Dial M For Murder

TV, Dial M For Murder (film,1954)

It's Hitchcock. I had heard of it, but knew very little apart from the title and that it was about a guy who wants his wife dead. I expected it to be a bit suspenseful, but at the same time I expected it not to be much good for some reason. It actually was a good film, with a surprisingly real violence level that doesn't fob off the viewer with a less believeable sequence of attack.

I wondered what the rest of the film would be about after the murder or murder attempt, but the first part certainly kept the tension of not knowing if the murder would succeed. The second part held tension of a different kind - wondering if the real events would be discovered or not. To begin with you do feel a little uncertain as to who you should be wanting to succeed. There's a certain amount of hoping the murder comes off, but gradually the cold, calculating evil of the husband loses all sympathy.

The inspector was a very good character and the story keeps you watching to the end. It could teach a few recent blockbusters ('Star Trek XI' among them) how to make a coherent narrative. I suspected quite early that the key would literally be the key to the plot, though I had no idea how or why. I was proved correct in that. Pleasantly surprised would best descibe my reaction to the film. And where does Hitchcock appear this time? In the reunion photograph.

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