Review of Dial M for Murder (1981) by Carlos I — 10 Aug 2015

Sometimes it is the most simplest of ideas and executions, that actually grip us as an audience the most. Dial M for Murder, is without a doubt, one of the best examples of this. Based on the theatre play and soaked with Hitchcockian content, Dial M, is set around a love affair between Margot Wendice and Mark Halloway.

When Mark comes to visit the already married Margot and her husband Tony, Margot explains to Mark how she had been receiving odd letters from an unknown source, claiming that unless she paid the source money, they would expose the couple to Tony, a washed up Tennis player.

Worried about what may happen, the love birds float around an idea of telling Tony, however before they can Mark is forced into a string of dates with Tony himself and it appears that Tony plans to hire someone to kill his wife and to reap the financial awards from it.

It's extremely basic stuff, however the performances and dialogue thrown from Grace Kelly, Richard Cummings and of course Ray Milland is extremely gripping stuff. They are all wonderful actors, in their own right, and here get quite a lengthy, however fairly static, piece of material to work with.

Hitchcock, naturally unfolds the story in his usual, expertly crafted way, giving visual clues and hints, making the viewer feel like they have stepped into the shoes of Paroit. Each scene and shot is meticulously crafted and serve purpose, there is very little, if any filler in here what so ever.

This is testament to Hitchcock himself, he doesnt burden the viewer with too much, he merely gives them all they need and by the conclusion, we find ourselves being extremely satisfied with the conclusion we are left with.

It is also, extremely dark, its amazing to think that the content of this film back in the day, was deemed fairly standard and its brilliant to watch a more toned down but equally tense and chilling crime thriller at work here.

You are completely enveloped into the characters, situations and actions and you will constantly find yourself gripping the edge of your seat, not just for the good guys, but for the villains also, which is a rare talent.

Conventionally we are taught to root for the good guys, regardless of how appealing and interesting the bad guys motives and ideals may be. Some directors even go as far as to flip this technique on its head, having you root for evil over good, however Hitchcock does a rare thing here, by allowing you to see complete motive behind everyones actions, although not exactly a conventional way of dealing with things, you can understand Tony's frustration, he is out of money, his wife is cheating on him and is desperate to achieve some form of closure and right of passage.

He has reason and motive for hatching his plan, Hitchcock never shows it as being acceptable, however he shows it as a conclusion, that someone may come to, under the right circumstances and he furthers this with a brilliantly choreographed scene between Tony and the would be killer.

The killer, although coersed into his actions, finds it acceptable enough to go through with the plan, these are small details, but they are details that matter. Dial M for Murder, is a brilliantly crafted master class in film making, it is so overly simple it becomes complex and brilliant, it oozes character and its tension and suspense will have you gripping your seat for the run time.

Are there down sides, well if I were to nitpick John Williams as the detective does come across as slightly over acted, but he isnt terrible and the focus is so firmly rooted on the love triangle that he serves only as a means of moving the story forward and unravelling the twists and turns.

He is needed and although his execution is nowhere near as perfected as the great James Stewart in Rope, another brilliant Hitchcock piece, he does do exactly what his character should do. It is a minor niggle and thats the great thing about Hitchcock, he knows what the focus should be on at all times, and he executes this practise flawlessly with this film.