Dial M for Murder (1954)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 5
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 35,874
My Rating
Movie Info
Based on the popular mystery play by Frederick Knott, Dial M For Murder is more talky and stagebound than most Hitchcock films, but no less enjoyable. British tennis pro Ray Milland suspects that his wealthy wife Grace Kelly is fooling around with handsome American Robert Cummings. Milland blackmails a disgraced former army comrade (Anthony Dawson) into murdering Kelly and making it look like the work of a burglar. But Milland's carefully mapped-out scheme does not take into account the notion
May 29, 1954 Wide
Sep 7, 2004
Warner Bros. Pictures
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Cast
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Ray Milland
Tom Wendice -
Grace Kelly
Margot Wendice -
Robert Cummings
Mark Halliday -
John Williams (II)
Chief Inspector Hubbard -
Anthony Dawson
Captain Swan Lesgate -
Patrick Allen
Detective Pearson -
Leo Britt
The Storyteller -
George Leigh
William -
George Alderson
The Detective -
Robin Hughes
A Police Sergeant -
Guy Doleman
Detective -
Sam Harris
Man in Phone Booth -
Thayer Roberts
Detective -
Jack Cunningham
Bobby -
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All Critics (31) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (5) | DVD (15)
The fun of Dial M lies in its duel of wits...
Top CriticDial M is less a filmed play than a highly cinematic investigation of theatricality.
Dial M remains more of a filmed play than a motion picture, unfortunately revealed as a conversation piece about murder which talks up much more suspense than it actually delivers.
The screenplay tends to constrain rather than liberate Hitchcock's thematic thrust, but there is much of technical value in his geometric survey of the scene and the elaborate strategies employed to transfer audience sympathy among the main characters.
It all moves along in a rather efficient if lifeless fashion, with only John Williams shining as a canny police detective.
[Hitchcock] tried once before, in Rope, to build up a whole continuous drama in one set. He wasn't as successful in that venture. Dial M has all the space it needs.
This second-tier Hitchcock is best known for Grace Kelly's star turn and sleek production values, including use of 3D.
Dial M for Murder may never look quite as impossibly perfect as it does on the big screen, but Warner's suitable, inarguably flawed Blu-ray transfer is by quite some lengths the best its ever looked on the small screen.
Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder isn't his best film, but it still to this day remains a classic murder-mystery that works because of its effective three leads and Hitchcock's attempt at creating a 3D film that almost surpasses the gimmick.
Dial M for Murder is often dismissed as lesser Hitchcock, yet its intricate plot and sterling performances thrill me every time I watch it.
Based on a magnificently intricate script ... it benefits immensely from Hitchcock's razor-sharp direction.
...a completely watchable yet less-than-consistent effort from Hitchcock...
Hitchcock thriller is tense, but not graphic.
In Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder, even the innocent have poker faces.
The film is about creating and maintaining suspense, which Hitchcock manages quite effectively. (TCM Greatest Classic Films: Murder Mysteries)
A modest thriller in comparison to Hitchcock's later works, but one that's nonetheless taut and cleverly managed.
Lower case Hitch, but diverting and sleek.
Audience Reviews for Dial M for Murder
Super Reviewer
I think if I hadn't seen A Perfect Murder fourteen years ago, I would have liked this film more. As it is, I saw all of the plot twists coming. The film is exceptionally plotted, each step leading to the next logically with just the right number and type of curveballs.
Because I knew the plot, I was able to gain some entertainment from the direction. Hitchcock is more subtle than Andrew Davis (the director of A Perfect Murder) who lingered on the kitchen knives for an inappropriately long time, while Hitch simply made Tom ask his wife to clip newspapers, a task that implicitly requires scissors. And the way some of the shots are framed reflect Hitch's great eye for color and balance; he can make a film alternately beautiful and frightening in a blink of an eye.
Overall, even though I enjoyed A Perfect Murder, I wish I could have seen this one first; like the book, the original film is so much better than the later, more Hollywood movie.
Super Reviewer
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- Tom Wendice: People don't commit murder on credit.
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Foreign Titles
- Bei Anruf Mord (DE)
- Dial M for Murder (UK)
