Early Hitchcock Films Sprang Farley Granger To Success

In memory of actor Farley Granger, who passed away on March 27, 2011, I would like to remember two of his films, which happen to be my favorites. 

Naturally, they are Hitchcock movies (I’m somewhat of a Hitchcock-phile (the word many use is obsessed)).  I had the honor of meeting Granger once in 2007 when he was in town speaking about his experiences working with Hitchcock. 

After showings of these two films, Rope and Strangers on a Train, the Music Box theater in Chicago had Granger talk about what it was like working with the Master of Suspense, as well as sign copies of his newly released autobiography Include Me Out.  

I went for lunch between movies and met Granger and his partner in the restaurant.  He looked pretty good for 82 and I remember how spry he still seemed.  I mentioned what a fan I was of him and Hitchcock and he told me he loved working with the British director and was blessed to have him direct him so early in his movie career (Rope was only Granger’s third movie). 

Rope

Honestly, Rope is not my favorite Hitchcock film. It is slow-ish and more “talkie” than most other Hitchcock movies…relying more on dialogue than action for its suspense. But, after viewing it again recently, I found that even one of the less-satisfying films by preeminent thriller director Hitchcock is STILL better than most of the thrillers made today. 

And it stars both Granger and James Stewart, two of my favs.  With Rope, Stewart begins what would become a four-film, ten-year association with Hitchcock, including the MUST SEES Rear Window (1954) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and Vertigo (1958). 

The story is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murderers…the two University of Chicago students who decided to commit the perfect murder to prove they can because they are intellectually superior humans. So, at the beginning of the film, a murder takes place. And the rest of the film is a will-they-get-caught-or-won’t-they as they entertain guests (including the victim’s parents!) in the same room where the body is hidden.

This is one of the films Hitchcock used as an experiment. It’s his first film in color and, like Dial M for Murder’s attempted use of 3-D, the director tries something he’s not done before here. He uses ONLY nine takes to film the almost hour and a half film. These long takes, on their own, do a great job of building to and adding to the suspense. We almost feel like we’re right there…in the apartment…one of the guests watching this story unfold.

So, instead of choosing one of the more lame and overly-predictable thrillers made today, try this one. I cannot say it’s Hitchcock’s best but it sure beats most everything else!

Strangers on a Train

When British director Alfred Hitchcock’s success in movies finally led him to Hollywood, he enjoyed a string of hits in the late 1930s and early-to-mid-1940s. After the romantic masterpiece Notorious, the director’s career hit a slump that lasted years, finally ending with the critical and public triumph of Strangers on a Train.

The film is one of Hitchcock’s finest works…it encompasses everything a thriller should plus all of the usual “Hitchcockian” elements that make an ordinary thriller extraordinary. The title says it all…two men meet randomly on a train. One is a well-bred spoiled drifter (Robert Walker) and the other an estranged husband (Granger) who desperately wants to leave his philandering wife behind and start his life over with a new love.

Hitchcock’s use of camera and light are top-notch here. Scenes where Granger catches Walker spying on him are magnificent, with Walker increasingly portrayed as psychopathic just by the camera techniques Hitchcock uses. There is a reason this film put Hitchcock back on the map as one of the best directors in the world…rent this one and see for yourself!

Rope: 1948, not rated, 80 minutes, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Joan Chandler, Cedric Hardwicke and Constance Collier. 

Strangers on a Train: 1951, not rated, 101 minutes, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll, and Patricia Hitchcock.  

The Niles Public Library owns these titles on DVD.