Strangers on a Train (1951 Alfred Hitchcock & prod)

Last seen here, absolutely wonderfully written and directed film features powerful performance by Robert Walker, who died too young and unhappily. I could happily watch it over and over again, for the way the camera is positioned alone.

Also notable for Robert Burks' incredible depth of focus photography - in the (brilliant) tennis match it feels like those balls are coming right at you. It's also a film in which you need to pay attention to the  background - loved this scene in the record store because the kid in the booth behind them keeps watching the couple argue:

And in the one above, Walker's trying to plan his murder while his father is threatening to have him committed in the background.

Amongst the many lauded sequences, the one where he stalks the girl at the fairground is in the 'pure cinema' silent movie mode. Also loved the frank character played by Patricia Hitchcock and her relationship with Farley Granger.

Here black / white contrasts characters - pillar is naturally separating them: