Essentials: Dial M for Murder

Yea, I can see your mom liking this...she cray!

Year: 1954 (USA)
Genre: Drama/Suspense
Directed: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson, Leo Britt
Production: Warner Bros.


Alfred Hitchcock is a genius. There is no getting around that fact. I'm not saying this to placate the film school dropout we all know and hate to watch movies with; I'm not saying this to please your fifty-year-old mother who is a fan of his movies but still views Along Came a Spider (2001) as a guilty pleasure. I'm saying this because it's a fact. Vertigo (1958) is his enduring critical gift to the art of cinema while Psycho (1960) is his pulpy gift to the masses and in-between the two greats, sits 52 other spellbinding films in addition to the much beloved Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1961). Everyone's got a favorite and while some may get their kicks from North by Northwest (1959) or Rope (1948), my personal favorite has to be 1954's Dial M for Murder.

Best contract killer money can buy!

Dial M centers on a single question that many people find themselves asking out of morbid curiosity; how do you plan the perfect murder? If it were someone close like say your wife, how would you do it? Maybe you can hire someone to do it for you. Perhaps someone you can blackmail and functions outside of your social circles. Someone compliant enough to be exploited and use laundered money to pay them for their services.

Indeed the supposed murder planned by Tony (Ray Milland) is set up like a beautifully played game of chess. As Tony coldly explains his plan to murder his wife Margot (Grace Kelly) to Swann (Anthony Dawson) his hired assassin, every angle is thought through. Every movement is calculated and timed, every detail addressed. Unfortunately for Tony, Swann and the rest of the principle characters, "the best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray."

Tank, I'm going to need a quick exit.

Dial M for Murder is my personal favorite Hitchcock film primarily for three reasons. Firstly, the film is shot almost entirely on one set, in one room of one domicile. There is a short scene in a jailhouse, one in a theatre and one in the bedroom of the flat but every important plot point and reveal takes place in the den of Tony and Margot's apartment. Limiting the space like that can be an advantage in that it heightens tension though very few directors can truly do such a thing well. To my recollection the only modern example to come close to chamber-proximity sustained suspense like Dial M was Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth (2002).

Calm yourself, I'm under authority of the Queen

The second reason I enjoy Dial M for Murder is its unabashed British-ness. I mean this in two ways; The characters are Torrie upper-crust types who always have a snobbish one-liner to spare. Additionally British movies of the era expect audience investment and even participation in the intrigue. Modern sensibilities tend to favor simple action centered plots we can all easily follow. Modern studios do this largely to cater to international audiences who don't want to be bogged down with subtitles and Americans who want to fiddle with their phones, fold their laundry and check their Facebook all while watching Bad Boys II (2003). I find myself doing this from time to time while watching movies but never with Dial M.

Well no I don't think we even have Comcast Xfinity...

The third and most important reason why I love this movie is because you know exactly how it's going to end. Not in the "know how it ends" kind of way of say every stupid, pointless, unoriginal, mediocre horror movie ever made, but rather in the way of we know Tony (spoiler alert) gets his comeuppance, we just don't know how. The characters Margot, her "friend" Mark (Robert Cummings) and Detective Pearson (Patrick Allen) are left in the dark for most of the movie. Only the audience is privy to all the dirty details of Tony's deceit and yet the question is left; will he get away with it? On that level the movie gives you a artfully done suspense thriller without a sub-par mystery cheapening the story.

Alfred Hitchcock is said to be the master of suspense; a title certainly worthy of such a giant figure. His films have a complexity that leaves many to fervidly comb his filmography for interpretation. Whether you're a fan of a psychoanalytical approach to Hitchcock, a post-modernist or auteur theory habitue, you have to admit Dial M for Murder needs more credit than its been given which, up until today has been seen as a "lesser work". Don't be taken in by those in the supposed "know". Check out Dial M, and while you're at it, check out some of Hitchcock's other "lesser works" like Lifeboat (1944) and I Confess (1953).

Final Grade: A