Dial M for Murder (1954)

Dial M for Murder
Directed by Albert Hitchcock
Written by Frederick Knott from his own play
1954/USA
Warner Bros.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Tony Wendice: [to Mark] People don’t commit murder on credit.[/box]

This may be the only Hitchcock movie with a smart cop in it.  I wish the script was a bit stronger.

The setting is London.  Margot Wendice (Grace Kelly) is independently wealthy.  Her husband Tony (Ray Milland) is an ex-tennis pro with no funds of his own.  A year ago, Margot had an affair with mystery writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings).  She broke it off and he returned to the States.  He kept writing to her and she destroyed all the letters but one, a “special” letter that she carried in her purse wherever she went.

Recently, the purse was stolen.  Margot got the purse back, minus the letter and the money.  Then the blackmail threats began.  As the story begins, Mark has returned to London.  This is making Tony very nervous, not because he particularly cares about infidelity but because he is afraid he will be cut out of Margot’s will.

So Tony embarks on an ingenious plan to solve his problem before Margot can leave him. The plan is almost too clever and it will take the combined efforts of Mark and Scotland Yard to untangle Tony’s web of deceit.

There are many things to like about this film but I think the script is too stagy and doesn’t hold together all that well.  Kelly looks luscious and Milland makes a truly detestable villain. Nevertheless, I can’t believe that Kelly would prefer Robert Cummings to him in a million years.  I’d like to see this in 3D someday.

Trailer