Strangers on a Train (1951)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Strangers on a Train (1951) – A. Hitchcock

There is something a bit unsatisfying about Strangers on a Train despite Hitchcock’s awesome technical prowess and complete mastery of the use of suspense. I’ll chalk it up to the presence of Farley Granger and Ruth Roman, a rather dull pair of lead actors.  Robert Walker, in contrast, is magnificently psychopathic as the stranger who strikes up a conversation (on a train) with Granger, offering to kill his wife (Kasey Rogers) in exchange for Granger killing Walker’s father.  You see, Granger, an up and coming tennis star, is seeking a divorce from cheating Rogers that will allow him to marry Roman, a senator’s daughter (the film takes place in DC).  Walker’s father may or may not be a tyrant – it seems more likely that Walker perceives persecution that is not there.  At any rate, Walker carries out his side of the “bargain” (again, all in his head) at a small town carnival and then pressures Granger to follow through on his end.  Of course, he won’t and Walker promises to retaliate.  The police are closing in all the while.  The suspense arrives when Granger must finish a tennis match at Forest Hills, NY, before racing back to the small town carnival to catch Walker before he plants evidence at the scene of the crime (when Walker also drops said evidence down the drain, the tension is ratcheted up even further). Indeed, Hitchcock is near the top of his game, playing with audience expectations and spiking the film with a dash of morbid humour).  If only he’d managed to get a stronger cast…but of course, his real masterworks were soon to come.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Miracle on 34^th Street (1947) – G. Seaton

When was the last time I watched this? Not for a while and certainly not with kids by my side.  We are at that time when the boys may be doubting Santa’s existence, so this movie which confronts that issue directly was particularly relevant.  They were both glued to the screen but indicated afterward that the movie was “not the best” (but it is hard to take that judgment seriously – although it could be a general disdain for B&W films as a whole).  Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle who is recruited by Maureen O’Hara to “act” as Santa for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and then in the store meeting with children. However, he claims to be the real Santa and eventually falls foul of the store’s psychologist, despite passing all of the mental exams they could provide.  Fortunately, when he is assigned to a commitment hearing, he has lawyer John Payne in his corner. Payne is also romantically interested in O’Hara, who by the way has been raising her daughter Natalie Wood not to believe in Claus.  Gwenn sees it as a personal challenge to convince them – but he and Payne also have to convince the New York Supreme Court that Santa is real and Kringle is him.  Of course, they do!  I teared up a few times, I must admit. 

The Rider (2017)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Rider (2017) – C. Zhao

Bleak, sombre and somehow opaque study of a young rodeo rider who sees his dreams closed off after a terrible head injury. Brady Jandreau essentially plays a version of himself and director Chloé Zhao leaves him alone with his feelings for long stretches of the film. (This is the opaque part). He is joined by his real dad and intellectually impaired real sister, also playing versions of themselves.  All non-actors.  Brady struggles with his desire to ride again and even to compete riding broncos once more, knowing that any additional fall could be fatal.  We see him bond with horses and recognise his real talents in working with them and feel sorrow for his plight. However, we also see that fate has let him off (relatively) easy, as his best mate, also a budding rodeo star, is now a paraplegic after a fall (also playing himself).  Yet despite these terrible dangers, none of the boys seem to be able to pull away from the allure of the rodeo and Brady does nothing to dissuade his friends (and fans) from engaging in the same behaviours that harmed him and his friend. It’s hard to know what’s on his mind – but the impoverished cultural milieu all around them (in Pine Ridge, South Dakota) probably means that dangerous dreams die hard. There’s an unavoidable documentary feel here but Zhao’s poetic direction lifts it into a more introspective vein.