Dial M for Murder (1954) ****

Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the play of the same name is the story of man who attempts to pull off the perfect murder of his wife who is currently engaged in an affair with a crime novelist. Hitchcock never deviates from the source material and despite the greater resources of a feature film, stages this cinematic adaptation much like the play with the Wendice apartment as the primary location. There are a few other small sets, out of necessity when characters have to be shown outside the apartment, but these are minimal and the action largely plays out in the one room. Given the choice of either making his next film in either widescreen or in 3-D, the two new most popular formats at the time, Hitchcock chose to film in 3-D but unlike the cheesy effects that audiences of today are accustomed to, Hitchcock only uses the 3-D subtly with the set design and there are only two signature 3-D shots in the entire film. The benefit to this style is the film does not visually suffer now that it is seen mostly in the regular format and it's entirely possible if it wasn't researched you would never have known the film was originally shot in 3-D.

Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) appears like the clueless husband unaware that prior to his return home, his wife, Margot (Grace Kelly) was in a passionate embrace with Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). Tony immediately grabs the audience's sympathy as Margot relates that the marriage problems they were previously experiencing, at the time her and Mark first got together, are no longer an issue. Tony has given up being a professional tennis player for her and devoted himself to his marriage. Despite this renewal, Margot still finds herself drawn to Mark and Tony sends them off together when he is forced to prepare an important report due the next morning. Margot is the philandering spouse while Tony appears to be the doting and naïve husband. It doesn't last long as Tony immediately invites over Captain Lesgate (Anthony Dawson, also known as James Bond's first on screen kill in Dr. No) who he attempts to blackmail into murdering his cheating wife.

Tony has planned the entire murder down to the most minute detail. Even though he is hiring someone to kill his wife in cold blood, the audience has already begun to identify with him and now, his high air of authority leaves the audience impressed with his level of planning and ingenuity. The character is kept out of despicable territory also largely due to Milland's sophisticated and suave demeanor. Tony Wendice is certainly one of the most charismatic villains ever to set foot on the silver screen. Coupled with the fact that Margot has already been painted in a poor light, with her adultery, the viewer is drawn to Tony and there is a compelling need to see if this excruciatingly planned murder can be done. Tony certainly makes it sound easy enough, a few minutes work and zero risk for a thousand pounds. Lesgate would be a fool to say no and risk all his secret being exposed to the public.

In an ironic twist of fate, Tony will have Mark as his alibi while the murder is taking place. Hitchcock perfectly sets the mood right from the start by putting the tension on the rise and not letting up until the "murder" is completed. Contrary to the previous night, where Wendice had everything planned and every detail accounted for, such as rubbing the fingerprints off all the objects Lesgate touches while in the apartment, it seems nothing is going as it should. Mark sets Tony's fears alight by telling him there's no such thing as a perfect murder, something always go wrong. During these frantic few minutes, numerous obstacles are placed into Tony's way and they don't stop even when he finally does manage to make it out of the apartment. The nail-biting anxiety reaches the breaking point leading right up the final attack on Margot.

Despite Tony's perfect murder scenario being an utter disaster, he's immediately sent scrambling to still use the circumstances to set up his wife for the fall. He frantically stages the scene so it looks as if Margot killed Lesgate not in self-defense, but as a planned murder. Now that we have seen the brutal attack on Margot, and Tony no longer in his high authority role coupled with him setting up the now clueless Margot while playing the caring and supportive husband, the audience now shifts its sympathy to the wife. Tony is even usurped from his austere expert role by Chief Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) who has arrived to piece together what happened. He surmises the events from the evidence collected and immediately is thrown onto Margot as a suspect of foul play. He even figures out that Margot and Mark are having an affair and he is able to successfully deduce everything that occurred the night before.

Dial M for Murder works extremely well due to the structure of the narrative, the audience jumps from identifying with the husband, which maximizes the tension leading up to the titular murder, and then shifts its focus to feeling sorry for the wife. Now the audience is on edge for Hubbard to discover what really happened before Margot is hanged for a crime she did not commit. Hubbard turns out to be the expert we thought Tony to be from the beginning, except his staged scheme works successfully, while Tony's which at first sounded impossible not to succeed, is an abject failure. The grisly subject matter is allayed by excellent casting and Milland ensures that while we may not wish Tony to succeed in the end in killing his wife, he is never despised or hated. This film is a edge of your seat thriller that still packs a considerable punch even after viewing it more than once.

Favorite moment: The murder scene is by far the best, continuing the escalating tension that began before Tony even left the apartment. Hitchcock is expertly able to squeeze every last second for what it's worth, even showing the connections being made when Tony dials the number. Hearing his wife struggle on the other end of the line, Tony appears downtrodden and takes no pleasure in the fact he is hearing his wife's life slipping away. There's almost a moment of relief when he does hear her voice, knowing she is still alive, before the realization of his new troubles. Tony is kept in a firm shade of grey and the ratcheting tension makes for the best sequence in the entire film.