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Dial M for Murder [VHS]

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This review refers to "Dial M For Murder",DVD,Warner Bros...

Aren't we lucky that cell phones weren't around in the 50's. Then Grace Kelly would never have had to leave her bed, to answer that potentialy fatal phone call in the living room.No matter how often you view this very suspense filled, thriller from Hitch, you still want to shout out to Grace Kelly."Look Out Grace...there's a murderer behind you!" That's one of the things I love about Hitch films. The connection to the characters, the need to help them. You practically want to get up and put those scissors in her hand, so she can protect herself from evil. Dial M has many of those moments, and is a superb classic that stands up to many repeat viewings.

Ray Milland has discovered his wife (Kelly) is having a love affair with Robert Cummings. Also she is the rich one in the family and he decides her time is up. He ropes in and hires a guy whose lifestyle makes for an easy blackmail mark. He's going to pay him 1000 pounds(well, after all it's only a few minutes work), and has it all worked out. Right down to the smallest detail. But uh-oh, the perfect plan starts unraveling almost the minute the plan is set in motion.The details start to go amiss, and don't stop until the end. Small things at first, a slow watch, phone troubles, the wrong person gets killed, you know little stuff like that! It is a joy to watch Ray Milland in action as he must explain away all of it to his wife and the police.

The film is a thing of beauty. Hitchcock made this film from a hit play, and filmed it in the same fashion. Most of the scenes are set in the confines of a small apartment. Hitch moves his actors around like the master he was. As mentioned Milland is a genius, Grace Kelly is wonderful as the good girl except for the little matter of the extra-marital affair. And of course we forgive her for this, because we too, like the Robert Cummings character better then the husband. Cummings also makes the most of his part. As a mystery writer, who knows the perfect murder can only happen in a book, he tries his hand at solving this mystery as well. John Williams, another favorite of Hitch's, is the Detective heading up the murder investigation. He's perfect as that Columbo type, who you know, that he knows what might have taken place, but needs to prove it. And it is fabulous to watch him put the pieces together.

Where's Hitch?....Where could he be in this film mostly made in one room. Ahhh..about 12 minutes in..the 'Picture' of innocence as he mugs for the camera at a class reunion.

The DVD is a good buy. Nice clear picture, and good colors. The colors are sometimes muted and sometimes striking. When Grace is being bad with her lover, she is in a red dress. I thought the sound was recorded a little low, I had to turn up the volume a little more then usual. It is presented in a Standard version format which preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio. Some really good features on this disc. A 20 minute documentary on how Hitch made this film, with other filmmakers admiring his work. A Brief History of 3D films, focusing on Dial M, mostly and showing the parts that were originally in 3D. Also a great trailer for the film.

also available on VHS:Dial M for Murder

A great addition to your Hitch collection...and always look behind you when answering the phone!..Enjoy...Laurie

more Hitch stuff:
The Trouble With Harry
Alfred Hitchcock Presents volume 2
Hitchcock's Notebooks: An Authorized and Illustrated Look Inside the C

Former tennis pro Tony Wendice found out many months ago that his wife Margot was in love with another man, Mark Halliday, an American author of crime novels. After many weeks of planning, Tony sets in motion the perfect plan to kill his wife. The only problem is, as Halliday unknowningly remarks, there's no such thing as a perfect murder, and when something goes wrong, Tony has to quickly formulate another plan to do away with his wife.

This is a classic of suspense from director Alfred Hitchcock, based upon a very successful stage play. All the actors - Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings and John Williams - all give fine performances, but Milland's as Tony Wendice is a standout. You're instantly won over by his conniving charm, and I admit to following his plan with a tiny bit of satisfaction. He's never over-the-top, remaining perfectly cool and collected even when things go awry. Hitchcock's directorial style also keeps the viewer confined to the apartment, only venturing outside very infrequently. As with the play, much of the action takes place in that small space, and Hitchcock uses it to his advantage with intricate staging and camera angles.

The DVD is wonderfully clear with sharp sound as well. The two featurettes are equally worth watching, especially the one on 3D. I never knew that the film was originally shot as a 3D feature, and this goes into some detail about how Hitchcock set up many of the shots without relying too much on the effects. Even as a flat screen movie, the film works perfectly. This movie is a genuine pleasure to watch and should be part of any movie buff's collection.

This is a fine example of the kind of mystery that little old ladies from Pasadena (or Russell Square) adore. Perhaps Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) starring Cary Grant might be comparable in its genteel and bloodless ability to glue us to the screen.

This is certainly one of Hitchcock's best, but most of the credit must go to a devilishly clever play written by Frederick Knott from which he adapted the screenplay. (He also wrote the play upon which Wait Until Dark (1967) starring Audrey Hepburn was based.) Hitchcock does a good job in not tinkering unnecessarily with the material. He also has the exquisitely beautiful Grace Kelly to play the part of Margot Wendice.

Ray Milland plays, with a kind of high-toned Brit panache, her diabolical husband, Tony Wendice, a one-time tennis star who married mostly for security. John Williams is the prim and proper Chief Inspector Hubbard. He lends to the part a bit of Sherlock Holmesian flair. One especially liked his taking a moment to comb his mustache after the case is solved. Robert Cummings, unfortunately plays Margot's American boyfriend as inventively as a sawhorse. For those of you who might have blinked, Hitchcock makes his traditional appearance in the photo on the wall from Tony Wendice's undergraduate days.

The fulcrum of the plot is the latchkey. It is the clue that (literally) unlocks the mystery. There is a modernized redoing of this movie called A Perfect Murder (1998) starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow in which a similar business with latchkeys is employed. I am not very good with clues so it was only after seeing that movie and Dial M for Murder for the second time that I finally understood what happened. Follow the latchkey!

Of course I was too distracted by Grace Kelly to fully appreciate such intricacies. I found myself struck with the ironic notion that anyone, even a cuckolded husband, might want to kill Grace Kelly or that a jury might find her guilty of anything! She remains in my psyche America's fairytale princess who quit Hollywood at the height of her popularity after only five years and eleven movies to become a real princess by marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco. Something was lost there, and something was gained. She was in essence the original Jackie Kennedy Onassis. I think, however, that the old saw about the man who marries for money, earning it, might apply to American princesses as well.

At any rate, Grace Kelly's cool and sublime bearing was on fine display here. Hitchcock cloths her in discreet nightgowns and fitted (but certainly not clinging) dresses that show off her delicate figure and her exquisite arms and hint coyly at her subtle sexuality. She was 25-years-old, stunningly beautiful, and in full confidence of her ability as an actress. She had just finished starring opposite James Stewart in another splendid Hitchcock one-room mystery, Rear Window (1954), and was about to make The Country Girl (1954) with Bing Crosby for which she would win an Oscar for Best Actress.

So see this for Grace Kelly who makes Gwyneth Paltrow (whom I adore) look downright gawky, and for Ray Milland whose urbane scheming seems a layer or two of hell removed from Michael Douglas's evil manipulations.

By the way, the "original theatrical trailer" preceding these Warner Brothers Classic videos is what we used to call the "Coming Attractions"--that is, clips directly from the movie and a promo. You might want to fast forward to the movie itself.

This classic will always be my favorite. For those who like a movie with superb dialogue and suspense, this is it. I don't usually laugh out loud watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but every time I hear Ray Milland say: "What shall we do, play cards?" I do. Don't leave this one out of your collection. It's just as entertaining the thirtieth time you watch it as it was the first.

It seems Hitch' had a yen for tennis players. In "Dial M for Murder" (1954) tennis pro, Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) plots the demise of his wealthy wife, Margot (Grace Kelly) after he discovers that she is having an affair with prominent writer, Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). But things backfire when Margot accidentally kills her attacker with a pair of scissors, thus opening up Tony's chances at improvisation. How clever will he be at keeping the truth at bay? Like Hitchcock's "Rope", this film pretty much sticks to one set - a claustrophobic apartment - slowly drawing all the plot elements more tightly around Tony's newly revised plan. He'll pin the attempted murder on Halliday instead. Shot during the briefly trendy period of 3-D, Hitch' chose to eschew the usual (let's throw things at the screen) gimmicky approach and instead shot "Dial M for Murder" with a distinct foreground, middle ground, background perspective that really places the audience in the center of the goings on. Only once, when Margot is being strangled by her attacker, does Hitch' succumb to the gimmick by having Margot reach behind her back (out into the audience) to grasp her lethal pair of shears; quite effective!

Unfortunately, "Dial M for Murder" is presented in its usual flat format on DVD. Though colors can be rich and vibrant, there is a decidedly pasty look to the overall palette that is rather unbecoming and very unnatural looking. Blacks are deep but not very solid. Fine detail is generally lost in a picture that is generally softly focused. All of these shortcomings are the product of 3-D's cumbersome process. Edge enhancement is present but does not terribly distract. Some pixelization and shimmering of fine details is detected also. The audio is mono but nicely cleaned up.

'Dial M for Murder' has many of the touches that one associates with Hitchcock, mainly, his masterly use of building up suspense and the way he makes you side with the villain, despite yourself. The acting is excellent. Ray Milland is convincing as the charming but devious husband who attempts to murder his wife, Grace Kelly, who makes a compelling and sympathetic victim. Only Robert Cummings grates as the insufferable 'hero', although this may have had to do more with the part than the actor himself.

The flaws of the films are a slight stiffness. There are two reasons for this. 'Dial M for Murder' was originally a play and most of the action takes place in one room. Necessary on a static stage, but limiting and unnatural in a film. It was also shot in 3D at the insistence, and against Hitchcock's objections, of the studios. Since the cameras necessary for 3D were bulky and difficult to manoeuvre, there is a lack of fluidity that adds to the feeling that you are watching a play rather than a film, even if it is an excellent play. However, Hitchcock still manages to produce good cinema. His slow build-up to the attempted murder scene and its thrilling climax is to see the master at his best.

A wonderful film that never bores and often startles. Not quite "up there" with Hitchcock's best, but an excellent film nevertheless.

First of all about the movie itself: this is good, if not great, Hitchcock. It's very entertaining if a bit stage bound, and the performances are uniformly fine.

That out of the way I thought I'd expand on the 3D aspect. I actually saw the 3D version about 25 years ago or so at a Hollywood theater on the Strip. It was part of a double feature with "Strangers on a Train" (there is a connection as it has been noted that the Ray Milland character in "Dial", a tennis pro, could have been the Farley Granger character in "Strangers").

I recall reading that when one reason Hitch shot the film in 3D was to bring out the realism of the stage play. This is evident in many scenes in the way objects are juxtaposed with the actors, such as lamps and furniture, as well as distances (seeing into the bedroom beyond the living room). In other words, the 3D served the story rather than the other way around.

But there were at least two showcase scenes where the 3D was key. The first was when the Grace Kelly character is being assaulted and is frantically waving her hand behind her (ostensibly to get the scissors). In 3D her hand was right in front of our faces, and we are basically helpless to assist. The second, while not as dynamic, is where the inspector presents the latch key, directly to the viewer.

As for the glasses, they were polarized--they did not have the red/blue lenses that people associate with 3D. The film was photographed using a process where to view it you wore what were like lightly shaded sun glasses (I think I still have them in a box somewhere), and therefore, with the color intact, it didn't detract from the film.

Though it lacked the sensational aspect of films like "House of Wax", the 3D was nevertheless effective in its subtlety, and I wish Warner could release a 3D version on DVD. I feel fortunate to have seen "Dial M for Murder" in 3D, and hope we all get the opportunity to see it in the future.

I think it is unfair to review this as a "flat" film when it is Hithcock's (and Grace Kelly's) only 3-D film. The product info doesn't even say whether or not the release is the "left eye" or
"right eye" version.

Home 3-D technology is readily available (see, for example, the ultimate 3-D collection or IMAX 3-D releases to home dvd)and costs less than $100. The producers of the dvd could easily include the 3-D version as a bonus feature; once the encoding is done, the additional production costs would be next to nil, and the public could finally see this masterpiece as originally filmed. (With seeing Grace Kelly in 3-D as a very significant added bonus!)

I'd pay triple for that feature alone.

As an Alfred Hitchcock fan, I find it very odd that this movie has yet to be relased in DVD. It is superb and Grace Kelly is awesome as usual. It is one of Hich's best. When it does come out on DVD, I'll be the first to snatch it up!

I love "Rear Window" and "To Catch A Thief," which are two of the three movies that Grace Kelly and Alfred Hitchock collaborated on. But I had always heard "Dial M For Murder," the first of the three Grace starred in for the director, was a dissapointing film, so it took a long time for me to get around to watch it. I finally rented it a few months ago, and WOW! I find it's a great film, and I loved it! Grace was beautiful as always, and Ray Milland did an excellent job as the "villain" of the film. The plot was engrossing, and did I mention Grace Kelly was beautiful? But be warned, "Murder" is a psychological mystery, and a dialogue movie. It has little action, other than the murder attempt itself. So if you are looking for a typical twisty, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat Hitchock suspense film, its probably best that you look for "Vertigo," "Rear Window" or "North by Northwest" instead. But give "Dial M For Murder" a chance, and be ready to enjoy a great film, definitely deserving of a five star rating!