A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 5 wins & 3 nominations total
- Banquet Member
- (uncredited)
- Detective
- (uncredited)
- Bobby Outside Flat
- (uncredited)
- Police Photographer
- (uncredited)
- Detective
- (uncredited)
- Woman Departing Ship
- (uncredited)
- Banquet Member
- (uncredited)
- Banquet Member
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Alfred Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant to star, but Warner Brothers felt that he would be miscast as a villain.
- Goofs(at around 24 mins) Wendice throws a £100 bundle on a pink armchair. The money falls right at the back of the seat. A few minutes later, Swann takes the money which is now right in front of the armchair.
- Quotes
Tony Wendice: How do you go about writing a detective story?
Mark Halliday: Well, you forget detection and concentrate on crime. Crime's the thing. And then you imagine you're going to steal something or murder somebody.
Tony Wendice: Oh, is that how you do it? It's interesting.
Mark Halliday: Yes, I usually put myself in the criminal's shoes and then I keep asking myself, uh, what do I do next?
Margot Mary Wendice: Do you really believe in the perfect murder?
Mark Halliday: Mmm, yes, absolutely. On paper, that is. And I think I could, uh, plan one better than most people; but I doubt if I could carry it out.
Tony Wendice: Oh? Why not?
Mark Halliday: Well, because in stories things usually turn out the way the author wants them to; and in real life they don't... always.
Tony Wendice: Hmm.
Mark Halliday: No, I'm afraid my murders would be something like my bridge: I'd make some stupid mistake and never realize it until I found everybody was looking at me.
- Crazy creditsThe title is shown on a background of a British telephone dial; its MNO marking is replaced by a single large M which forms the single M of the title.
- Alternate versionsThe film had an intermission in its original 3-D release, although it is less than two hours in length.
- ConnectionsEdited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Le contrôle de l'univers (1999)
However. it actually has a lot going for it, being beautifully shot in luminous colour, extremely well acted in almost every role and peppered throughout with those eye-catching and brain-satisfying flourishes which so distinguished the director from the rest.
Yes, it is very set-bound, betraying its stage origins and likewise very talky, especially on exposition, but it keeps the viewer alert throughout and delivers a neatly satisfying conclusion. I do wish Hitchcock could have done better with his back-projection unit (an old-fashioned, jarring trait he still hadn't grown out of by "Marnie" some 10 years later) and I occasionally found the constant too frivolous background music an intrusion, but it's well paced throughout, helped considerably by an on-form cast.
Ray Milland is excellent in a kind of darker Cary Grant type persona, Grace Kelly (who'd want to murder her?) goes convincingly from loveliness to wretchedness while it's pleasing to see Robert Cumming to the fore, recalled by Hitch for the first time in over a decade (since "Saboteur" in 1942). The actors playing the would be murderer and nosey police inspector are just fine too.
About those flourishes..., perhaps the most famous being the changing spotlight on Grace Kelly's doomed face as her trial is condensed into just a few terse minutes and of course the murder scene itself, even if one can't imagine her extended stabbing gesture being strong enough to cut through Swann's jacket far less kill him stone dead, but I also enjoyed the raised tracking shot looking down on Milland as he explains his plot to Swann and particularly the parting shadows of lovers Cumming and Kelly at Milland's unexpected approach.
Yes, it's old fashioned Hollywood movie-making, but it's old-fashioned Hollywood movie-making at its best and in my opinion an unjustly overlooked effort from the Master.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,400,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $24,845
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,562
- Apr 11, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $43,308
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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