At the American Society of Cinematographer’s The Filmbook Blog, Benjamin B has a multi-part series analyzing Hitchcock’s Strangers on A Train. Here is the first part of the series, where he talks about the opening sequence and how this script would have turned into a bad film into anyone else’s hands. It’s a great read – and the videos are a bonus.
Truffaut states: “because he exercises such complete control over all the elements of his films and imprints his personal concepts at each step of the way, Hitchcock has a distinctive style of his own. He is undoubtedly one of the few filmmakers on the horizon today whose screen signature can be identified as soon as the picture begins.” The first 2 1/2 minutes of Strangers on a Train bear this out. (via The ASC: ‘Strangers on a Train’ 1 – Shoes, Script, Auteurs « The Film Book.)
