I have Vertigo on dvd fully restored but I've never seen it in theatres if that's what you mean. I'd certainly love to. As for Tourneur, coming right up, sir!

4 Non Blogs said...

I like this one. disembodied heads rule.

MacGuffin said...

Yay! He likes one! If you'd said this one reminds you of a fart or shart or something I'd...well.. I, umm... wouldn't like it, Sir! Good thing for you..

eric1313 said...

Man you guys sure know your movies well. I'd love to see more, myself, but I put one on and end up doing something else... like freakin' blogging, damnit...

MacGuffin said...

eric- I have a passing knowledge of cinema at best, I just like what I like. Yeah, the 'puter has become a giant time sinkhole for myself as well.

Johnny Yen said...

I was returning some vids I checked out last week to show last Friday so I really, really didn't have to work and noticed that my local library branch had gotten Strangers On a Train. Talk about kismet. I checked it out.

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