Chandler, Raymond

Chandler's script for Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, his last major Hollywood endeavor.

By 1950 after his past experiences with Hollywood, Chandler doubted that he would return to screenwriting, but in July of 1950 he accepted a contract to do just that, in part because of the pay, $2,500 a week, and also because the idea of working with Alfred Hitchcock intrigued him.

From the start, he encountered problems, not the least of which was getting past what he felt was the implausible basis of the Highsmith novel on which the film was based. In the end, he simply wrote around it, deciding that the premise was "if you shake hands with a maniac, you may have sold your soul to the devil."

Hitchcock proved to be a difficult partner, offering suggestions that Chandler found to be interfering. Things became so tense that Chandler's reference to the "fat bastard" was overheard by the director and so this, the first draft (so marked in pencil at the top of the first page) was as far as Chandler got before Hitchcock and the studio turned the next draft to another author.

Chandler's name remained as the main writer, as in the end enough of his dialogue and scenes were used and his screenwriting credit  was thought to be a draw at the box office. Disliked by both men on release, the film was nominated for two Oscars and his now seen as a classic, one of Hitchcock's most disturbing psychological works.