This review originally appeared on The-Solute as part of their Year of the Month series.
Like Jackass 3D or Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs.
Evil, Dial M for Murder was made in 3D. The brief 3D craze of the 1950s
included this Alfred Hitchcock directorial effort, though, apparently, test
audiences reacted so negatively to the 3D that it was primarily shown in 2D. It’s
odd to watch Dial M For Murder and imagine it being thought of as ideal
for the process of 3D. Rarely do objects come towards the camera or other
similar gimmicky moments associated with 3D movies of this era, it’s all mostly
a restrained dialogue-reliant affair that would seem ill-suited for this
format. After all, a crackling thriller like Dial M for Murder doesn’t
need a gimmick like 3D to be extremely immersive!
Frederick Knott pens the screenplay adaptation of his
novel of the same name for Dial M for Murder, which follows Tony Wendice
(Ray Milland), a tennis player, and a plan he has for his wife Margot (Grace Kelly).
See, his spouse is seeing another man, Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), behind
his back and so he plans to respond to this affair by hiring someone to murder
Margot. Turning to an old college chum by the name of Swann (Anthony Dawson),
Wendice lays out elaborate instructions for how Swann can pull of the perfect
murder while he and Halliday are out at a stag party. It’s all but assured to
go off without a hitch. Well, this being a Hitchcock movie, no plan goes
exactly like it should and eventually the wrong person ends up dead and it’s
soon a race against time to prove the malicious nature of Wendice.
Knott’s roots lying in the world of literature can be
seen in the prolonged dialogue conversations that make up much of the running
time of Dial M for Murder. The characters of Wendice and Inspector
Hubbard (John Williams) are especially fond of chattering on about their
motivations or their thought processes in regards to the pivotal crime scene
that Margot eventually becomes ensnared in. Instead of coming off as long-winded,
though, these extensive sequences of dialogue are fascinating thanks to Knott’s being a strong writer of gripping dialogue that reflects the distinct personalities of the individual characters. It doesn't hurt that the actors assigned to deliver this material are an exceptionally talented bunch, particularly the leading man assigned to the role of Tony Wendice.
Ray Milland is handed an extended early sequence that
see’s him unveiling his nefarious disposition for the first time by explaining
to Swann, in the finest of details, how he came to understand just what his
wife was up to and why he chose Swann for this particular assignment. Milland
constantly gives Tony Wendice an air of upper crust informality, his style of
speaking in regards to explaining the bloodthirsty plans he has for his
significant other is exactly the same style of speaking he’d use to divulge his
thoughts on the current weather. This juxtaposition is darkly amusing in spots,
especially when his cockiness about having all the answers to certain questions
that could implicate him get undercut by other characters pointing out very
clear flaws in his logic.
But it also lends an air of menace to this guy, Milland
always carries the suggestion that Wendice could totally match his casual talk about
violence with his own physical actions. The suggestion of impending violence in
a character who speaks so freely about murder echoes another riveting Hitchcock
antagonist, Robert Walker’s Bruno Antony in Strangers on a Train. Never
a bad thing at all to echo such an iconic big-screen adversary! In terms of its
storytelling scope, Dial M for Murder is a much more restrained affair
than Strangers on a Train, the exotic locales that mark many of Hitchock’s
European thrillers are traded out here for a still sleek but much more modest apartment
that serves as the backdrop for much of the movie.
Even with a more constrained amount of locales to
explore (even Margot’s time in courtrooms is set against a blue-and-red
backdrop rather than an actual courtroom), Hitchock’s visual sensibilities as a
filmmaker don’t get diluted. The more compact nature of the proceedings results
in some extremely imaginative camerawork, particularly an extended single take of
Wendice walking Swann through every part of the proposed murder that’s captured
in a high-angle shot from the perspective of the ceiling. Excellently executed
moody lighting that makes particularly great use of shadows help enhance the
chilling atmosphere of crucial sequences like when Margot gets attacked by
Swann in her apartment. With so many memorable pieces of cinematography and
direction, it’s no wonder Dial M for Murder stands out as a noteworthy
Hitchock directorial effort even while being released in a decade that saw some
of his most iconic works (namely Rear Window and Vertigo) being
released, even if it didn’t manage to get widely released in 3D!
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