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Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend) hires a man to murder Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder. The film, based on a stage play by Frederick Knott, opens with Milland hiring an old college acquaintance (Anthony Dawson) to murder Kelly when she’s home alone, following a meticulous plan Milland has carefully laid out. The attempted murder goes awry, ending with Kelly successfully defending herself and killing Dawson. The police investigation, led by Johnny Williams as the chief investigator, ends in a surprise conviction of Kelly. The story climaxes with the chief investigator working with Kelly’s lover, a novelist played by Robert Cummings, to entrap Milland and uncover the truth before Kelly is sentenced to death.
Hitchcock is slavish to the source material and its theatrical roots, confining the action almost entirely to Milland’s and Kelly’s London apartment. While it’s never quite boring and the cast are all up to the task, one wishes Hitchcock would have opened this adaptation up more — anything to get us out of this dark, ugly apartment for a while. Hitchcock was strong-armed by the studio to film Dial M for Murder in 3D just as the fad was dying. As a result, Hitchcock only indulges in the third dimensions a couple of times, most notably when Kelly is being strangled and reaches toward the camera. It’s otherwise such a subtle use of 3D, it might as well not be used at all.
What rescues this film is its well-written plotting, dialogue, and performances. Milland is perfectly cast — so cool and debonair, we almost like him despite his murderous intentions. Kelly is reliably vulnerable and sweet, and Johnny Williams is perhaps the most valuable player. He won a Tony Award playing the chief investigator on stage and brings that level of excellence to the screen, invigorating the second half of the film with his quirky, dry wit. Even though it’s not as cinematic as many of Hitchcock’s other works, Dial M for Murder is still moderately engrossing as a filmed stage play.