Thursday, November 28, 2024

#48: DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954)


THRILL SCALE 1-10

7.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Never

BEST SEQUENCE

Tony's entrapment and coercion of Charles, and his explanation of the perfect murder he's planned out. The attempt to perpetrate this crime is also very effective, tense and thrilling. So, basically, I'll just say the whole first half of the movie

BEST LINE

None worth mentioning

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

90%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Dial M for Murder may be slightly off-peak Hitchcock, but by any other standard, it's a sophisticated, chillingly sinister thriller -- and one that boasts an unforgettable performance from Grace Kelly to boot."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife."

DIRECTOR

Alfred Hitchcock

MAIN CAST

Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams (no, not that John Williams), Anthony Dawson

THOUGHTS
  • The whole movie is good, but the first hour is really terrifically entertaining, and I loved Ray Milland's performance as Tony - smug and cocksure when he thinks he's planned the perfect murder, then a little more frazzled but still sly and devious when things start to unravel. I was impressed by how intriguing it was to hear Tony's description of his plan - barely any action on screen, just a man describing the act of violence that he wants to transpire. Then when that violence does happen, it's suspenseful and gripping. The first half of the movie also reminded me of Gaslight, another movie I really liked
  • The second half shifts gears a bit, turning into more of a detective story, a la Knives Out. Still good, and it's fun to watch the pieces fall into place and the facts get revealed, just not many thrills to be found
  • And actually, that's about all I have to say about Dial M for Murder! Before we go, though, I think it's worth taking a moment to admire Grace Kelly's career. She's another actress I didn't expect to see so often in these movies, but she'll be appearing two more times - High Noon at #20 and Rear Window at #14 (also directed by Hitchcock). Her film career lasted only five years - her first movie was in 1951, and her final movie was in 1956. In that short span of time she appeared in eleven movies, five of which were released in 1954 (including Dial M for Murder), and she was nominated for two Oscars, winning one as Best Actress for The Country Girl. And what was the reason for her incredible film career to only last for five years, you ask? Why, she became a princess, of course! She retired from acting to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Now, this might sound like a staggering list of achievements, enough to put most of us to shame. But...did she have a movie blog? I didn't think so
Up next: Just like when I reviewed both The Thing From Another World and John Carpenter's The Thing, the next movie on the AFI list is the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers from 1956 which was followed by a subsequent adaptation in 1978, neither of which I've seen. So, I'm going to review both, starting with the original

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