Dial M For Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954): USA

Reviewed by Casey Cummings at the Metro 4 Theater, Santa Barbara

It all seems like the perfect plan for ex professional tennis player Tony Wendice when he realizes that his wealthy wife is having an affair with an American writer and comes up with the perfect murder plot to inherit everything she has. But when things go  terribly wrong, he improvises a different plan which almost works. In this 1954 murder mystery Alfred Hitchcock is at his finest with a unique story that has you wondering whats going to happen at the end of the film.

Its the perfect murder, Tony will call his office phone while Captain Lesgate waits for Tony’s wife, Margot Mary Wendice, to get out of bed and answer the phone. After she answers the phone Lesgate will come out behind the curtains to strangle her to death. While Tony is out, his watch suddenly stops which alters the plan from the beginning. Captain Lesgate finds the key and sneaks into their house no problem where he sees that Margot is fast  asleep in her room. He hides behind the curtains and waits for the clock to hit 11:oo, the set time for the phone to ring. When minutes go by past 11 he knows something is wrong and wonders what to do. Tony finally gets the correct time and makes his way over to a pay phone to make the call. While Captain Lesgate is nervous and doesn’t know whether to leave and abort the plan or stay and wait, the phone finally rings. Margot awakens and gets out of bed wondering why the phone is ringing this late. She opens the door to her room and unconsciously makes her way over to the desk and picks up the phone. But no one is on the other line. “Hello.” “Hello,” she says again but its silent. Right when shes about to hang up the phone shes met by Captain Lesgate, not knowing who he is, strangling her in an attempt to kill her. Fighting to break free from his grasp and gasping for air, the odds are not looking good for Margot Wendice. Just during the last second of her life she grabs hold of a pair of scissors on the desk, stabbing Lesgate in the back and essentially killing him. At this point Tony is still on the other line and can hear Margot  is still alive, realizing hes in a world of trouble for himself. Just when he comes up with plan b, he is challenged by the police and is pushed to the limit.

Even though this film was not a new film like the others in the SBIFF, it was a terrific murder/thriller that had me thinking the entire time. A wonderful film and if you like other Hitchcock films I highly recommend it!