"Mmm, yes, absolutely. On paper, that is. And I think I could, uh, plan one better than most people; but I doubt if I could carry it out."
"Oh? Why not?"
"Well, because in stories things usually turn out the way the author wants them to; and in real life they don't... always."
Retired tennis pro, Tony Wendice (Milland), has a brilliant plan to get rid of his wealthy wife, Margot (Kelly)... He blackmails an old college friend with a dark side, Charles Swann (Dawson), to murder her. Every detail is planned from how to enter the apartment to what items to move. It is an airtight plan... including his alibi: attending a big party with Mark Halliday (Cummings), Margot's lover.
However, the plan falls apart when Margot manages to kill Swann. With the police, led by Chief Inspector Hubbard (Williams), investigating the situation and asking questions Tony has to improvise.
Grace Kelly and Hitchcock's first collaboration... and my first viewing of this film. While I love Grace Kelly, Ray Millard's Tony pwns this film. Tony is charming and charismatic... he articulates well and you want his plans to succeed. The first half of the film is watching his plans come together - to see how well he planned things. The second half of the film is about watching everything unravel and seeing how he well he thinks on his feet.
The rest of the main characters are Hitchcock regulars: Kelly is a beautiful woman and probably one of my favorite leading ladies, especially when she is paired with Hitchcock. Robert Cummings was the lead in Saboteur and here is relegated to the "other man" role. His character is obviously the good guy, but you don't care... John Williams is another Hitchcock regular, in too many films to list here. He is never the lead, but his characters tend to get great lines here and there. Once again he gets an interesting character with some funny lines.
Once again Hitchcock chose to make a film confined to a single space: the Wendice apartment. The characters are only shown briefly outside the apartment... Despite the limited space, you don't really notice until the end that you haven't left the space. The characters and story are engaging enough that you don't need to traipse all over the place or go on chases. They do some fun things with color: notice the first two scenes and Kelly's clothes / attitude with the two men in her life..
An interesting and memorable film.... and I love that you can tell it was taken from a play (it is apparent in the staging and such).
Dial 'M' For Murder (1954) 105 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ray Milland as Tony Wendice
Grace Kelly as Margot Wendice
Robert Cummings as Mark Halliday
John Williams as Chief Inspector Hubbard
Anthony Dawson as Captain Lesgate / Charles Swann
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