A classic Hitchcock mystery thriller, Dial M for Murder was released in the same year as Rear Window but isn’t as well known and
didn’t make as much money as the latter film. The movie threads themes of
mystery, betrayal and most notably the search for the perfect murder, a theme
which permeates much of Hitchcock’s work but most notably Rope, Strangers on a Train and Shadow of a Doubt. The plot centres around a London
flat where a husband, Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) blackmails a former college
acquaintance (Anthony Dawson) into murdering his Wife (Grace Kelly) who he
believes is having an affair with an American crime novelist (Robert Cummings).
Wendice plans the perfect murder but when things go wrong he is quick to think
and finds another way of dispatching of his wife.
Like the majority of the dozen or so Hitchcock films I’ve
seen so far, Dial M for Murder is
very good. Although it is no Psycho
or Rope it is a well above average
mystery film which features a terrific plot and some decent performances.
