Review of Dial M for Murder (1981) by Lewis C — 12 May 2010

Even the perfect crime can have one minor, overlooked detail that leads to the complete unraveling of the entire plan. The random quirks of chance can be the downfall of the cleverest man. That's the plot of Dial M for Murder, in a nutshell.

I decided to make this my next Hitchcock film, because that's the kind of story that always seems to interest me. Well, the primary reason was that I'm in love with Grace Kelly, but the plot description was also appealing. Dial M reminded me of Rear Window, in a few ways. Most noticeably, the sparse (yet effective) action, and the use of a single apartment as the major setting for the film. In the hands of a lesser director, those two elements may have been a detriment to the overall quality. But Hitchcock once again works around them marvelously.

It's not hard to guess the stage origins of this movie. It actually feels more like a play than a movie. And while that is in no way a negative, it does mean a lot of exposition. The story is explained to the viewers instead of shown, and because of that I cannot rate Dial M as highly as Psycho, Vertigo, or Rear Window. It's an interesting movie, and it's not hard to find yourself tense during nearly the entire last half. But the execution as a whole could have been better and less expository.