DIAL M FOR MURDER-1954-3 STARS

16. May 2008 by Ria.

Now I read that Cary Grant was considered for the role of Tony Wendice, yes he would have been a good choice too, but I’ve got to hand it to Ray Milland, he was brilliant. He was great at carrying off that aristocratic/stuck-up image, but I had a hard time seeing him as a retired tennis player. After all, they do have to work hard for their money, and because of that, tennis players seem to be more down to earth as apposed to Tony Wendice, who acts like he has a stick up his butt for most of the movie.

But I’ve got to hand it to the guy, he’s a sly fox like no other, but don’t underestimate Margot (Grace Kelly) either. Now I know in the beginning she comes across as a snobby priss, but she knows how to take care of business when her life is on the line. I’ll tell you another thing, what really impressed me was Margot’s dress in the first scene, ladies you got to see it, first of all its a firery red with lace sleeves that come down off the shoulders, and…………….Oh, I’m sorry guys, I know you don’t want me rantin’ and ravin’ over some dress, so let me get back into my review.

Anyway, Tony is all pissed off (even though he hides it well) ’cause his wife is messing around with crime writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), and he’s afraid that his cash cow might go sailing away with the guy. Tony plots her murder, but he needs to find the right guy to pull if off, and what do you know, he runs into Swan (Anthony Dawson). Well, Tony has been scoping him out for at least a year, diggin’ up dirt on him for blackmailing purposes.

This Swan guy has a lengthy petty crime dossier, let’s see here, staying at various apartments, and splittin’ when the rent was due. Oh, I don’t want to forget about the numerous girlfriends that he conned out of tons of money, which I don’t understand. C’mon, Swan looks like crap, how is he able to get so many women? Anyway, Tony has it all planned, and has covered his tracks pretty well.

So the night of the murder Swan uses a key that Tony hid under the stairs, snuck in, waited for Margot to answer the phone, AND ITS ON NOW! Swan tries to strangle her with a stocking, but Margot gets a good lick in, and stabs Swan into oblivion with a pair of scissors. Uh oh, a murder plot gone awry, “Tony, you better come up with something quick!”

We really don’t have anything to worry about ’cause it seems that he has plan A and B. First, Tony tells his wife not to call the police, AND SHE LISTENS TO HIM! Now if I was Margot, I would have gotten suspicious immediately after he said that, calling the cops or the ambulance is always the first thing anyone should do in a situation like this. Anyway, Tony is so smooth, he quickly puts plan B into play, and by messing with evidence is able to implicate Margot, and BAM! she goes to jail, and winds up on Death Row.

Let this be a lesson to all adulterers out there, if there is a robbery, or murder anywhere near the person that you’re messin’ around with, the cops will come looking for you first, so don’t take the chance. Now Tony is now patting himself on the back now the he’s pretty much a bachelor again, but then he starts goofing up by spending some serious cash, the money that Swan was supposed to get after he murdered Margot.

The police start snooping around again, now Tony is in trouble. Not because of the money, but an exchange of keys. Okay listen up, ’cause I’m only gonna say this once, Tony stole Margot’s key from her purse, and hid it under the carpet on the stairs in the hallway, so that Swan could get into the apartment, but he was supposed to put the key back.

Well, he did put it back, after he unlocked the door, and not after the Margot’s murder. So when Tony came home (he used his own key) and found Swan dead, he searched for the key on his body, and found one, but it wasn’t Margot’s key, it was the key to Swan’s girlfriend’s apartment. So Tony takes that key, and put it back in Margot’s handbag, while Margot’s key is still hiding under the carpet in the stairwell.

The inspector eyebrows are raised when he tried to use the key in Margot’s handbag to sneak into their apartment to look at Tony’s financial records. But the key didn’t work, so Mr. Inspector does the old bait and switch of trenchcoats with key-in-pocket to find out if Tony really planned Margot’s murder. Tony walks right into the trap, as he goes to the stairs to retrieve the key when he uses the Inspector’s key to get into his own apartment, and can’t.

If you’re confused right now, sorry, I don’t know what to tell you, just see the damn movie! I did have a hard time believing that Margot was in prison for any length of time (she was released in the end). Why did she have makeup on? Why wasn’t her hair a mess? Why didn’t she have a couple of black eyes, as a result of getting the crap beat out of her by jail birds?

Now click on the link below to watch the trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb1F6pnXlPY

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