Bruno targeted Guy
I believe Bruno intentionally got on the train to meet Guy. Why was Bruno riding on a train in the first place? Where was he supposedly going and coincidentally met Guy on the train?
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MovieChat Forums > Strangers on a Train (1951) Discussion > Bruno targeted Guy
And Bruno knew Guy was going to take that seat near him?
I think it was a change meeting. Each to their own, though.
I know Bruno was smart and crafty and could possibly come up with a story so quickly but I think it was a planned meeting on Bruno's part. He knew everything about Guy who was a minor celebrity. He wasn't even playing professional tennis. I do believe we were to see the footsteps as your post quoted but I disagree on it being a chance meeting. Bruno knew what he was doing, in my opinion. But that's one of many things that's enjoyable about movies, people interpret things differently but the story remains unchanged.
shareI just went back and watched the meeting on the train. I can see it both ways since Bruno is a lunatic he could've possible kept up with Guy for other reasons then when he suddenly saw him he put the crisscross together very quickly. "but I've got to get back to Washington by tomorrow" Bruno. So where he was before trip seems to not be needed in the story. That's a good thought though, was Bruno's being there planned or not? Maybe the book relays more info.
shareI suspect it was a planned meeting as well, though I'm not sure. But I do want to kind of correct you about how "he wasn't even playing professional tennis". While that's technically true, the highest profile tennis players then were amateurs. The four majors or "Grand Slam" championships (French, U.S., Wimbledon, Australian), which were then as they are now the most high profile tennis competitions, were restricted to amateurs only until 1968. In the early 1950s, pro tennis was still seen as sort of a dubious pursuit, almost like it was sullying the high class nature of the sport to go out and grind for money. In fact, professionals of that era generally did not play tournaments at all, but went on exhibition tours, playing the same opponent over and over for crowds in different cities. Even then, they were trading on fame they had gained in their younger, amateur years playing the majors.
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I've just watched this film for the first time so I may be wrong. But I agree it does definitely look like Bruno set up the whole thing. We know he is clever and seems to have studied Guy for a long time. He could even know where he normally sits on trains for example. I'd like to think he planned it; it makes his character seem more of a clever lunatic than a lucky one.
shareBruno had no way of knowing that Guy would be on the train. The meeting in
the lounge car is very real and Bruno was just out riding without any real
purpose. His entire life was that of a spoiled, messed-up queen, to put
it bluntly.
I thought it was assumed that he would have planned the meeting. He knew all about Guy, he had a plan, and he knew what he was doing. How does he know that guys wife is going to the fair? The same way he knew Guy would be on the train I guess!
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I think it was a chance meeting for two reasons. The opening sequence shows that Bruno wasn't following Guy, and it's a stretch to think he would have previously stalked/studied Guy's habits or schedule to the extent that he could be sure he'd be on that very train. The two men are then shown moving along the carriage from opposite ends, and it's Bruno who sits down first before Guy sits opposite him. As Wikipedia points out, 'And since it is Guy's foot that taps Bruno's under the table, we know Bruno has not engineered the meeting.'
How does he know that guys wife is going to the fair?
He doesn't. He waits outside her house and takes it from there. If she'd spent the evening alone at home, presumably he would have knocked on the door or broken in and killed her.
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I don't think Bruno targeted Guy. I noticed when Bruno was at the DC party that he chatted with those old ladies about murder and how would they do it...?
It seemed like cocktail party chit chat (although a bit more titillating than the usual) but as we know Bruno was crazy, perhaps this lunatic had been chatting up every stranger on every train about murder for quite some time.
Remember when Bruno found out that Guy's wife was denying him a divorce? I think THAT'S when Bruno made his decision to kill her. Guy was now the perfect foil for his criss-cross idea.
Bruno recognized Guy as a malleable social climber with a wife that he needed to get rid of to fulfill his ambitions. Only when she denied Guy the divorce did Bruno realize the situation was near perfect.
I think he’s was riding the train everyday In search of someone to carry out his murder swap plan. He was rich, and didn’t seem to have a job or anywhere to be. So it had just kind of become his purpose. I think it was just a chance encounter with a celebrity. There was nothing really to indicate that he knew he would be there.
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