By the mid-1950s, Alfred Hitchcock had firmly established himself as the master director of suspense films, but he still enjoyed experimenting with new technology (including 3-D) and collaborating with novice actresses. On May 29, 1954, he released “Dial M for Murder,” in which he incorporated some filmmaking fads of the day and made a star out of an actress whose short career begat a long-lasting legacy. Read on for more about the “Dial M for Murder” 70th anniversary.
The thriller was written by British playwright Frederick Knott, based on his successful stage play two years prior. When retired pro-tennis player Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) discovers his wealthy socialite wife Margot (Grace Kelly) is having an affair with their friend Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), he decides her death would be much more profitable than a divorce. He blackmails old acquaintance Charles Swann (Anthony Dawson) to stage a break-in and murder his wife, but the plan goes awry when Margot arms herself with a pair of scissors. Tony then comes up with an elaborate plan to frame Margot for murder, but Mark and Chief Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) suspect foul play and rush to save her before she meets the executioner.
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“Dial M for Murder” showcases two of the popular filmmaking styles of the 1950s, 3-D and Technicolor. The 3-D version was previewed in Philadelphia the weekend before its national release, and theater owners begged to show it in the flat version, as audiences were staying away. It’s an odd film to be shot in this format, as most of the scenes are conversations between people in an apartment. However, the famous scene in which Margo struggles for her life and reaches for the scissors is so thrilling on a flat screen, the 3-D effect surely makes it even more intense. The 3-D fad was short-lived, and Hitchcock later said that 3-D was “a nine-day wonder, and I came in on the ninth day.” Although the 3-D aspect disappointed, the Technicolor showcases a future princess fabulously.
Hitchcock directed more than 50 films, and only 15 were shot in color. “Dial M for Murder” was his third color film, and highlights the classic beauty and stunning fashion sense of his newest leading lady at the time, Grace Kelly. Kelly only made 11 films before she retired from acting upon her marriage to Prince Ranier III of Monaco when she was 26 years-old. Her style is legendary despite her short film career, both onscreen and in her life as a princess. Hitchcock took full advantage of her elegance and style in their collaborations, and the two had a wonderful working relationship; she starred in three of his most notable films.
The young actress had just come off her first successful film, “Mogambo,” when Hitchcock made her an even bigger star in “Dial M for Murder.” The director cast her in his next two films, “Rear Window” the same year, and “To Catch a Thief” the next year, both also filmed in color. The year 1954 was a stellar one for Kelly, as she won both the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress for her work in “Dial M for Murder,” “Rear Window” and “The Country Girl” (for which she would win the Oscar for Best Actress).
Although she is now the most well-remembered performer in “Dial M for Murder,” it was her on-screen duplicitous husband Ray Milland who received top billing. In 1946, Milland had won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as an alcoholic writer in Best Picture winner “The Lost Weekend,” and had become a top leading man of his day. Hitchcock balanced the two actors perfectly: could the audience blame poor Tony for wanting to kill his cheating wife? But she’s so sweet and genuinely terrified by the incident, should her guilt as a wife have such a high cost? And Tony is so clever with his plots, one almost wants him to get away with it. Both play their parts perfectly, with audiences rooting for each at various times.
The film is staged very much as the play was, and there is much more dialogue than action, requiring a tight cast of supporting players. Cummings had starred in the Hitchcock thriller “Saboteur” in 1942, and would go on to receive an Emmy for his role in a televised production of “Twelve Angry Men” in 1955. Anthony Dawson reprised his Broadway role of Swann for Hitchcock, and made a career out of playing memorable villains, including three Bond films. Williams had also appeared in the Broadway version of “Dial M For Murder,” and had won the Tony for Best Actor for his role as the inspector.
There have been several adaptations of the play, including the film “A Perfect Murder” (1998), starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen. Out of Hitchcock’s expansive catalogue, it’s not considered one of his greatest. But it’s a taut suspense film with great performances worth remembering, and notable for helping launch a great, if too brief, film career of one of the great leading ladies of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
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