Today, I watched one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films, "Strangers On A Train." It's a murder-mystery about two men who meet on a train and concoct a plan to kill people in each other's lives. If you haven't seen it, you should. The film is suspenseful, gripping and artistically accomplished.
One of the main actors (Kasey Rogers) is a young woman who refuses to grant her husband a divorce, so the other train-stranger murders her. Kasey looked familiar and I realized how -- years later, she appeared in the TV show "Bewitched" as Louise Tate. Another of the actors (Leo G. Carroll) is instantly recognizable as the Chief in my favorite TV show of all time, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Finally, a third actor in the movie (Farley Granger) had bit parts in several TV shows, including the hilarious "Get Smart."
There are two more actors in the film with stories to tell. The most amusing character in the movie is played by Patricia Hitchcock who, as you probably guessed, is Alfred's daughter. She gives a great comic performance.
The lead actor in the movie is a charming young man named Robert Walker. He was only 32 years old when the movie was made. Tragically, Walker died the same year. He was distraught that the love of his life had fallen for a powerful Hollywood producer (David O. Selznick) and, after drinking too much, he acted erratic. A doctor gave him a sedative to calm him down, but he had an allergic reaction to it and died. At age 32. At the start of a promising career as an A-list Hollywood actor. How tragic.
Do you ever spot actors in movies you recognize from elsewhere? If you do and can't figure out where, the best place to learn that information is the most useful entertainment website, the Internet Movie Database.
I'm a serial user of IMDb!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm addicted to IMDb, too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad story about Robert Walker. x
Oh thanks for the link to the film site, I will use that! And for the film suggestion, sounds like a good one to watch. Have you seen the recent film about Hitchcock? The trailer looked good.
ReplyDeleteI *love* that film! Helen Mirren was miraculous. And you can't recognize Anthony Hopkins as Alfred; the makeup is amazing.
DeleteI never manage to catch such connections - My movie-hating husband has a total knack for it though. He usually does something else while I watch movies in the same room and he points out voice actors or live actors and notes their other roles. I always IMDB to check him and he has about an 90% correct rate.
ReplyDeleteHow cool....now I think I need to see the movie. I just have to comment on the death of the actor;
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, the death was attribute to "allergic reaction" but I bet that it was more like drug and alcohol interaction, which we know today can be very dangerous and fatal. Sorry, that's the paramedic in me coming out!
I think you're right, Lisa. I had the same thought.
DeleteI go through this all the time!
ReplyDeleteI love Hitchcock movies, the suspense, and blondes dressed in gray...it gets me every time!
Haha, the bf and I do this allll the time. We both have the IMDB app on our phones, so it's usually just a matter of seconds before we have it figured out :)
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