Ray Milland

In Dial M for Murder (1954), Ray Milland lets Tony Wendice conduct intimate conversations without showing much strain. As the scheming husband, he has no need to advertise his wickedness; the calculation continues while the manners stay intact. We felt uneasy because his calculation did not disturb the easy way he spoke to the people around him. It is a persuasive performance, and a good place to begin with an actor whose pleasantness could be frightening.

That ease had served him through years as a leading man at Paramount, in comedies and dramas. Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945), in which he plays an alcoholic writer, marked the decisive move into heavier dramatic work. He prepared by observing alcoholics, a useful reminder of the work behind an apparently ready-made leading man. The Big Clock (1948) followed, putting his darker screen presence to use in noir.

Hitchcock makes especially good use of him by allowing us to understand Tony's thinking. We watch the people talking to him with concern, rather than simply waiting for the next surprise. Milland's restraint helps to keep these long exchanges compelling without a grand display of villainy. The film still has stiff stretches of explanation, and the actors cannot make its theatrical origins disappear. Even so, Milland gives us a reason to listen closely when following the scheme takes effort.

His later career moved into character parts and television, with horror and science fiction among the work. The parts included Dr James Xavier in X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) and Oliver Barrett III in Love Story (1970). Some of the later material failed to match his abilities. There is no reason to treat an entire genre as beneath him on that account. Begin with Dial M for Murder, but choose an evening when nobody intends to talk over it.