Review of Dial M for Murder (1981) by James S — 14 Jun 2009

When Alfred Hitchcock directed Dial M For Murder he allegedly, by his own admission, phoned in his direction. Whether this was some sort of elaborate bluff on his part to make the film seem better is not known. What is known though is that aside from Psycho, this is his finest hour. Ray Milland conspires to have his adulterous wife bumped off so he can continue to live the life of an ex tennis pro. However the job gets botched when Grace Kelly stabs her attacker with a pair of scissors leading to a brilliantly tense pot boiler while Milland tries to cover his tracks.

The whole film is done extremely well. Milland enraptures while he lays out his diabolical plan to the former college friend he blackmails into doing the deed and is captivating while the audience wonders just how long he can keep thinking on his feet throughout the rest of the film.

As with any great thriller there are twists a plenty in Dial M. The final one being quite genius, the kind of thing that a real film fan lives and breaths for. Hitchcock produces a well told, well paced, well scripted and very, very good movie, almost on a par with his greatest of all time.