Blu-ray 3D Review: Dial M For Murder

Dial M For Murder is a 1954 suspense film from Alfred Hitchcock. In addition to being his only foray into the world of 3D film, it's also his first of three films featuring Grace Kelly (the others being Rear Window and To Catch A Thief). The film has been ranked by the AFI in its list of "10 Top 10" for Mysteries.

The Movie

Our story revolves around a woman who has been seeing another man behind her husband's back. Retired tennis pro Tony (Ray Milliand) discovered, about a year ago, a love letter to his wife Margot (Grace Kelly) from her long-distance lover Mark (Robert Cummings), a novelist living in New York. Come to find out that ever since that discovery, Tony has been planning to have her killed, but always acting as if he doesn't suspect a thing. Mark is coming into town for business, and so the trio convene and put on airs as if nothing at all is going on between all of them. Little do the adulterous couple know that Tony is actually planning on using Mark's visit as part of his alibi, and that his planned murder of Margot is imminent.

Tony has decided that the actual deed should be done by someone else (naturally) and so he schemes to blackmail an ex-university acquaintance who has fallen on hard times - and some shady business of his own - to carry out the act. After a drawn-out blackmail session, this ne'er-do-well grudgingly agrees, but when it comes time for the murder, he botches it badly and actually ends up being the one killed. This of course upsets Tony's plan considerably, and now he is trying to cover up this new murder without the details of his own plan seeing the light of day.

Dial M For Murder is a bit of a mixed bag. It's a serviceable one-room suspense drama, but it comes up lacking in the mystery department, as there really isn't much of one. And especially when compared to Hitchcock's other films from that period, it's sort of the weak sister. But remember, we are talking about Hitchcock, and a slow Hitchcock film is still a pretty decent escape. He still manages to squeeze some suspense out of the closed quarters and dialogue-focused proceedings. But let's briefly explore why this one just doesn't quite stand up to his other work from that time.

Article Author: David R Perry

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