Dial M for Murder (1954): Back to the classics

Is is easy to plan the perfect crime?

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In the movies everything seems so easy, but in the end the villain is caught, in order for justice to prevail and the catharsis of the viewer to be achieved. No crime should be unpunished and the cleverer of the criminals will be apprehended. There are few movies, I believe, that the main villain is set free, unpunished.

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Dial M for murder could be one of these movies. The retired athlete, Tony (Ray Milland) married to a beautiful socialite heir, discovers that his wife (Grace Kelly) is having an affair with a crime novelinvolves an old fellow student, a petty crook. Tony blackmails him and forces him to attempt to murder his wife, while Tony will be at a party so he has an alibi.

The plan is genius: Tony will call his wife from the party to accomplish his alibi and while they are talking on the phone Arthur, who will have entered with the key that Tony has hidden in the yard, will suffocate her with a scarf.

But all plans almost always have a weakness: In this case, the woman who manages to kill her would-be killer with a pair of scissors while her husband listens in on the whole thing over the phone (and realizes his plan is going wrong).

But he still manages to reverse the conditions in his favor, since he creates the evidence that his wife deliberately killed the man who entered the house, as a result of which the latter was imprisoned and sentenced to death.
Will it be the perfect crime?

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It would be if the "demonic", methodical Inspector Hubbard didn't get in the way.
Hitchcock manages to create a encephalic film. The heroes hide behind the politeness of society and the types, the British phlegm to hide their desires and their plans. Although the main part of its action is inside a room, Hitchcock avoids making a claustrophobic film (after all, there are so many heroes going in and out of this room that it does not make us bored at all). Instead we wait to find that much-desired for our carthasis for the fall of the culprit, that which will lead him to his revelation.

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The performances of the protagonists contribute to the intensity of the suspense. Especially the protagonist of the film, the husband, with that cold style, full of hybris smile makes us wish for his punishment but deep inside we hope that maybe he will slip away. (my partner wasn't particularly impressed with its playing, but I think it's a matter of taste). As is Inspector Hubbard with his British humor (have I told you I'm crazy about British humor?) which slowly and gradually lets the web unfold.
In the pluses of the film, the presence in the role of the wife of one of the most beautiful women who passed through the cinema. Grace Kelly delightful as the victim wife of her husband, a feast for the eyes.

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I once read in an article that Hitchcock did not include this in his five best films. I can't be in the mind of the great director, but for me it is among his five best films. Clever script, excellent rhythm, that famous British humor, Hitchcock manages to set up a merry-go-round of people dancing around the truth.

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Dial M for Murder
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Frederick Knott
Cast: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings
Country: U.S.A.
Language; English
Year; 1954

PS. Knowing Hitchcock's habit of making cameo appearrances in each of his films, we kept a close eye on each scene in case we saw him. The truth is that we had to go back to the scene to notice him, gbecause the first time we missed him. For those of you who have seen the movie, have you noticed his cameo appearance?

Thank you for reading!