Dial M for Murder (1954)

Hitchcock took on the adaptation of Frederick Knott's play mainly to fulfil a contract and showed little enthusiasm for it. Despite some flat 3D set pieces, there are deft directorial touches and strong performances from Ray Milland and Grace Kelly.

The critic finds Dial M for Murder one of Hitchcock’s most purely enjoyable films despite its stage-bound origins. The direction of performers and the intimate exchanges between characters are singled out for praise.

The 3D restoration highlights inventive spatial interplay in this chatty murder mystery despite its theatrical roots. The airtight plot generates strong suspense even while withholding little from the audience.

The innovative 3D camera-work is now the thriller's main selling point in this re-release. Ray Milland is great as the cold husband but Grace Kelly is miscast as the wife.

The film is one of Hitchcock's most bleakly amusing despite his own reservations about it. It reveals much about his approach to filmmaking through its technical challenges and use of 3D and colour.

The film is a smooth confection changed little from the stage play. Ray Milland is convincingly pathological, Grace Kelly makes a sympathetic figure, and the piece becomes grimly diverting once the murder wheels are set in motion.

Hitchcock turns Frederick Knott's one-set play into a sleek thriller of coils twining with evil. Ray Milland is excitingly effectual as the machinating husband, Grace Kelly does a nice job as the wife, and the film is vividly pictorial.

The melodramatics have been transferred virtually intact but are not as impressive on film, remaining more of a filmed play than a motion picture. Performances and Hitchcock's suspense tricks gloss over basic weaknesses but not enough to rate it a cinch winner.

Hitchcock excels by tightening a stage play into a confined-space thriller, using close details of action and expression to heighten subtexts and the characters' sense of being trapped. The result is a clever, socially aware film that builds tension through relationships and power dynamics, making it an absolute must for fans despite not being among his most famous works.