Have you noticed...

that Lean places other men and women who might be involved in their own affairs (or might be in the near future) at strategic places throughout the train station in the film? I'm not talking about the obvious minor character couples of Albert/Myrtle and Beryl/Stanley - I mean the extras. Check out the scene right at the opening, after Albert jumps up to the platform -- there's one couple standing together in the background, and one in the foreground who stand a couple of yards away from each other, but look like they could introduce themselves for the first time at any moment. And I just noticed as Laura and Alec take their last walk to the refreshment room, before they descend the stairs to the ticket collector booth, there's another couple chatting under the LMS poster. The woman even has a grocery basket similar to the one Laura would use, and what looks like an equally unstylish hat!

Ghosts of Alec and Laura abound in the film, even as Laura is telling her story -- almost subliminally.