Dial M for Murder Reviews

(OK) Relatively 'stagey' Hitch, 3D or not. Crime is as explained as in Rope, with suspense and twists, thats ok; and from the windoy there's an intuition Rear window that came next..

I'm pretty sure I already saw this one but it was really a long time ago so it was really time for a re-watch. And, once again, it was just another great flick by Alfred Hitchcock. What I love about his thrillers is that they are smart and totally make sense. I mean, when the protagonists go further with their actions, take some crucial decisions, you understand why and it makes the whole thing much more compelling to watch. In modern thrillers, they make up the most preposterous plots with some random twists to 'surprise' you but, most of the time, I'm rather bored by those, especially after watching Hitchcock's work. I mean, the directing here is pretty much flawless and the writing is just excellent with 3 main characters who are not really bad but not really good either but all completely spellbinding to watch. The most amazing thing is that it is actually a rather simple story which takes place mostly in one building (it was a play adaptation, that's probably why). Nowadays, they try to make it all complicated but it ends up being rather preposterous and sometimes even stupid. To conclude, it is a great thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Hitchcock’s work.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Dial M for Murder is “minor” Hitchcock. Released during the height of his most fertile period, and in the same year as the indomitable Rear Window, Dial M for Murder is only “minor” when placed next to that canonized classic. On its own merits, it lays the groundwork for the self-reflexive works to follow, the aforementioned Rear Window along with Vertigo and Marnie come to mind, in how it explores its auteur’s particular obsessions and strong sense of control.

 

While Vertigo and Marnie would go into graphic detail in the ways that men control women, the creation of star personas, with a character as a proxy for the exacting director, Dial M for Murder openly embraces these elements. It doesn’t go into as deep and dark places, but it embraces a sense of artifice and theatricality, giving the distinct impression that these characters are mere puppets at play by a guiding hand. That guiding hand here is Tony (Ray Milland, perfectly detailing one of Hitchcock’s charming sociopaths), the husband of Margot (Grace Kelly), who wants to kill his wife off out of revenge for cuckolding him and to gain her wealth.

 

Tony decides that a former schoolmate, Charles (Anthony Dawson), will be the best person to use to enact his murder plan. The scene where he sits in his chair and details his motives, making the case for Charles to take the job is chilling for how casual Milland plays it. It also gives the vague impression of a director talking motivation and going over the script with his lead actor. This impression hardens as the scene goes on, when Tony begins blocking out the evening piece-by-piece for Charles, telling him the signals, locations, and alibis to use. It plays out less like a proposition and more like a dress rehearsal, and made even more chilling for the flippancy both men bring to the material.

 

When Tony’s plan goes awry, he turns it around into another opportunity, this time around to frame his wife. Tony transforms her from intended victim into unknowing pawn by framing her for the murder of Charles. It is here that Tony, Milland slowly revealing the man, as being composed entirely of toxicity and oil, fully becomes the Hitchcock-proxy. The director’s love of blonde, remote screen goddess slowly being broken down is well known, and by trying to destroy his wife, Tony fulfills Hitchcock’s near fetishistic obsession with this subject.

 

Let’s talk about that remote screen goddess, Grace Kelly. A gorgeous and impossibly stylish movie star supreme, Kelly was also something a lightweight actress, completely vacuous and out of her depth in any film that wasn’t a Hitchcock thriller of romantic comedy. But Hitchcock and Kelly is pure movie magic, a pairing of actress and director that ranks among the greatest like Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich. Not only does her get her to emote effectively, but he unlocked the duality of her true star charisma, a barely concealed flame in a glacier.

 

For me, this has long been her finest hour as an actress. She successfully frumps it up during the final act, writhes in sexual agony during her attack scene, finds the subtle moments of humor, and manages to wrap her ice-queen exterior around a core that resembles warmth and carnality. Even better is the blank-faced trial scene, where she slightly moves her head and gets bathed in increasingly darker shades of red. Her eyes go wide, panic slowly breaking across her delicate features before the screen is washed out in violent reds and purples consuming the screen. Kelly was the chilliest of his blondes, and a clear artistic simpatico shimmers throughout the three films they made together.

 

Then there’s just how sturdily built as a claustrophobic thriller Dial M for Murder is. John Williams is a hoot as the Scotland Yard inspector assigned to the case. The case never quite sits easily with him, and he manages to act bumbling while Milland inadvertently shows all his cards. It’s a treat to watch the give and take between the two men as one thinks he’s several steps ahead, and the other knows he’s an entire flight up patiently waiting for his traps to fall into place. Much of the tension in the second half comes from the escalation of the framing dissolving, while throughout the entire film it appears that the characters are trapped in the apartment as though it were a hell of their own making. The scene where Grace Kelly gets attacked is enough to recommend this, but there’s so much great technique and wonderful acting on display here that the film deserves a more exalted place in Hitchcock’s oeuvre.