Dial M for Murder [HD]

A Perfect Murder?....NOT!
This review refers to "Dial M For Murder",DVD,Warner Bros...

Aren't we lucky that cell phones weren't around in the 50's. Then Grace Kelly would never have had to leave her bed, to answer that potentialy fatal phone call in the living room.No matter how often you view this very suspense filled, thriller from Hitch, you still want to shout out to Grace Kelly."Look Out Grace...there's a murderer behind you!" That's one of the things I love about Hitch films. The connection to the characters, the need to help them. You practically want to get up and put those scissors in her hand, so she can protect herself from evil. Dial M has many of those moments, and is a superb classic that stands up to many repeat viewings.

Ray Milland has discovered his wife (Kelly) is having a love affair with Robert Cummings. Also she is the rich one in the family and he decides her time is up. He ropes in and hires a guy whose lifestyle makes for an easy blackmail mark. He's going to pay...

A suspenseful masterpiece
Former tennis pro Tony Wendice found out many months ago that his wife Margot was in love with another man, Mark Halliday, an American author of crime novels. After many weeks of planning, Tony sets in motion the perfect plan to kill his wife. The only problem is, as Halliday unknowningly remarks, there's no such thing as a perfect murder, and when something goes wrong, Tony has to quickly formulate another plan to do away with his wife.

This is a classic of suspense from director Alfred Hitchcock, based upon a very successful stage play. All the actors - Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings and John Williams - all give fine performances, but Milland's as Tony Wendice is a standout. You're instantly won over by his conniving charm, and I admit to following his plan with a tiny bit of satisfaction. He's never over-the-top, remaining perfectly cool and collected even when things go awry. Hitchcock's directorial style also keeps the viewer confined to the apartment,...

Superior Hitchcock with an enchanting Grace Kelly
This is a fine example of the kind of mystery that little old ladies from Pasadena (or Russell Square) adore. Perhaps Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) starring Cary Grant might be comparable in its genteel and bloodless ability to glue us to the screen.

This is certainly one of Hitchcock's best, but most of the credit must go to a devilishly clever play written by Frederick Knott from which he adapted the screenplay. (He also wrote the play upon which Wait Until Dark (1967) starring Audrey Hepburn was based.) Hitchcock does a good job in not tinkering unnecessarily with the material. He also has the exquisitely beautiful Grace Kelly to play the part of Margot Wendice.

Ray Milland plays, with a kind of high-toned Brit panache, her diabolical husband, Tony Wendice, a one-time tennis star who married mostly for security. John Williams is the prim and proper Chief Inspector Hubbard. He lends to the part a bit of Sherlock Holmesian flair. One especially liked his taking a moment to...

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