ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBBB. 

USA, 1951.  Warner Bros..  Screenplay by Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, adaptation by Whitfield Cook, from the novel by Patricia Highsmith.  Cinematography by Robert Burks.  Produced by Alfred Hitchcock.  Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.  Production Design by Ted Haworth.  Costume Design by Leah Rhodes.  Film Editing by William H. Ziegler.  

Exceptional Alfred Hitchcock thriller that fans of The Talented Mr. Ripley will not want to miss. Written by Ripley author Patricia Highsmith, this one also features a social outcast in the form of a gay serial killer, this time a charismatic and brilliant Robert Walker. Tennis champion Farley Granger is travelling back to visit his family and while on the train confides in a stranger (Walker) that his fiancee sometimes gets under his skin. Walker offers to do away with the young lady if he in return will murder his father for him. Thinking him a strange man with a sick sense of humour, Granger disembarks from the train with the intention of forgetting about the whole incident, but Walker starts showing up everywhere and is still intent on “helping” his new friend. Hitchcock’s own daughter Patricia Hitchcock has a delightful supporting role in this taut, perfectly crafted film.

Academy Award Nomination:  Best Cinematography-BW