Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Starring: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson.
Running Time: 105 minutes.
Certificate: PG.
Synopsis: Ex-tennis player Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) devises an intricate plot to murder his wife, Margot (Grace Kelly). But as we all know, there’s no such thing as the perfect crime.
In case you weren’t already aware, the recent wave of 3D films isn’t the first time the fad has reared its ugly head. In fact, it’s actually followed a pretty tight pattern of coming around every 30 or so years – first in the 1950s, then again in the 1980s, and now in the 2010s. Back in the 50s, even master director Alfred Hitchcock himself ventured into the format with DIAL M FOR MURDER, adapted from the theatrical play by Frederick Knott.
But when it was finally released in 1954, DIAL M came at the tail end of the 3D craze, and was consequently shown mostly in 2D. As Hitchcock himself said, “It’s a nine-day wonder, and I came in at the ninth day.” The film enjoyed a wider 3D release with the format’s revival in 1982, and now that 3D has even invaded our homes, DIAL M FOR MURDER will soon be making its way onto 3D Blu-ray.
Ironically, this will happen just as the recent 3D craze is beginning to dwindle, in a curious repeat of the film’s fortunes in the 1950s. But of course, to see Hitchcock on the silver screen in any format is welcome, and thankfully, the 3D, while making little difference to most of the film, is at least hardly intrusive to this tale of deceit, blackmail and murder.
Adapted as it is from a play, the sets are of course limited, with most of the narrative kept to a single room – the apartment of Tony Wendice, an ex-tennis player who blackmails an old Cambridge acquaintance into murdering his wife. The script is far more ingenious than that short synopsis suggests, however, with a fumbled assassination turning events into a brain-bending ‘whodunnit’ that is far from predictable.
While this may not be the most technically ambitious of Hitchcock’s filmography, Frederick Knott’s screenplay more than makes up for that fact. The film starts slowly but soon picks up pace, demanding the attention of its audience. It isn’t worth it for the 3D alone, but if you’ve never seen DIAL M FOR MURDER on the big screen, now’s your chance.
DIAL M FOR MURDER is released in UK cinemas on July 26th.
