Dial M for Murder
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Movie Reviews of Dial M for Murder
Movie Review: The Perfect "Murder"
Summary: 5 Stars
Hitchcock's immaculate rendering of the stage thriller is one of that rare breed: the underrated classic. Without significantly altering the action by "opening it up", Hitchcock still creates something thrillingly cinematic. This has to be one of the finest stage adaptations ever. It may be one of the best mysteries ever made as well. Indeed, it's amazing how the play's text is riveting even when it's art-less carrying on about latch-keys and the specifics of the planned murder. (This contradicts Chandler's otherwise strong thesis in his essay The Simple Art of Murder. These details aren't supposed to hold our interest once we know the story's outcome, but they do.)
Much of how this is achieved is through the stellar cast particularly Ray Milland who turns in one of the great Hitchcock performances. As we watch him cover-up his crimes and avoid detection, he's like a dapper Norman Bates. He's really a psychopath, but completely charming and we're thankfully spared any insights into his character or motivation. His scene with Anthony Dawson is mesmerizing and one of the best in all Hitchcock. (Right up there with Janet Leigh in Anthony Perkins's parlor which it resembles.) Dawson is also superb.
Grace Kelly is terrific in the first half if a little wan in the later scenes. (This could have allowed Hitchcock a chance to examine a distaff take on his wronged man theme, but by that point we need to wrap things up.) The much-maligned Bob Cummings has some effective bits at the start, even if he does seem like he's playing Harold Hill towards the end. John Williams is marvelous, but seems a bit stagy compared to Milland's effortless command of the screen. Very good score runs throughout.
There are good insights in the accompanying documentary from Peter Bogdonovich and M. Night Shyamalan who comes across as an eager Hitch fanboy. (Richard Schickel trying to invoke a class-conscious reading of the hero is silly and clearly something he's making up on the spot.)
Movie Review: Like a rat in a box...
Summary: 5 Stars
Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" is one of his best films. Most of the movie takes place in a single room, but it remarkably doesn't feel limited or claustrophobic. Based on a screenplay of the same name, by Frederick Knott, this thriller is a brilliantly directed suspense thriller. Hitchcock's films were generally suspense thrillers rather than mystery thrillers, the difference being that in a suspense thriller we might know who has done what, or who is going to do what, but the structure of the film is always suspending the inevitable. And it is this quality that often separates Hitchcock from other directors. In this case we have a murder that is about to take place, and we wonder how it is all going to take place, and how events might be displaced by events as mishaps or variables come into play. As the novelist in the movie mentions, there is never a perfect murder because there is always something that is overlooked by the murderer, and this is what sets up the intriguing sequence of events that are to take place.
Interestingly, this film was filmed with the intention of showing it in 3-D, which was popular at the time, and this accounts for some fascinating spatial arrangements in the film. There is often a heightened sense of space (even without the 3-D) because of the way people or objects have been arranged in the camera's frame. Often people are seen just beyond an arrangement or group of objects in the foreground which are seen from waist level or lower. There is also a sequence whereby the camera angle is held from above the height of an imaginary roof looking down on the actors. This was a clever way for Hitchcock to expand the boundaries of room as well as to create the sense of another person peering in to the proceedings unbeknownst to the characters. The audience becomes the witness, which is to say, the plotter will not get away with murder. He is like a rat in a maze, and we see everything, so it is just a matter of watching how the suspense will play out.
Movie Review: Not a movie to shut you brain off
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great movie but it has a few drawbacks. Most young people will have problem appreciating it as you'll see in the reviews below. I would've guessed most people who watched this movie has an idea what they were going to get, but some got off somehow. It has far more dialogue, detail, intelligence and far less violence or action than current thrillers. This movie demands much attention even by standards from those old detective/police movies as Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Chritie's, etc. No wonder one reviewer said this product didn't get much mouth-to-mouth recommendations. But for me this is challenging. It's incredible how prefectionist people were back then without the countless "top ten..." from today, as many critics as today, althoug this particular product might have a minor few mistakes.
Maybe you have already read summaries of this movie from the editorials or spotlighs, so you're already aware the movie starts by introducing a marriage in trouble where the wife (Margot M. Wendice) is cheating with a writer (Mark Halliday) while the husband (Tony Wendice) is well aware..... and planning how to make profits rather than get revenge. The he begins his master with a huge degree of elegance that doesn't help to make it work in real life as someone tells him...."easy on paper, not on reality" There's some good suspense meanwhile but the challenge for the public starts when police does its investigation. Here's where the movie has some minor mistakes:
Tony tells the police he didn't know what time he called his wife, but later the police finds out he did know because Mark says Tony had asked the time. Besides, Tony never clarifies why he called his wife. Anyway Tony creates a lot of confusion to get away. Then the challenge is catch him and the movie gets even more interesting.
Finally, one more thing I enjoyed was not hearing the ridiculous words like "bloody" that are endlessly repeated in many other movies with British characters.
Movie Review: Brilliant Thriller with Suspense and Surprise...
Summary: 5 Stars
Hitchcock stirs up the dust in his classic thriller Dial M for Murder as the story surrounds the former tennis professional Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) who wishes to accomplish the perfect murder of his wife, Margot (Grace Kelly). Tony wants to commit the murder because his wife had an affair over a year ago, which he found out about through a letter. However, as expected something goes wrong and Tony must find a new solution to his plan. The secret of the film is not the killer, but rather if Tony will get away with murder.
Hitchcock displayed brilliant directorial skills as the film keeps its claustrophobic atmosphere while the camera remains in the center of the Wendice living room throughout most of the film. The claustrophobic atmosphere enhances the suspense as you feel cornered and you know that there is no escape, and if the plan should work there can be no mistakes. The close proximity to everything and the predominant use of only one set creates a theatrical scene However, unlike in theater the audience will feel like they are one of the witnesses in middle of the room who is eavesdropping on Tony's hideous plan and crime. Through staying on the same location the audience gets much time to recognize details and understand the importance of them in the story.
Dial M for Murder offers a terrific cinematic experience as it offers both suspense and some issues to ponder. The details and depth of the film that truly enhance the cinematic experience are directly related to Hitchcock's input on what should be in the mise-en-scene. The mise-en-scene is absolutely marvelous as it offers detailed information about the characters and adds suspenseful intrigue and surprise.
Movie Review: Nobody does it better!
Summary: 5 Stars
From a director's standpoint, this is by far one of the greatest thrillers ever made and I don't say that lightly (since Hitchcock practically invented the genre). If you've seen the film before, you know what I say is true. If you haven't seen the film yet, thank heavens it's finally coming to DVD.
What makes this film such a marvelous gem is the fact that it holds one of Hitchcock's most notable trademarks: telling a story in a single location without it ever being a bore (see Rear Window and Rope).
Another brilliant thing I love about the film is (if you haven't seen it skip this paragraph!) is that one of the characters tells us EXACTLY what will happen in the last 20 seconds or so, and you don't realize it until it's already happening. What makes Hitchcock films so involving is the control of information; when we see the key Ray Milland removes from Anthony Dawson's pocket, we of course assume that's Grace Kelly's latch key. As a filmgoer who frequently is able to predict the "twist" ending in most modern day films, I have to admit that when the secret of the key was revealed, I almost fell out of my chair; the thought just never occurred to me (and I also didn't realize Dawson plays both the assassin AND the inspector in the film).
There isn't much more I can say about the film. I can't give it any higher praise. It's well made, well acted, well written, and especially well directed. This is the kind of film that, after you see it, you just want to watch it a few more times in a row (or see more of Hitch's films). It's the kind of film that, after you see it, you wonder why they don't make movies like this anymore.