DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954, USA, 105m, PG) ****
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
dist. Warner Bros.; pr co. Warner Bros.; d. Alfred Hitchcock; w. Frederick Knott (based on the play by Frederick Knott); pr. Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited); ph. Robert Burks (Warnercolor | 1.85:1); m. Dimitri Tiomkin; ed. Rudi Fehr; ad. Edward Carrere.
cast: Ray Milland (Tony Wendice), Grace Kelly (Margot Wendice), Robert Cummings (Mark Halliday), John Williams (Chief Inspector Hubbard), Anthony Dawson (Charles Swann), Leo Britt (The Storyteller), Patrick Allen (Detective Pearson), George Leigh (Detective Williams), George Alderson (First Detective), Robin Hughes (Police Sergeant O’Brien).
Absorbing thriller in which ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice (Milland) wants to have his wealthy wife, Margot (Kelly), murdered so he can get his hands on her inheritance. When he discovers her affair with Mark Halliday (Cummings), he comes up with the perfect plan to kill her. He blackmails an old acquaintance into carrying out the murder, but the carefully orchestrated set-up goes awry, and Margot stays alive. Now Wendice must frantically scheme to outwit the police and avoid having his plot detected. Whilst largely restricted to a single setting, Hitchcock’s skill in building tension is magnetic. Performances are good if a little mannered. Filmed in 3-D. Remade as A PERFECT MURDER (1998).
