Dial M for Murder

4.00
    Dial M for Murder
    1954

    Synopsis

    An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to have his wealthy wife murdered after discovering she is having an affair, and assumes she will soon leave him for the other man anyway.

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    Cast

    • Ray MillandTony Wendice
    • Grace KellyMargot Wendice
    • Robert CummingsMark Halliday
    • John WilliamsChief Inspector Hubbard
    • Anthony DawsonCharles Swann
    • Leo BrittStoryteller
    • Patrick AllenDetective Pearson
    • George LeighDetective Williams
    • George AldersonFirst Detective
    • Robin HughesPolice Sergeant O'Brien

    Recommendations

    • 90

      The New York Times

      The thrills come in following a succession of dawnings in people's minds.But Mr. Hitchcock has presented this mental material on the screen with remarkable visual definition of developing intrigue and mood.
    • 80

      Village Voice

      If the things here are homelier and less loved than, say, Marnie's neon yellow purse or Cary Grant's glowing glass of milk, and the film itself no one's idea of major Hitch, it remains a fascinating investigation of a stillborn process from one of cinema's most dedicated inquisitors of structure.
    • 80

      The Guardian

      The result is a rather stagey film whose back projections look quaint, with 3D apparently used to foreground items of furniture, such as table-lamps, giving rise to some eccentric camera-angles. But the set-up is ingenious and the "kill" scene genuinely thrilling. [2013 3D Release]
    • 80

      Time

      Dial M is starred with fine scenes and good performances. Though played as contemporary melodrama, it somehow manages to reflect the gaslight magic of turn-of-the-century London.
    • 80

      Time Out

      Its trick is to generate considerable suspense while withholding nothing from the audience. Its pleasures are not profound ones, but there’s enough dimensionality up on the screen to compensate. [2013 3D Release]
    • 75

      Slant Magazine

      What tends to make even lesser Hitchcock films shine is his innate gift for directing performers, and this accounts for many of the pleasures of this ditty.
    • 70

      TV Guide Magazine

      Lower case Hitch, but diverting and sleek, with the climax early on. [review of original release]
    • 70

      Chicago Reader

      The screenplay tends to constrain rather than liberate Hitchcock's thematic thrust, but there is much of technical value in his geometric survey of the scene and the elaborate strategies employed to transfer audience sympathy among the four main characters.

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