Dial M for Murder Reviews and Ratings


  • killantzb4itzl8
    November 17, 2009
    killantzb4itzl8
    Very clever screenplay.
    A Hitchcock masterpiece highly recommended.

    Margot Mary Wendice: Do you really believe in the perfect murder?
    Mark Halliday: 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 i...( read more)t out.
    Tony Wendice: Oh? Why not?
    Mark Halliday: Well, because in stories things usually turn out the way the author wants them to; and in real life they don't... always.
    Tony Wendice: Hmm.
    Mark Halliday: No, I'm afraid my murders would be something like my bridge: I'd make some stupid mistake and never realize it until I found everybody was looking at me.
  • Yelverton
    November 15, 2009
    Yelverton
    This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat.
  • slavescreams
    November 5, 2009
    slavescreams
    so good, puts most modern films of this kind in the dark.
  • KESSLER72
    October 28, 2009
    KESSLER72
    a pretty enjoyable HITCHCOCK suspense flick that i bet will grow on me even more with future viewings. RAY MILLAND is excellent and GRACE KELLY is sexy!! I can't blame the man for wanting to kill the cheating bitch!!
  • MightySparks
    October 12, 2009
    MightySparks
    I put this off for a while because it seemed gay and I hate Grace Kelly. She wasn't actually too bad in this, but whatever. Like most old movies, I was kind of bored for the first 30 minutes, but once it started it was quite good. Annoyingly, the ending was predictable as any mov...( read more)ie, which annoyed me, because 1) I hoped that Grace Kelly would die anyway and 2) the main dude would get away with it (can't frickin' remember his name now).
  • Froggie21104
    October 9, 2009
    Froggie21104
    Alfred Hitchcock is amazing
  • Nenebelle
    September 25, 2009
    Nenebelle
    Recommended by Liesebieke.
  • Liesebieke
    September 23, 2009
    Liesebieke
    Another full star suspense murder drama directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock.
    Dial M for Murder is based on a play and he said he left it as good as untouched. According to him it was one of his lesser movies. I am not convinced. This movie gave me the same f...( read more)eeling as Rope did: Will he be caught or not?? Until the very end I had to sit on the tip of my chair. A thriller should just be like this one.
    Also one of his films where it is easiest to spot Hitchcock, I thought.
    Yes, it's a must see, once again.
  • bradsteph
    September 19, 2009
    bradsteph
    Hitchcock's muse, Grace Kelly does another classy job of playing the cool blonde. This time she plays Millands' wife who is plotting to kill her. It is worth watching just to see the performance from the detective as he ensnares his murderer to be.
  • panmac
    September 15, 2009
    panmac
    Good, great classic for this genre of thilling intreague.

    After re-watching the lead off/intro a couple of times then cracking a beer, I sat into a ongoing, absolute continous divolgeingof facts that went on from instigation and intent to conspire, through conspiracy and prem...( read more)edidated rehersal of the act, the act of commiting... and all the messed up explaining and lying to convolute and contort via blackmail, self guilt and unfolded evidence to the suprise and bemusement of a cunning man with a plot and the cause/motive with accomplis and an irratable smirk that hardley left his face... at all.
  • PatienceSmatience
    September 9, 2009
    PatienceSmatience
    Great. I love Grace Kelly. This is one of Hitchcock's best thrillers.
  • afbuelvasp
    September 4, 2009
    afbuelvasp
    A mi parecer, la mejor de Hitchcock, y no es porla "princesa de Mónaco", debo advertir.
  • InfamousHugo
    September 2, 2009
    InfamousHugo
    DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954)
    dir. Alfred Hitchcock
    cast. Ray Milland, John Williams, Grace Kelly

    Dial M For Murder walks in the same territory as a previous Hitchcock effort, Rope. Both movies have a one-room setting with a murder in the cent
    ...( read more)er of the plot. Though this one isnt as suspenseful or as interesting, its still quite clever.

    A man plans the perfect murder. He hires an old acquaintance to kill his wife, but things turn wrong and he ends up dead. The man has to cover his trace and build a new plan to get away with it and the money. But that is under-estimating the smart police inspector in charge of the case.

    Alfred Hitchcock is known for his skills at creating suspense out of nothing but Dial M For Murder doesnt have much of that, maybe it just didnt age well, but its not that effective on that level. The acting is great though, especially John Williams as the inspector investigating the case. The tone is a bit melodramatic at times and the pacing is slow, especially early on. Though when it gets going nearly halfway, it never stops being interesting with twists - though predictable for today's audience - and clever chats. Not bad, but definitely not as memorable as other work from the master himself.

    Interesting fact: The film was shot in 3D, even though its not a very visual film, compared to other Hitchcock movies, the camera work is almost boring, probably due to the fact that the technology didnt allow him to play around with the camera, because it could have affected the 3D effect. Now if you thought 3D was a new tendency!
  • jam233
    August 30, 2009
    jam233
    Excellent Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller, and it is brimming with his classic touches. Great atmosphere and the pace is excellent, well produced. Grace Kelly is terrific as the innocent wife, Ray Milland does a good job as well.
  • vertigoo
    August 27, 2009
    vertigoo
    ...( read more)http://www.flixster.com">Flixster - Share Movies
  • dragonstone1988
    August 10, 2009
    dragonstone1988
    one of best movie of Alfred Hitchcock .
  • LCampM2
    August 2, 2009
    LCampM2
    Have to see Hitchcock movie
  • svet4
    July 9, 2009
    svet4
    Good movie! Enjoyed watching it with my hubby in Blackheath :)
  • battleaxeofdoom
    June 15, 2009
    battleaxeofdoom
    Type C for Classic (good lord that was cheesy)
  • MajorWhitlock
    June 13, 2009
    MajorWhitlock
    Lots of talk, little action. The details in the story was interesting, but got confusing. Grace Kelly: the saving point of this film
  • daremba
    June 12, 2009
    daremba
    Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, you know this is going to be good. Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) plans to kill his wife Margot (Grace Kelly) because she had an affair with Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). But his plan backfires but it works out even better than he planned with his wif...( read more)e killing the assassin he hired. So the law will do for him what he wants anyhow. He's got away with it....or has he?
  • DwightWard
    June 9, 2009
    DwightWard
    All round suspenseful crime thriller!
  • SuicidalFrootLoop
    June 7, 2009
    SuicidalFrootLoop
    Synopsis: An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B.
  • reytutiver
    June 7, 2009
    reytutiver
    I know I should talk about the plot (which is good, not great), but, honestly, I couldn't concentrate with Grace Kelly on screen. Don't judge me...
  • bubblebabyeve
    June 4, 2009
    bubblebabyeve
    One of Alfred Hitchcock's underated films!
  • fmcc49
    June 2, 2009
    fmcc49
    Hitchcock at his most intense. They tried to remake this but didn't quite make the cut. This film is the ultimate in good movies.
  • charlesbronson
    April 6, 2009
    charlesbronson
    A Hitchcock masterpiece and one of my favorite crime movies.Keeps you nailed to your seat.Grace Kelly was majestic,delivers a great performance as does Ray Milland. Hitchcock directed this one masterfully,can't really find any major faults in this one. From the moment the story u...( read more)nfolds you know your gonna enjoy this one and probably watch it a few times more.A must see classic made for repeated viewings.
  • RThornhill
    April 1, 2009
    RThornhill
    Fantastic, even saw it in 3-D, one of Hitchcock's masterpieces.....Highly recommended.
  • marylanenalyram
    March 26, 2009
    marylanenalyram
    Would be crazier in three dimensions.
    Jimmy Stewart look-a-like guy is pretty good (not in gay way)
    amazing scenes which fill up so much screen time but so little of out time watching tiempo
    super mystery
  • zdravkoduck
    March 14, 2009
    zdravkoduck
    Grace Kellys voice is heavenly. That outta the way this movie has got me thinking twice before i meet up with somebody that wants to sell their car cause they might blackmail me into murdering their wives for them... it's nice to see a characters plan fail...i rarely see it...an ...( read more)the color of this movie is awesome everyone looks animated. what does that even mean?
  • RisingSunce
    March 11, 2009
    RisingSunce
    Just great! One of my favorite Hitchcock films.
  • mikeyt817
    February 27, 2009
    mikeyt817
    Like all Hitchcock movies, this is crazy! I really enjoyed this one.
  • IzzyGlow
    February 20, 2009
    IzzyGlow
    7.5/10
    Dial M for Murder is intriguing and hypotizing from the master of suspense, Hitchcock himself.
  • jmankas
    February 11, 2009
    jmankas
    not as interesting as the thrilling Psycho, but still rather amusing.
  • morinooukami
    February 11, 2009
    morinooukami
    1954 era horror/suspense. Brilliant work.
  • dandos04
    February 2, 2009
    dandos04
    hell-yeah(it's alfred peeps)....
  • bballgirl1334
    February 1, 2009
    bballgirl1334
    Not my favorite Grace Kelly movie but I like it.
    Is it me or dose Ray Milland sound alot like Cary Grant???
  • shawnmiller2
    January 19, 2009
    shawnmiller2
    Great, great movie...my all-time favorite...

    Love Hitchcock. Love this cast and plot.

    There is no such thing as a perfect murder...
  • maka112929
    January 16, 2009
    maka112929
    One of my fav Film Noir movies.
  • glomer4
    January 6, 2009
    glomer4
    One of my favorite one
  • malacaynomuerto
    January 1, 2009
    malacaynomuerto
    Acaso existe el crimen perfecto?
    Toda mentira nos conduce a la verdad
  • LyCla
    December 23, 2008
    LyCla
    Interesting film, not my favorite Hitchcock but still good enough for a watch.
  • dorothyinfantado
    December 16, 2008
    dorothyinfantado
    Alfred Hitchcock film
  • jameshammacott88
    December 15, 2008
    jameshammacott88
    A very, very clever film.
  • stopitgoaway
    December 14, 2008
    stopitgoaway
    After earning an Academy award nomination for her performance in John Ford's 1953 tale of romance and adventure, "Mogambo", the beautiful actress Grace Kelly proved that she was way more than just a pretty face and that there was real talent behind her image. However, what truly ...( read more)took her career to new levels were three now classic films she made directed by the legendary Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Under his direction, Kelly made an integral part of the Master's films, becoming the perfect embodiment of Hitchcock's idea of a female protagonist. While Kelly debuted two years earlier in the classic Western "High Noon", one could say that it was Hitchcock who really introduced the beauty and talent of Grace Kelly to the world. "Dial M for Murder" was the first of Hitchcock's films with Kelly, and a movie where once again the Master returns to a familiar theme: the perfect murder.

    The movie is the story of Tony Wendice (Ray Milland), a former tennis player married to the beautiful and wealthy Margot (Grace Kelly) and living in an nice apartment in London. Life is good for Tony, until he discovers that his wife is cheating on him with an old flame of her, famous crime novel writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). After that discovery, Tony spends a whole years plotting the perfect way to murder his wife in order to inherit her money, carefully planning every detail of the crime. When Mark visits London again, Tony finds the perfect chance to set his plan in motion, and as planned, he recruits Charles Swann (Anthony Dawson) to kill his wife. However, bad luck and a sudden change of events will test Tony's plan's infallibility as, just as Mark points out, human action can originate flaws even in the most perfectly devised plan.

    Like most Hitchcock's films, "Dial M for Murder" was an adaptation of another art-form, this time a popular play by Frederick Knott. As Knott was also the writer of the screenplay, the movie remains extremely faithful to the play, although of course, not without its differences. Knott's script is wonderfully constructed, as like in the play, the dialog is witty and simply captivating, with many twists and turns that spiced up the complex plot and keep it from being boring or tiresome. An interesting feature of the movie is that oddly, there are no black and white morality in the characters, and it's easy not only to sympathize with Margot (despite she being cheating on her husband) but also to sympathize with Tony (despite he wanting to kill his wife), as the characters are wonderfully developed with very detailed personalities.

    It seems that Hitchcock's knows that the dialog is the highlight of the play, as he deliberately focuses on his actors and uses an elegant camera-work to frame the whole movie inside the apartment. The movie literally is shot entirely in one single room (only two other sets are used, and only briefly), but Hitchcock's classy way of using the camera allow a highly dynamic flow that never lets the movie be tiresome. This is also very helpful as Hitchcock just lets his characters keep speaking, carefully describing actions and events (when other directors would use flashbacks) in a similar way to a what the real play would be. While this approach could easily get boring, Hitchcock's use of colors and overall visual imagery simply creates the perfect medium to allow Knott's dialog to shine.

    Without disrespecting John Ford or Fred Zinnemann, I think that it was Hitchcock who finally could allow Kelly's talent to shine beyond her physical beauty. Grace Kelly makes her character shine with her subtle and restrained performance, specially showing her skill in the second half of the film. While often Kelly receives top honors in this movie, it is actually Ray Milland who makes the whole movie work with his suave and charming "villian". Milland's performance is simply terrific, making his character nice enough to win the sympathies of the audience, yet still frighteningly intelligent as the mastermind of the plot. John Williams appears as the Inspector in charge to solve the complex puzzle, and delivers a classic performance as the Enlgish gentleman decided to find the final answer. Only Robert Cummings seems miscast as Mark Halliday, although a lot of his weak performance could be blamed to Milland, Kelly and Williams overshadowing him with their excellent work.

    In many ways, "Dial M for Murder" shares many things with "Rope", as not only the two films are based on successful plays, they are also about committing the perfect murder and oddly, they are both "experiments": while "Rope" was conceived as a "movie in one take", "Dial M for Murder" was done as 3-D movie. Sadly, the interest in 3-D was dying when the film was released, so few theaters carried the movie complete with the gimmick; a real shame, as Hitchcock's use of the technology, unlike most 3-D films of its time, was conceived as a way to enhance the claustrophobia of the Wendices' apartment instead of using it to merely shock the audience with "stuff coming out of the screen" (as seen in for example, "House of Wax"). While not too fond of the gimmick, Hitchcock truly gave it a good and intelligent (albeit subtle) use to it.

    "Dial M for Murder" is probably less celebrated than the Master's most famous movies, the fact that it came out the same years as "Rear Window" (again with Grace Kelly) may have had something to do with it too. While a subtler and more restrained tale of suspense, this is still the Master at his best, as the movie proves that when he was at the top of his game, no other director was comparable to him.

Summary

Dial M for Murder Summary