Dial M for Murder
by Alfred Hitchcock
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Grace Kelly, John Williams, Ray Milland, Robert CummingsDirector: Alfred Hitchcock
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-07
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 11156
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- When American writer Mark Halliday visits the very married Margot Wendice in London, he unknowingly sets off a chain of blackmail and murder. After sensing Margot's affections for Halliday, her husband, Tony Wendice, fears divorce and disinheritance, and plots her death. Knowing former school chum Captain Lesgate is involved in illegal activities, Tony blackmails him into conspiring to kill Margot
Movie Reviews of Dial M for Murder
Movie Review: Keeping Scissors At Arm's Reach Seems Very Sensible Indeed!
Summary: 5 Stars
Two Grade-A Alfred Hitchcock motion pictures were released in the year 1954: the spectacular "Rear Window" and this other delicious little number called "Dial M For Murder".
Scissors, latch keys, stockings, telephones, and blackmail notes are all important set-pieces that help drive this movie along.
"Dial M" is heavily dialogue-driven, although the attempted murder scene is very well done -- and quite suspenseful indeed. I'm guessing that when viewers watched this film in movie theaters in '54, there was probably a huge cheer after Grace did what she had to do to stay among the living. Great scene.
But, for me, the very best part of this stylish thriller/drama comes near the beginning of the film. The scene I refer to is a very lengthy one (22 minutes long to be precise). It's the scene in Ray Milland's apartment (flat) where he coaxes Mr. C.A. Swan into taking the grisly job which Milland has to offer.
I love the way this "set up" scene is written and plays out. It has a very realistic (and kind of eerie) feel to it. Tony Wendice (Milland) has certainly done his homework, and that fact is conveyed to us with little doubt. Tony's got everything figured out right down to the exact minute he needs to call the flat to "entice" his wife to the telephone the next evening. And he's very nearly thought of everything. Very nearly....everything except those pesky scissors that Grace left on the desk.
Tony's murder weapon in this fiendish plot is C.A. Swan, played to absolute perfection by Anthony Dawson. Dawson emanates a kind of creepiness and shadiness that fits his character to a tee (similar to an eerie role Dawson played six years later in the Doris Day film, "Midnight Lace", which has Dawson exuding a heightened level of "creepiness" in various scenes in that 1960 thriller).
The moment Swan (Dawson) enters Wendice's dwelling, a subtle feeling of tension and slight uneasiness comes across the screen. You know something is afoot. Hitchcock seems to have had an unparalleled ability to convey this sense of dread, disquiet, and trepidation without having to beat us over the head with it. It's just THERE, slightly beneath the surface. You can feel it somehow.
Veteran character actor John Williams plays Chief Inspector Hubbard, who is working overtime to crack this tricky case. And he does a fine job of it too, as it turns out. Williams, it seems, made a living out of portraying this kind of law-enforcement character. He played the exact same type of role in the aforementioned movie, "Midnight Lace", in addition to a similar recurring role as an "Inspector" in Mr. Hitchcock's very own self-titled TV series.
"Dial M For Murder" plays out kind of like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, Alfred Hitchcock style, with Williams in the part of Sherlock here, as he pieces together the clues to resolve the case. It's a low-key drama that is set in virtually one single location -- an apartment. Very few scenes take place outside Milland's home setting, which is very reminiscent of Hitchcock's other 1954 endeavor, "Rear Window", which also takes place practically in just a single room.
Video quality is excellent on this disc, IMO. The film looks clear, detailed, and rich in color. Some grain and "noise" are evident in some scenes, but it's never distracting in the least. Overall, a darn good-looking digital video transfer. The aspect ratio is Full-Frame (1.33:1), which was the original framing as shown in theaters in 1954. Audio is supplied by a highly-adequate Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono soundtrack.
Menus are simple (and static) in nature. A "scissors" icon guides our way around the menu screens (which seems most appropriate here). :)
Packaging is attractive and colorful, and appears to come from original 1954 artwork for the film. No paper (chapter) insert is included with this DVD release. "Scene Selections" are included on the disc itself (as is the norm, of course, for nearly all movies on DVD). There are 5 separate "Scene" screens on this disc, providing instant access to any of the film's 28 different chapters.
DVD Bonus Features:
Two short featurettes are included on the disc --- "Hitchcock And Dial M" (with a run time of 21:33) and "3D: A Brief History" (7:06).
"Hitchcock And Dial M" is an enjoyable and informative bonus, produced by "DVD Supplemental Materials King" Laurent Bouzereau. Several talking heads, including Peter Bogdanovich, chat about "Dial M" and about Hitchcock's filmmaking techniques. Clips from the film are shown throughout this bonus feature, as are many behind-the-scenes still photographs.
"3D: A Brief History" is another Laurent Bouzereau short, which gives us a cursory overview into how "3-D" movies were made back in the 1950s. "Dial M For Murder" was indeed originally shot by Mr. Hitchcock in the 3-D process -- with the famous scissors literally "leaping" out of the screen at audience members who saw the film in theaters, provided each movie-goer was wearing a pair of those cardboard "3-D glasses". (I can see why 3-D films failed to catch on in a really big fashion. Having to sit through a two-hour film while constantly wearing those ill-fitting, uncomfortable makeshift eyeglasses would get tiresome very quickly, in my opinion. LOL.)
Even though "Dial M" *was* filmed with "3-D" in mind, there is no way to view the movie in 3-D while playing this DVD-Video (even if you happen to have a pair of those colored glasses lying around the house). But that's really a minor point; because "Dial M" doesn't really need any "gimmick" (like 3-D) to be enjoyed. It's a winning Hitchcock effort no matter how it's viewed.
One other bonus resides on this disc -- The Theatrical Trailer for "Dial M" (2:35). For some odd reason, this trailer is shown in Widescreen format here, even though the film itself was photographed in a Full-Frame ratio.
Other disc info ....... Spoken Languages on this DVD are English and French (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono for both). There are Subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
This movie is one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock flicks, being firmly anchored by two highly-rewatchable moments/scenes --- that very intriguing lengthy early act in the picture featuring Milland and Dawson .... and those very handy scissors!
Summary of Dial M for Murder
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