MPAA Rating: PG/ Genre: Mystery/ Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson, Leo Britt, Patrick Allen, Robin Hughes/ Runtime: 105 minutes
I feel that it truly was following her Academy Award-nominated turn in the 1953 movie Mogambo that the incredible actress that was Miss Grace Kelly finally managed to showcase that she was significantly more than just a beautiful woman and that she was also a talented and phenomenal actress as well. However if that was the start then I feel that what really took her film career into the proverbial stratosphere was a trio of now iconic movies that she made under the direction of none other than Alfred Hitchcock himself. Indeed under his direction, Kelly would become an essential ingredient in the films she starred in, and in the process becoming Hitch’s prototype for what an ideal female protagonist in his movies should truly be. Suffice it to say that even though Kelly had made quite the debut in the movie High Noon which is now considered a classic in the Western genre, it was more Hitchcock than any other director who really showcased Grace Kelly and her acting abilities to the world. The reason I bring this up is because today we are taking a look at the first of their collaborations, and it’s a film that deals with the concept of “the perfect murder”. Indeed even though it is operating with a very familiar theme, Dial M for Murder is still, thanks to wonderful work from Hitchcock and a game cast and crew, a true treat to behold.
The plot is as follows: Dial M for Murder opens up by introducing to a man by the name of Tony Wendice. Tony is a former tennis pro who is also married to a beautiful and wealthy woman by the name of Margot and living with her in a luxurious apartment in London. Suffice it to say then that life is cloud 9 through and through for Tony. That is until he finds out that his beloved wife has been sneaking around behind his back with an old boyfriend of hers: a crime novelist of some renown named Mark Halliday. Having uncovered this, Tony decides that if he can’t have Margot then no one should be able to, and proceeds to secretly and quietly begin planning for an entire year perhaps the most brilliant, down to the detail, and seemingly fool-proof in every way possible to bump off his wife and come into every nickel, dime, and penny that she has. Soon thereafter Mark decides to come visit London and Tony sees that the time has now come to set this scheme into play. Thus according to plan, Tony calls upon an old schoolmate named Charles Swann and extorts him to help him kill his wife. However, it isn’t long before a string of bad luck as well as an ever shifting change in how things play out will prove to put the seemingly fool-proofness of Tony’s plan to the test and showcase that in the world around us, even the best laid plans of mice and men can have flaws come up that can then quickly and dangerously cause the whole thing to unravel….
Now like the majority of the Master of Suspense’s filmography, this film was an adaptation of someone else’s work. In this case Dial M for Murder was a well-regarded theater production by a man by the name of Frederick Knott so Hitch had the brilliant idea of hiring Knott to pen the script. As a result this is a film which manages not only to prove quite loyal to its source material albeit with some twists so its not completely similar, but is also delightfully built and designed with quippy dialogue. Not only that, but the dialogue in this film is absolutely fantastic and filled with enough curves in the road in order to invigorate this film’s truly labyrinthine plot and thus prevent it from truly ever becoming one-note or dull. However
another unique aspect to this film is the fact that there is intriguingly no straight up morality to be found amongst the cast of characters. Thus we, quite astonishingly, find it relatively easy not only to sympathize with Margot, even though she did have an affair, but also with Tony as well even though he does want his wife dead. Indeed this is not only a credit to the performers cast in these roles, but also to the writer as every single character is absolutely phenomenal both in regards to their development and the attention to detail that they and their personalities are all given as well.
With that being said though, one definitely gets the impression while watching that Hitchcock knew that the dialogue was the true heart and soul of this piece. To that end, Hitch wisely chooses to purposely put the focus on his team of actors and in the process utilizes a glorious style of operating the camera that helps to set this film inside its apartment locale. Indeed even though this is a film which literally is set in one locale for about a solid 85-90% of the film, Hitchcock has such a stylish method for how he utilizes the camera that an energetic flow is created that helps ensure this film is never dull or boring in any way. This also proves to be quite the aid to the audience since this enables the cast to focus on their performances and dialogue in regards to what is going on and who is doing what in a method very similar to how this would be done on stage rather than on film. Yet even though this way of doing things could get dull quicker than watching paint dry or owning a Chia-Pet I feel that Hitchcock’s utilization of both color and just imagery all in all proves to be the best medium to really let the dialogue be given the opportunity to shine its brightest.
Now no disrespect intended to the legends of the film community that are Mr.’s John Ford and Fred Zinnemann, but, as said previously, it is my distinct opinion that it truly was Hitchcock who was able to showcase Grace Kelly for the phenomenal actress that she was. Indeed in this film Kelly absolutely terrific with a turn that is by equal measure both subtle and restrained with more being given to the audience in the latter half of the movie. Yet even though Kelly more often than not is the recipient of a lot of praise in regards to this film, I feel just as much praise ought to go to Ray Milland as well due to actually enabling the majority of the film to operate as well as it does with his turn as this film’s sophisticated and smooth-talking antagonist. Indeed to put it mildly, Milland in this is absolutely fantastic as he manages to bring a character to life that is both pleasant enough in order to acquire an audience’s sympathy yet chillingly and calculatingly brilliant enough to head such a heinous plot. Also wonderful is John Williams, no not the composer though that would’ve been hilarious, as the Inspector who is tasked with trying to figure this complicated riddle out, and upon getting a whiff of something suspicious in the air, becomes doggedly determined to figure this puzzle out no matter what. Indeed out of the main cast it really can seem like only Robert Cummings as Mark Halliday might have been a misfire in the casting department, but when you have such powerhouse performances coming courtesy of Milland, Kelly and Williams I guess anyone can seem overshadowed by the excellent work done by these dependable performers in the film industry.
Now in quite a few aspects, I think it is safe to say that “Dial M for Murder” manages to have quite a few similarities to another Hitchcock thriller known as Rope. Indeed I say this because not only is this movie duo both adaptations of highly triumphant theatrical plays, but they are also about the concept of the perfect, and they were also experimental films in a way. What I mean is that while the film Rope was created with the goal of being a film that was shot all in one take, Dial M for Murder was shot with the intent for it to be seen in 3D. Sadly this wasn’t the best idea as, at this particular time in film history movie goers, 3D wasn’t really taken as seriously as it is nowadays. As a result not a lot of theaters back then decided to showcase the film with the 3D attached to it. In my opinion this was a true shame because, unlike many of the other films of the era which utilized 3D, this one used it as a method to increase the overwhelming sense of claustrophobia that the apartment setting provides to an audience rather than just as a way to thrill or stun an audience by having stuff come off the screen. Therefore while he wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the craze, I definitively that Hitchcock still used it in a way that was both brilliant and subtle in equal measure.
All in all even though Dial M for Murder is nowhere near as regarded as quite a few of the Master’s more well-known films like Psycho, The Birds, or North by Northwest, I also feel that the aspect of being released the very same year as Rear Window, also with lead actress Grace Kelly, but this time opposite Jimmy Stewart had a significant impact as well. Indeed even though this is more of a subdued, and significantly more reserved narrative of thrilling proportions, this nevertheless is still a fine example of what Hitchcock brought to a story when he was at his absolute finest form. I say that because, as the film goes to show, when Hitch was firing on all cylinders few if any could match the level of quality that he brought to the table time and time again. On a scale of 1-5 I give Dial M for Murder a solid 4 out of 5.
