Strangers on a Train (1951)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
103 minutes
For the fourth anniversary of "Narrow Rooms", curator Adam Baran selects the film that first inspired him to become a cinephile and filmmaker, and no surprise, it's a dark and twisted thriller with pretty obvious gay overtones. Alfred Hitchcock's superb 1951 suspense thriller begins with the accidental meeting between tennis player Guy Haines and a stranger named Bruno, who casually suggests the two carry out his "perfect murder" scheme. Bruno will kill Guy's cheating wife, and Guy can kill Bruno's hated father. Since the two have no motive or place in each other's lives, no one would suspect the other person of the crimes. Guy shrugs the idea off as a joke, but when Bruno makes the first move, he insists Guy make good on his end of the bargain, or else! Closeted gay actor Farley Granger, who played gay three years earlier in Hitchcock's ROPE, and troubled actor Robert Walker are both at their very best in this adaptation of "Talented Mr. Ripley" author Patricia Highsmith's debut novel. Featuring some of Hitchcock's most inventive visual sequences, including the jaw-dropping merry-go-round finale, it's a smorgasbord of queer, cinephilic energy. We'll also be screening the rarely shown "UK" or "Preview" version, which makes the flirtation between Granger and Walker's characters even more explicit!