key to the plot
by Douglas Messerli
Frederick Knot (screenplay, based on
his stage play), Alfred Hitchcock (director) Dial M for Murder / 1954
This film also has very little suspense going for it: we know who the
killer is and the man behind him from near the beginning of the work, and we
know his motives. And, accordingly, there is little action. Tony Wendice hires
Captain Lesgate (Swann) to kill his wife so that he might inherit her money and
to punish her for her long ago sexual transgression. His plans for the murder,
including his involvement with the former school mate, is painstakingly detailed,
in a long patch of dialogue, by Wendice himself. And, although, the murder
actually fails, due to Tony’s machinations Margot is found guilty of Swann’s
murder and sentenced to death. Even detective writer Mark is able to see
through Tony’s veil of lies. The only unanswered question is how Mark and,
perhaps the Chief Inspector, will save Margot and discover the labyrinthine
“truth.” In short, much of this film creaks with a plot that Tony himself
announces is “unrealistic.”
Despite the work’s absolute
staginess—or, one might argue because
of it—this film works, mostly because of Milland’s delicious ability to
placidly prevaricate, Cummings’ boyish loyalty to Margot, and Kelly’s gift of
simply radiating a confused beauty. And
then there’s that hilariously complex plot to keep up all amused: Tony’s slow
weekly withdrawals of bank funds to pay for the murder while hiding the fact
from the police, his secret tracking of Swann, a shady character who even in
his schooldays has committed numerous petty crimes against women before Wendice
has tracked him down, and Tony’s voyeuristic stalking of the man at the dog
races week after week. Add to that Tony’s accidental uncovering of Mark’s love
letter to his wife, his fake blackmail attempts, the way he lures Mark into
attending a stag party as a cover for his whereabouts the night of his wife’s
murder, his planned-to-the-second telephone call to draw her out of the
bedroom, etc. etc.—seemingly all for naught, since, when his watch stops, he’s
late with the call, Swann nearly leaving, with Swann being murdered with the
scissors Tony has asked his wife to cut out articles from his past tennis
career.
The only truly dramatic event of the
film is the attempted murder, where Swann is poised over the intended victim
almost as in act of sex before Margot, reaching for the scissors, thrusts them
into his back, he impaling them even deeper with his fall to the floor. This
scene is pure Hitchcock magic!
What follows is almost a purposeful
unweaving of the whole fabric of Tony’s lies, as he redirects the very acts he
has used to hide his involvement—including his silence on the phone, his
insistence that she not immediately call the police, the discovery of money on
the murdered man, and entry through the front door—to his wife, freeing himself
to guiltlessly end the relationship. Milland’s icy demeanor throughout makes
him the perfect fiend.
There is only one small element that has escaped this monster’s
attention. The key found in Swann’s pocket, returned by Tony to his wife’s
purse, is not the key to their flat, but to Swann’s own. Swann, thoroughly
obeying Tony’s orders, has faithfully returned the house key to the rug upon
the staircase outside the door. Since the inspector has switched raincoats with
Wendice, and Margot, asked to return home, has no way to enter the flat, when
the now keyless Tony checks the staircase, he reveals his guilt by his very
entry.
Even now, however, Milland as Tony
retains his cool, pouring himself up a large drink before, presumably, going
off to prison and his ultimate hanging.
Los Angeles, February 10, 2013
Reprinted from International
Cinema Review (February 2013).
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