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Criss-Cross

The Making of Hitchcock's Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece Strangers on a Train

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Criss-Cross

By: Stephen Rebello
Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
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About this listen

 Take a deep dive into the shadows and light of one of the most subversive, corrosively funny, and beloved suspense thriller masterworks as author Stephen Rebello unravels for the very first time the tense and drama-filled story of the making Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.

As entertaining as it is to watch Strangers on a Train, so too is the previously untold backstory that packs all the suspense, drama, and twists of a thriller. After all, what are the hallmarks of a great Hitchcock movie? A larger-than-life, complex cast of characters, each with something to prove, lose, or hide. Check. Tremendous risk, outsized conflict, and emotion as those men and women confront challenges off the set. Check. Feuds, deceptions, unlikely alliances, and double-crosses. Check. Coming off a 5-year-string of flops, Alfred Hitchcock gambled big on adapting Patricia Highsmith's debut novel, which critics called “preposterous” and “unconvincing," in addition to “unsavory,” and “sick” (1950s code words for “gay” and “perverted”). Each step of the production was fraught with battles, but Hitchcock masterfully stayed two steps ahead of his opponents as he fought to bring his vision to life. Strangers on a Train became not only a creative high-water mark and box-office smash for Hitchcock, but also kicked off his unmatched decade of classics including Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho.

Richly documented, meticulously researched, and stylishly written, Criss-Cross is more than an authoritative film book. It is a portrait of an especially politically paranoid, misogynistic, and homophobic era in America, a time of dramatic transition in the entertainment industry, and a day of reckoning for Alfred Hitchcock and a few other talents with whom he made a dark, resonant, and prescient work of art. Direction & Production Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism LGBTQ+ Funny Entertainment

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Most relevant
Stephen Rebello, author of Criss-Cross, has tackled Psycho, Hitchcock’s best-known movie, in a previous title, and now he turns his attention to Strangers On A Train, released in 1951, almost a decade before Norman Bates was unleashed on movie-goers in 1960. Both books are fascinating. Criss-Cross tells the story of the often troubled evolution of Strangers, which was based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith (with some significant departures from the original). Raymond Chandler, the brilliant creator of private eye Philip Marlowe, worked on the screenplay but was furious when his work was effectively torn up and he was replaced - yet his name remained on the credits, partly as studio boss Jack Warner believed, probably correctly, that Chandler’s involvement would lend the project extra cachet. Strangers is the tale of a tennis star’s murderous pact with a man he meets by chance on a train. It features Robert Walker (who sadly died soon after the movie’s release) as one of the great Hitchcock villains, Bruno Antony. There are many memorable scenes in this dark, twisted tale with homoerotic undertones uncommon for the era. Inevitably, the censors cut some dialogue and scenes which were considered beyond the pale, but the finished product more than stands the test of time. It also gave Hitchcock a boost after some commercially underwhelming movies, as Strangers was a box office hit. Rebello’s enthusiasm for the film is infectious. It would be worth seeing it before listening to or reading Criss-Cross - but if you’ve read this far you’re probably already a fan… The narration is lively and assured, with a good Hitchcock impression. Listen now!

Making of a noir classic

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