BEFORE: I've reached the mid-point of Movie Year 6, just in time for the last day of May, and for one of Hitchcock's most iconic films, I think. It's a little embarrassing to admit that I've seen "Throw Momma From the Train", but not the film that it riffed off of, at least not all the way through. Alfie carries over from his cameo in "Stage Fright", and his daughter Patricia Hitchcock carries over as well, she had a small role in yesterday's film and a larger one tonight.
THE PLOT: A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder.
AFTER: You've heard the theory before - if you take away the motive in a murder case, then they can't prosecute you. Because why would anyone kill another person without a reason? I'm sorry to say, but as recent events have shown, there are plenty of unbalanced people who generate their own. Besides, if the police have enough evidence, like someone's fingerprints on the gun, or security camera footage of someone shooting it, yeah, they're going to prosecute you and they'll figure out the motive later.
But remember, this was made in 1951, and for the third time in a Hitchcock film, we see people playing the "How Would You Kill Someone?" game. (I think Parker Brothers released this as a board game, but they were beaten to the marketplace by "Clue") At the time, however, this was (apparently) more of a party game, like "The Minister's Cat", used to spark conversation at parties. "Really, you'd use poison? How droll..."
These days, you can share a train car or sit next to someone on a plane, and the topic of committing murder for each other rarely comes up. (On an airplane trip in 2002, I once convinced a Hollywood star to NOT be in a superhero movie, and I'm still not sure if I did him a favor or not...)
Tonight's lead character, Guy Haines, is a tennis pro who gets chatted up on board a train (exactly how many of Hitchcock's films take place on trains? I must remember to count...) by Bruno, who offers to do him a favor - he'll kill Guy's wife, who won't grant him a divorce, if Guy will in turn kill Bruno's father. Both men will be sure to be someplace else at the appropriate times, in order to have solid alibis, and the police will just shrug their shoulders and give up in both cases. It looks great on paper, but when the time comes to actually put one's hand around someone's throat, well, that's when you find out whether someone's being serious about this or not.
I've mentioned before how Hitchcock seemed to have little respect for law enforcement - not only does he assume that they won't proceed with murder investigations once the most likely suspect has been accounted for, but he also shows them keeping an eye on Guy Haines by assigning officers to be no less than three feet from him at all times. What's the opposite of "undercover"? The whole point of watching a suspect is to see if they do anything wrong, and he's certainly not going to do anything wrong if he's got a cop in his face all day long. Later in the film, the police conduct a stakeout by pulling up to an amusement park with sirens blaring and they park right in front of the entrance, blocking it. Way to be discreet, guys.
About the only people Hitchcock seems to have less regard for is women. (Except for clever women who solve crimes, those he seems to admire...) Guy's wife, Miriam has apparently been catting around behind his back, with several men, and she's gotten herself pregnant. Still, she won't grant him a divorce, even after shaking him down for legal fees, instead offering to move back in with him and forcing him to raise another man's baby. Geez, it's almost like Hitchcock is saying she deserves to be killed.
As for the ending, this film feels like it's building to a logical conclusion, through typical parallel editing we know we're heading for a showdown, but then once again there's something of a nonsensical chase scene, though I'll reveal no more details about it. Again, though, I feel like Hitch called an audible at the last moment regarding the staging, maybe he just wanted to make sure that everyone in the audience was still paying attention.
You might be confused by the scene that takes place in New York's Penn Station - it looks absolutely gorgeous, and nothing like the place you might catch an Amtrak train today, which is on the same block as Madison Square Garden. That's because Penn Station used to be an enormous Beaux Arts structure that took up two whole city blocks, but when train travel declined, it was demolished in 1963 and moved underground, with MSG and Penn Plaza erected on top. The same architecture still exists across 8th Avenue, though, in the building that houses the James Farley post office, which for years was the only 24-hour post office in the city. You can still go in there and see some of the high ceilings, ornate arches and grand staircases that were seen in this film. But perhaps not for much longer, as they're working now on the new Daniel Moynihan station, which will take up part of the Farley building.
Also starring Farley Granger (last seen in "Rope"), Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll (last seen in "The Paradine Case"), Kasey Rogers, Marion Lorne, Jonathan Hale.
RATING: 7 out of 10 carousel horses
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