203. Dial M For Murder

Dial M For Murder (1954)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Ray Milland

Grace Kelly

Robert Cummings

IMDb Rating: 8

My Rating: 8.5

"People don't commit murder on credit."

Former tennis pro Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) is plotting to murder his wife Margot (Grace Kelly) with both revenge and money as his motives. Tony has discovered that while he was on tour playing tennis, his wife had been having an affair with American mystery writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). Tony calls on an old college classmate Charles Alexander Swann (Anthony Dawson), and blackmails him into murdering his wife. The murder is to take place while Tony is entertaining Mark during a gentleman's evening. Although, the murder goes horribly wrong when Margot escapes capture, grabs a pair of scissors, and stabs Mr. Swann in the back. Seeing that his plot has failed, Tony must now spin a new web of lies to deceive the police into thinking that there was no murder attempt on Margot at all. Rather she was intending to murder Mr. Swann.

Dial M For Murder isn't exactly one of director Alfred Hitchcock's most suspenseful films. Although, it is definitely one of his best structured. A lot of that can be attributed to the excellent screenplay from Frederick Knott, which was also based on his play of the same name. I've seen this film a few times, and have yet to see an error in it's writing. There are times when it gets a little intricate, but never once falters. Also Hitchcock's signature long takes are present here. Many scenes go on for ten minutes before a cut is made. I have always loved this technique, mainly because it does give the viewer a keen sense that their in the room. The combination of Knott's excellent story and Hitchcock's keen hand in directing, makes this film a true classic.

There is only one thing that is unbelievable about this film, and that is someone wanting to murder a woman as beautiful as Grace Kelly. You often hear about her elegance, but until you see it at work on screen, you have no idea. Kelly gives an excellent performance that instantly grabs your attention. Ray Milland is also good as Tony Wendice, who apart from wanting to murder his wife, seems to be an all right guy. He is almost charming enough to have you rooting for him, and not Margot. The rest of the cast turn in great performances as well, but they seem to pale in comparison to Milland and Kelly's wonderful work.

Dial M For Murder came around the middle of Hitchcock's career, but served as the beginning of a run of his most popular films that featured Rear Window, Vertigo, and Psycho. It might not live up to the pedigree of those films, but it is still quite excellent. All of Hitchcock's signature traits are here including his excellent choice in scores and beautiful blonds. It serves as a pretty straight forward film, with few twists and turns. That might seem foreign to Hitchcock's style, but rest assured, nothing is compromised with this film. Hitchcock's unique style and vision is indeed present in every frame of this truly incredible film.