RogerBW's Blog

Strangers on a Train (1951) 03 July 2025

1951 suspense, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, Farley Granger, Robert Walker; IMDb / allmovie. Tennis star and political wannaba Guy Haines meets a strange man on a train, who seems to know too much about his private life and proposes that they each commit the murder that the other would find convenient. The price of fame. Then Guy's estranged wife is killed…

This is based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, but differs in important ways: when the book's Bruno contacts Guy to demand that Guy kill his father, he goes through with it, and is caught in the end only through his own incompetence. This Guy is more sympathetic: he's trying to deal honestly with Miriam (while she boasts to him that of course the baby she's now carrying isn't his, but no court will disbelieve her when she says it is), and doesn't for a moment think of killing Bruno's domineering father.

I'll admit that this film got me on its side in the opening shots, when we see Bruno's two-tone shows walking through the station. I don't know whether the US ever called them "co-respondent shoes" in the way the UK did, but at the very least they implied a chap who didn't care much for the politenesses that let society keep running if they got in the way of what he wanted.

But Robert Walker, reminding me slightly of the young Robert Vaughn, does a fine job of seeming like a reasonable person and then pivoting into being just a bit too creepy. But surely he doesn't mean it about the murders, right?

I found the excuse for not involving the police something of a weak one, but it needs to work for the rest of the film to happen: we have to have Guy blackmailed, Guy on the run, Guy thrown on his own resources much in the manner that Roger Thornhill would be in North by Northwest—but Farley Granger is no Cary Grant, and I never find myself quite believing in the suffering and desperation he's trying to portray. Obviously any film is a work of artifice, but it shouldn't to my mind feel like one.

I find myself unreasonably amused the police tactics here: given a roundabout with a bad guy in the middle and lots of children riding it, they happily open fire in an attempt to hit the bad guy.

I like this for the atmosphere much more than for the characters or plot.

I talk about this film further on Ribbon of #Memes.

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Direct Descendant, Tanya Huff 02 July 2025

2025 horror-romance-fantasy. The town of Lake Argen, deep in rural Ontario, seems quiet and boring. They work hard to keep it that way…

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Chimes at Midnight (1965) 01 July 2025

1965 Shakespearean adaptation, dir. and starring Orson Welles: IMDb / allmovie. Falstaff!

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Nemesis of Mars, Glynn Stewart 30 June 2025

2023 SF, thirteenth of its series. After the attempted kidnapping of the Mage-Queen of Mars,the authorities are trying to find out who did it and how people loyal for decades were compromised. Meanwhile, Mage-Commander Roslyn Chambers is coming to the end of a teaching stint at the Naval Academy when an old friend from her disreputable days gets in touch…

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The Weekly Challenge 327: I Miss My Mind the Most 29 June 2025

I’ve been doing the Weekly Challenges. The latest involved sets and combinations. (Note that this ends today.)

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Midsommar (2019) 28 June 2025

2019 horror, dir. Ari Aster, Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor: IMDb / allmovie. After the tragic death of her family, Dani goes along with her boyfriend and other anthropology students to visit a commune in Sweden…

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Demon Daughter, Lois McMaster Bujold 27 June 2025

2024 short fantasy novel in the World of the Five Gods (formerly known as Chalion). A girl washes up in a fishing village, and promptly sets things on fire. Penric is sent to deal with it.

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The Joy Of Text 26 June 2025

I have noticed the same thing happening twice in my interaction with software, and two data points makes a straight line.

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The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag, Heather G. Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare 25 June 2025 - 1 comment

2025 paranormal fantasy, fifth novel of its series. Bunny Barrington, now a trained police officer in the supernatural town of Portlock, looks into a mysterious death at the town's mine…

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Rear Window (1954) 24 June 2025

1954 suspense, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, James Stewart, Grace Kelly: IMDb / allmovie. Laid up after an accident, photographer "Jeff" Jefferies becomes suspicious of the goings-on in the apartment opposite.

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