Dial M for Murder
Plays! Theatre! Stagecraft! Sometimes, they get made into films! More often than you might realize, actually. One of my earliest memories of reading about film was an interview in which Alfred Hitchcock mentioned something along the lines of (and I’m paraphrasing here) “When the batteries run dry, shoot a play.”
Dial M for Murder (1954), directed by the one and only Hitchcock, is a tightly wound thriller that will surprise you if you’re the type of person who doesn’t believe media older than 1990 can be tightly wound or surprising. Based on a play by Frederick Knott, the film stars Ray Milland as Tony Wendice, a former tennis player who plots to murder his wealthy wife, Margot (Grace Kelly), for her fortune. This is all you need to know of the plot. To Hitch’s point regarding shooting plays when the batteries are dry, you can see that his interest lies primarily in creating suspense using sight and sound.
The beauty of Dial M for Murder lies in its simplicity. Nearly the entire film takes place in a single apartment, a space that feels increasingly claustrophobic as the tension mounts. Hitchcock's mastery of suspense is on full display here, using long, quiet moments to build anxiety and draw the viewer in closer to the characters’ motivations. The confined setting (a direct result of the play on which this film is based) and limited cast allow the audience to focus on the intricate plot, which twists and turns with each new revelation.
What makes Dial M for Murder fascinating is how it handles the idea of morality. Tony is not your typical cold-blooded killer. He’s motivated by greed, sure, but there’s an intellectual precision to his plotting that almost makes you admire him—until, of course, you remember what he’s trying to do. Hitchcock plays with this moral ambiguity, leaving the audience to consider how easily charm and intelligence can mask darker intentions.
Even in this (blessedly) shorter runtime, Dial M for Murder delivers everything you want from a thriller: suspense, clever dialogue, and a plot that keeps you guessing until the very end. It’s a tight, perfectly crafted crime film that remains as gripping today as it was in the 1950s.
Dial M for Murder
Written by Frederick Knott; Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
1954
105 minutes
English
Recommended way to watch (at time of publication): Max
You’ll like this if you like: Rear Window (1954), Rope (1948), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)