Dial M For Murder was made at the peak of Hitchcock's career. It was his first film to star Grace Kelly and oddly enough it was shot in 3D. It represents a moment in Hollywood history when the threat of television was being felt everywhere and even a self-contained adaption of a stage play could be a 3D movie. This notion is clearly absurd. If you didn't know beforehand there is practically no way to notice that this film was made in 3D. I saw it in 2D and it did nothing to lessen the impact.
This film stars Ray Milland as a husband who wants to murder his promiscuous wife (Grace Kelly). He has this perfect murder plot and the rest of the film follows with great surprises that shall not be spoiled here. The perfect murder idea has been explored countless times and even many times in Hitchcock movies. You would expect that this film would have nothing else to offer but the shock is that it does. The film keeps the audience on the edge of its seat as it hurls itself towards its end. I was even surprised a few times and it was as if Hitchcock was reading my mind and then doing the opposite of what I thought was going to happen. This is the best aspect of this film, the unexpected.
Perhaps the second best aspect of this film is the quality of acting on display. Milland is devilishly sophisticated as the husband and Grace Kelly shows a lot of layers as the wife. She could have played the role straight and gotten away with being Grace Kelly but instead she plays the role with surprising depth. The dialogue is actually quite good and often infused with great wit.
The direction as usual with Hitchcock is a strong pint. Shows great fluidity and camera movement as well as the proper lighting and shadow. Cutting too is incredibly effective. From the start of the film you are assured that you are in the hands of a master.
Unfortunately while this film has many ingredients that could easily make it top tier Hitchcock, it falters slightly in a few places. this is a nit pick to be sure but I just didn't get the sequence when (Spoiler Alert) a major character is brought to trial. It is overly stylized and to me just feels almost cheap even cheesy. This isn't typical of Hitchcock. Also the film has its own limitations because of its source material being a perfect murder story. The conclusion can feel convoluted at times but to the films credit everything feels well wrapped up in the end. Overall to call this anything but a great film would preposterous but you have to remember whose work we're looking at here and it is a testament Mr. Hitchcock that second tier for him is first rate for everyone else. 4/5
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