Dial M for Murder (1954)

Turning stage plays into cinematic films is tricky business.  Frequently, the movie feels like a filmed play -- as if the director just set his camera up in row 5 of the local playhouse and let it run.  There are typically only one or two sets in movies like these and they are frequently quite talky (a mortal sin to the likes of Hitchcock who claimed that the introduction of sound film would produce little more than "talking photographs").  That said, Hitchcock had much of his work cut out for him when it came time to turn Frederick Knott's hit play into a feature film.

A bit more background... in the early 1950s, the film business was quite worried.  Television had come along and taken the medium of story-entertainment and brought it to the living rooms of America.  Droves of filmgoers were becoming television-watchers and box office revenue was plummeting.  Hitchcock himself said that the advent of television was akin to the advent of indoor bathrooms -- neither would change the average person's need... but now that need could be met within the confines of one's own home.  

The major film distributors searched for ways to differentiate the theater-going experience from the TV-watching-experience.  VistaVision (and a host of other widescreen formats) came along to emphasize the vast difference between the enormity of the film screen and the dwarfishness of the television screen.  Color was also pushed, as televisions, in the early 1950s, were uniformly black and white.  In their groping for differences, the film business also stumbled upon a host of (what could best be qualified as) gimmicks designed to keep theater patrons buying tickets.  One of the most popular of these was 3-D -- a system designed to allow the film watcher to feel as though he or she was "really there" by simulating three dimensional vision.  

3-D film watchers had to put up with flimsy glasses which (along with a stereo filming process) produced the illusion... and which produced audience-wide headaches.  Along with the glasses, film goers had to put up with films which were little more than scenes strung together which might highlight the 3-D effect (scenes like ripsaws coming towards the screen, spears aimed at the camera, or giant apes swinging on vines set on the Z-axis).  3-D was, for sure, a fad.

1952 saw the height of the 3-D fad and by the time production was to begin on "Dial M for Murder," they were keen on the marriage of the effect with Alfred Hitchcock -- the master of suspense (most 3-D films were centered on tales of horror, adventure, or suspense).  Hitchcock, though, found the process positively anti-cinematic with its "constant reminder to the audience that they were 'out there' and not drawn, visually and emotionally, 'into' the story, its action and its mood" (from Donald Spoto's, "The Dark Side of Genius").  Hitchcock (on the heels of the poorly received "I Confess") was in little position to haggle.  So, he decided to just film it as quickly and as unceremoniously as possible.

One snag, though... in the process of casting "Dial M," Hitchcock stumbled upon Grace Kelly and the director (to some degree) fell in love.  This became the first of three Hitchcock films to star Grace Kelly ("Rear Window" and "To Catch a Thief"), though there could have been many more had she not married Prince Ranier and become the functioning Princess of Monaco.  The director doted on the cool blonde (as he had with Ingrid Bergman, and would soon with Vera Miles and Tippi Hedren) and delighted in directing her.  

"Dial M for Murder" is the story of a Tony (Ray Milland), a former tennis pro who suspects his wife Margot (Kelly) is having an affair with Mark (Robert Cummings), an American writer.  Tony sets up an elaborate and manipulative plot which includes

blackmailing an estranged college friend into killing Margot, and the planting of evidence to make sure it is clear that Margot was the victim of a random burglary.

When things do not go quite as expected, Tony is forced to cover-up the crime and pin the death of his college friend (who is killed in the botched plan) on Margot.  The second half of the film follows Mark (a mystery writer) matching wits with Tony in an elaborate criminal chess game, in an effort to convince Inspector Hubbard (wonderfully played with lightness and catty aplomb by John Williams) of Margot's innocence.  

95% of the film takes place in Tony and Margot's apartment. The script is extremely dialogue-heavy.  It is clearly taken from a stage play.

And, yet, the film moves along quite well.  Grace Kelly is (as she would be for the other two Hitch films) delightful and sympathetic and classy.  Milland is hard and conniving and plays well the typical charming Hitchcock villain.  The dialogue and filming make the material (a fairly straight-forward "will he get away with it or won't he?" story) shine.  

Kristin (my wife) kept noting how their lines crackled with energy, life, and vibrancy.  Clearly, a playwright was behind the typewriter for this one.

The scene when Margot is attacked is still quite nerve-wracking (this was my second time seeing the film).  The gas-lighting of Margot by Tony is still quite frustrating.  And, though I wished Grace Kelly was more involved in the solving of the crime (she's practically absent for one of the final reels), the story resolves itself tidily and satisfyingly.  

Hitchcock, though frustrated with the 3-D process, made the most of it.  He found ways to differentiate a Hitch-made 3-D film from a regular 3-D film.  Furniture is clearly placed in spots to emphasize depth of space and the attack scene clearly tries to take advantage of the medium.  

I wish I could see "Dial M for Murder" in its original 3-D format.

(When it came time to release the film, Warner Bros. recognized that the 3-D fad was waning, and so the film was shown only sparingly as a three-dimensional film.  It wasn't until 1982 that the film was re-released more widely in the 3-D format. )

This film is fun.  Yes, it's talky, and (of course) it's contrived, but it truly works.  Kelly and Milland are riveting, and the pacing is smart and effective, especially for a "filmed play."  The pathos is real and the suspense holds up.  Sure, there's not much depth to this one (little of the "shadow film" found in the likes of "Psycho" and "Rear Window"), but it's still a fine little film.  

And maybe the whole thing is just worth watching to see two things: 1) the fake giant thumb Hitchcock had to use (because of the limitations of the 3-D film cameras) to show a close-up of the dialing of a telephone and 2) John Williams (as the inspector), thoughtfully stroke his mustache as a good English investigator should.

Dial M for Murder 1954

Starring: Grace Kelly, Ray Milland, Robert Cummings and John Williams

Written by: Frederick Knott (based on his play)

Music by:  Dimitri Tiomkin