MovieChat Forums > Strangers on a Train (1951) Discussion > Delightful Marion Lorne as Mrs. Antony.

Delightful Marion Lorne as Mrs. Antony.

posted 11 years ago by genplant29
3 replies | jump to latest

What a riot she is! Mrs. Antony is completely oblivious to anything remotely approaching reality, but such an absolute delight as portrayed by wacky one-of-a-kind Marion Lorne! Portrayed by anyone else, Mrs. Antony just wouldn't have been the same or ANYWHERE near as fun! I love it when she chirpily tells Ann she must come again some time for a visit, even though Ann's just told her that son Bruno has murdered a woman, framed someone else for it, and that he's trying to persuade the framed man to murder her husband - none of this news which even REMOTELY fazes Mrs. Antony, who treats Ann's call as a friendly social visit!!! Jeez! lol

[–] tremas-1 11 years ago

Marion Lorne played a dithering woman in several TV series, most effectively in "The Garry Moore Show," where she was a recurring character. Her delivery of befuddled lines ("Dear, oh, dear, goodness me, hmm, tsk") reminded me of Ed Wynn's style of delivery.
ADDENDUM: In an interview with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock said that he "particularly liked" Bruno's mother, who "was just as crazy as her son."

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] tremas-1 11 years ago

In the commentary soundtrack of my DVD, actress Kasey Rogers (who played Miriam) quotes Marion Lorne as saying that the key to delivering "ditzy" lines was to memorize them perfectly, so that in every "take" they would sound spontaneous. Rogers also says that, back in England, Hitchcock already knew of Lorne's acting talent and picked her expressly for this particular role. Hitchcock preferred actors/actresses who delivered their lines as written and didn't improvise or insisted on knowing the character's "motivation," i.e. method actors of the Stanislavski school.