MovieChat Forums > Strangers on a Train (1951) Discussion > Great film but the Carousel?

Great film but the Carousel?

posted 12 years ago by JoseyWales
30 replies | jump to latest

Great film but the Carousel?

BEWARE! MAJOR ENDING SPOILER.
Don't read this if you haven't seen the movie and are planning to watch it.

I watched this again recently after many years and was totally enthralled until the ending sorta spoiled it for me. I have looked at quite a few other posts and it doesn't seem to be mentioned.
The whole Carousel scene was great (although the pay off where, it seems, the only person to get killed was the bad guy was all a bit too convenient). But, putting that aside, the bit that really spoiled it for me was when Guy jumps onto the Carousel and a cop fires a shot at him and kills the ride operator, thereby setting the scene for the final climax. OK, spin back there -the cop fires a shot at a Carousel loaded with people, which naturally included loads of kids? Even with the best will (and aim) in the world, this was a ridiculous thing to do. Surely cops were more responsible than that, even back in the fifties? And surely, Hitch, with his devious and inventive mind, could have engineered a better plot device than that.

It's strange that when I make posts like this, I think to myself: 'What am I saying. Who the hell do I think I am to question the film making or plots of an undoubted and celebrated Master of suspense and film making in general? How many blockbuster movies have I made?'

But, the fact remains: I thought that plot device was very annoying and unsatisfactory, trying to choose my words carefully with regard to the above comments.

My wife suggested that audiences were less sophisticated back then. So how the hell did they enjoy or cope with All About Eve, just one example of many cerebral and 'sophisticated' movies of its day?

There can be no true beauty without decay.

[–] ath-11 11 years ago

It was stupid of the cop to fire blindly into the carousel. But maybe cops of the 50s (and a few decades before) accepted collateral damage. Still, it was a great plot device. And an even better demolition.

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"...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped."

[–] mitch1492 11 years ago

I've always been bothered by the ending of this otherwise great film. We're supposed to care about the trap that poor Guy finds himself in. Why distract from that? Get the children off the carousel, then crash it, and everything is OK. Leave them on, and suddenly the conflict between Bruno and Guy seems much less significant.

Consider that right before the crash you see the contrast between the protagonists. Bruno callously throws a child off its horse and Guy dives to save the child. Then, after the crash, Guy is completely indifferent to the fate of the children. Even more ridiculous, so are all the cops. No one goes for an ambulance, or tries to go through the wreckage to see if any children need help? Riiiight. It's much more important to find out what Bruno may or may not have in his hand.

[–] NewtonFigg 11 years ago

My long held belief is that Hitchcock disdained the people who went to see his pictures and threw in improbable situation after improbable situation just to see how much they would swallow. Some years ago, on another thread on this movie, I wondered how Guy could travel invisibly for four hours all the way from NY to DC in the club car and never see another passenger except a drunk, and no conductor ever came by to take his ticket. No wonder the Pennsy went broke.

[–] CharlesTheBold 11 years ago

In the 50s, if you wanted to see a movie more than once, you had to go back to the theatre again. They didn't sell copies of films to consumers, on videotapes or DVDs. There was little chance of focusing on a scene to see whether it made sense. Nor was there a communications system ( the Intenet) where fans could discuss their opinions at length. People just let scenes fly by. If they were bothered by a scene, but didn't want to buy another ticket to check it out, they'd just forget about it.

[–] domester82 10 years ago

One scene that always makes me laugh in this film is when that kid comes up to Bruno and says 'bang bang you're dead' with the cap gun, and then Bruno nonchalantly pops his balloon with his lit cigarette! Lol. Bruno is such a psycho

[–] tremas-1 10 years ago

TO: JOSEYWALES
ALFRED HITCHCOCK (Interviewed by Francois Truffaut): [The carousel] was a miniature blown up on a big screen. The big difficulty with that scene was that the screen had to be angled differently for each shot. We had to move the projector every time the angle changed, because many of the shots of the merry-go-round were low camera setups. We spent a lot of time setting the screen in line with the camera lens. Anyway, for the carousel breakdown we used a miniature blown up on a big screen and we put live people in front of the screen."

[–] hiddenagenda1 10 years ago

I rate it 9/10. I didn't like the ending with the carousel going fast. I thought it was too far-fetched. That's what kept me from rating it 10/10.

Volker Flenske: (While torturing David) I don't know why you're doing this to yourself!

[–] Gadare 9 years ago

Just watched the film for the umpteenth time. Was going to post this, but JoseyWales puts it so finely.

I'm sure there are more stringent procedures for cops to follow before firing their guns these days. At least with white people.

"I slept with you and you're in love with my husband. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

[–] Beau_Buffet 9 years ago

People panic. People make errors.

If people were to always do the right thing at the right moment, there would be no movies.

[–] TenPercenter 8 years ago

You are right, your wife is wrong. The carousel ending was utterly ridiculous. I was dying with laughter as I watched it.

Tell your wife to watch "M" that was made 20 years BEFORE this and she'll be amazed how well they crafted a creepy, scary, atmospheric gem. The fact that they even made a movie about a pedophile child murderer and made him the protagonist is shocking in itself. And that movie is from 1931!

[–] SloppyJ30 8 years ago

Well, I'm conflicted. You appreciate M, which floats around my personal top 20 list, yet you direct gales of derisive laughter at my favorite Hitchcock film, and Bruno is one of the best movie villains ever. I can't decide whether to compliment you on your taste or weep with rage and insult your mother. Meh; 'tis the Christmas season. Your mom gets off . . this time . . but I'm still going to weep, and you can't stop me.

I think actually I enjoyed SOAT more because of its loopy ending. The whole movie is more black comedy than thriller, and thus the end, to me, fit right in.

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I have meddled with the primal forces of nature and I will atone.