Movie Notes: Dial M For Murder
= 4 stars
Starring Grace Kelly, Ray Milland, Robert Cummings
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Synopsis
Tony (Ray Milland) plans to murder his wife, Margo (Grace Kelly) after discovering her affair with friend Mark (Robert Cummings). Unfortunately for Tony, nothing goes as planned.
The Good
- Marvel at Hitchcock’s ability to create suspense with minimal visual elements and simple film techniques: Margo is strangled, wearing a diaphanous nightgown and showing little leg to make her look more vulnerable. The murderer attacks from behind, and deliciously hesitates, waiting for her to hang up a telephone. Then, in an amusing way, she manages to escape.
- The ultimate payoff comes down to a matter of confused door keys, and who reacts in what way. Guilt or innocence is proved in such a simple, subtle, and elegant manner.
- Grace Kelly — meow.
The Bad
- Even by Hitchcock standards, not much action or psychological deviancy. Most thrills are intellectual, as an inspector deduces separates the lies from the truth to find the guilty party.
Conclusion
Another successful Hitchcock thriller. The talky parts where nothing much transpires are forgiven, as by film’s end everything wraps up so neatly. Plus, one gets to gawk at the eternally luminous Kelly. Recommended.
IMDB: Dial M For Murder
Wikipedia: Dial M For Murder
Rotten Tomatoes: Dial M For Murder 81%
Just saw this film last week. It still holds up compared to modern movies and because of he characters I liked how the suspense is played out mostly through dialog. In fact nearly the entire film occurs in the same exact room.
Since you like this film, you have to immediately see the remake: “A Perfect Murder” 1998 with Michael Douglas. It has a very good plot twist which makes it stand on it’s own compared to Dial M For Murder.
Will add A Perfect Murder to the Netflix queue; thanks!