Review of Dial M for Murder (1954) by Jim H — 01 Jul 2012

A husband blackmails an old college buddy into murdering his wife.

I think if I hadn't seen A Perfect Murder fourteen years ago, I would have liked this film more. As it is, I saw all of the plot twists coming. The film is exceptionally plotted, each step leading to the next logically with just the right number and type of curveballs.

Because I knew the plot, I was able to gain some entertainment from the direction. Hitchcock is more subtle than Andrew Davis (the director of A Perfect Murder) who lingered on the kitchen knives for an inappropriately long time, while Hitch simply made Tom ask his wife to clip newspapers, a task that implicitly requires scissors. And the way some of the shots are framed reflect Hitch's great eye for color and balance; he can make a film alternately beautiful and frightening in a blink of an eye.

Overall, even though I enjoyed A Perfect Murder, I wish I could have seen this one first; like the book, the original film is so much better than the later, more Hollywood movie.