Kinematoscope

Do you think Alfred Hitchcock ever killed anyone? This is the second film of his we're getting to that deals specifically with the idea of a perfect murder, so clearly he gave it a lot of thought.

I'm just saying I wouldn't want him as an enemy. Consider that as we delve into his 1954 classic Dial M For Murder.

The Key Players:

I'm sure I needn't remind you that this is Hitchcock Part 3: With A Vengeance on the countdown.

We've also seen Ray Milland before, drinking himself into oblivion in The Lost Weekend. These intros are getting easier to write all the time!

It's the first time we've seen Grace Kelly, however- I'd remember. She's one of the most iconic figures in cinema despite making a meager 11 features before retiring at 26 to become Princess of Monaco. That list includes an Oscar nomination (Mogambo), a win (The Country Girl), and three highly regarded collaborations with some tubby British director with killing people on the brain.

Finally Robert Cummings was a prolific comic actor of both silver and small screens, but is remembered for key parts in a few dramas like this one, Kings Row, and Hitchcock's earlier Saboteur.

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The Story:

Dial M For Murder is filled with many long, expository discussions, which all lead up to a complex mystery that hinges on many specific details- I'll try to just sum it up.

Milland is married to Kelly, and Kelly's had an affair with Cummings. Milland finds out by stealing a letter she received from her paramour, then sending her fake blackmail notes in the hope it would lead her to confess, but it doesn't.

He then plans to have Kelly murdered by a old acquaintance from college that's fallen into a life of crime, by gathering dirt on the man and essentially forcing him.

The plan is, Milland will go with Cummings to a stag party (thus having an alibi), leave a key for the murderer, call the flat to get Kelly out of bed, whereupon she'll be strangled. Easy as pie, right?

Wrong: Kelly, in the midst of some very theatrical flailing, grabs a pair of scissors from the desk and stabs the man in the back, killing him, all of this while Milland is still on the phone.

Flabbergasted, he tells her to talk to no one, and touch nothing, until he gets there. Once he does, he calls the police and ushers her into bed, then does some quick thinking and rearranges a few key details:

1. He takes the key he left from the hitman's pocket and puts it back in Kelly's handbag.

2. He burns the stocking used in the failed attempt, and replaces it with one from Kelly's sewing kit (hiding the other under the desk-mat).

3. He places the stolen letter in the deadman's pocket.

But what does it mean? At this point the screen said "INTERMISSION," so I paused it and went to get a bagel.

The Artistry:

For such a talky film, Dial M For Murder is a lot of fun. I never thought they'd let Grace Kelly be strangled to death, really, but the drama leading up to the titular phone call (the number even starts with a 6, which totally has M in it!) is very well edited: Milland's watch stops, and the murderer nearly leaves before the phone rings at all. Then we're not sure if he's stayed or left when the nightgown-clad Kelly answers the phone by firelight.

The acting is all workable, with Milland in particular nailing the sort of erudite flippance that's more characteristic of Cary Grant (who actually wanted to play the part, but the studio vetoed the likable star as a villain). Kelly oversells the hysterics at times, but late in the film has a certain weariness that I found affecting.

Hitchcock shows a good command of light and shadow in composition without getting too noir-ish, I would say. The score struck me as a little rote and overloud, though.

But let's get to the end and see if the plot gets too ridiculous to bear.

THE ENDING! SPOILERS!

So an inspector comes by to clear up the details of what happened- with no forced entry, her own stocking posited as the attempted murder weapon (Milland makes sure they find the other hidden in the desk), and her letter in the dead man's jacket, it looks like Kelly lured her supposed blackmailer to the flat and then stabbed him.

Sure enough, in a surreal montage of dialogue read to just Kelly's vacant stare, we hear a trial, conviction, and death sentence read out. Oh no!

But not to worry- not only does Cummings inadvertantly stumble on the truth by proposing that Milland tell the exact same story as a lie to save Kelly from execution the next day, the inspector has figured out that the key in Kelly's handbag was in fact the dead man's own key, and the real one was replaced outside the door.

Milland reveals himself after the inspector swipes his key, and he tries to use the false one (after reclaiming his wife's effects) and then finds the real one on the stairwell- for some reason the inspector seems to think that they can't prove anything if he doesn't find that key and open the door, when you'd think they had enough already (Milland had also been spending large amounts of cash that originally was meant to pay off the killer).

It ends very low key, as Milland just sighs and pours himself a drink, and offers Kelly and Cummings one as well. I liked the resolute way it was handled.

END SPOILERS


Overall: Should It Be Higher, Lower?

Definitely my favorite of the three so far, and a deserving countdown placeholder- my least favorite part might be the title, which is much cornier than the film itself.

The Legacy:

Remakes: two Bollywood versions, as well as 1998's A Perfect Murder, which makes the other man and assassin the same character.

The Best Video Of It On YouTube:

Murder sequence! I would've hung up that phone way sooner than Kelly.

Leftover Thoughts:

-Ages of the pricinpal stars: Milland 49, Cummings 44, Kelly 25. But she easily holds her own.

-Cummings figured out the whole plot because he's a mystery writer. Did I not mention that?

-Dial M For Murder was originally shot in 3D, just as the craze was dying down, but not released that way until a resurgence of the format in the 80s. If you have any glasses handy (or you're an expert at crossing your eyes on command), you can even watch a 3D clip here.

Coming Up...

Fri, May 14th: 191. Harvey

Tue, May 18th: 190. The Hustler

Fri, May 21st: 189. The Kid

Get used to this Hitchcock fellow, everyone- today we take on his most American film of all in 1943's Shadow Of A Doubt.

There's plenty of doubts, not that many shadows.

The Key Players:

Good old Al moved from Britain to America in 1939 after singing a deal with megaproducer David O. Selznick, but it would be a few more years before he embraced small-town Americana. And who better to help him do so than Thornton Wilder, three-time-Pulitzer winning author of "Our Town." Wilder co-wrote the screenplay for Shadow Of A Doubt and gets his own special thanks in the credits, right before our director ("We wish to acknowledge the contribution of Mr. Thorton Wilder to the preparation of this production").

Star Teresa Wright is the only actor to be Oscar-nominated in their first three roles- she won Supporting Actress for Mrs. Miniver, and was up for The Pride Of The Yankees and The Little Foxes. Following that hat-trick with her best-remembered role here, Wright's promising start lead to a long career capped by stars on both walks of fame, film and tv.

Joseph Cotten is most famous as Charles Foster Kane's best friend in Citizen Kane, and would headline classics like The Magnificent Ambersons and The Third Man.



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The Story:

We open the film on a reposing and seemingly despondent Charles Oakley (Cotten), whose maid tells him of two men she turned away at the door. Breaking out of his reverie, he steps out and is followed by the two men, who are probably government agents (everyone's wearing hats, it's hard to say), but shakes them and heads for the train depot. He wires his sister in Santa Rosa, CA, that he's heading there for a visit.

That sister lives in a large house with her banker husband and three children. Her eldest daughter Charlie (Wright), named Charlotte in her uncle's honor, we meet in a similar repose and despondent manner- nothing ever happens in their picturesque small town, she complains, and has the idea to wire her uncle Charles to visit just before his own message arrives.

After some more small-town pleasantries (we get, they all know each other's names, great) they greet him at the train station. Soon they're exchanging pleasantries and gifts- he gives his niece an emerald ring, which is oddly engraved "TS from BM"- he claims the jeweler must have "rooked" him.

The next day two young men arrived claiming to be part of a government survey project (one of those random departments left over from the New Deal, surely) and need to interview and photograph the entire family. Uncle Charlie refuses to participate, and angrily demands the film when they snap him coming in the door.

The "reporter" takes young Charlie out for a night on the town, where he soon admits he's a detective pursuing the "Merry Widow Killer," an unknown man that's killed two rich widows. She refuses to believe her beloved uncle could be a killer at first, but he oddly steals two pages from the newspaper, and angrily grabs her arm when she tries to see them.

Fighting hysteria (and a very loud score), she goes to the library to find the clipping was indeed a story about the killer! Plus the next night at dinner her uncle compares rich widows to animals that need to be put down (Way to be subtle, pal). Also the killer's latest victim was named "Thelma Scheney," and was married to "Bruce Matheson."

Seeing her obvious suspicion, Uncle Charlie tells her that the police are after someone he got mixed up with, and she promises not to say anything as long as he leaves town...

The Artistry:

Aside from the usual histronic score, nothing struck me aesthetically about Shadow Of A Doubt. There was one odd editing touch: transition shots of couples ballroom dancing- a metaphor of some kind? And there's the usual noir contrast and attire, and the requisite Hitchcock cameo (about fifteen minutes in, playing cards on the train), but aside from the big ending, it all belongs to the script and performances.

Wright in particular is a great, bubbly presence, although she sells naivete better than fear in the later going (and she randomly falls in love with the detective guy, which seemed very thrown in). But she and Cotten have a downright creepy chemistry (like when he smilingly puts a ring on her finger) that keeps the tension high, even though it's pretty obvious to us from the beginning that he's bad news.

Every now and then Charlie's father and his friend hang around and discuss the best way to murder one another- it's just how they relax. It's an odd way to shoehorn in thematic relevance, not the least in the way a young Hume Cronyn plays the friend with a budding-serial-killer energy.

The story seems to take for granted a certain understanding of the small-town togetherness that I really didn't understand: a lot of emphasis is placed on the sister's joy to have her brother back after such a long time, and what his arrest would do to her. The detectives, once they zero in on him, tell Charlie they'll wait for him to leave town and arrest him then instead of just getting him at the house! Really?

THE ENDING! SPOILERS!

A second Merry Widow suspect is killed fleeing from police in Maine, so Uncle Charlie is suddenly in the clear, but our heroine knows (from the ring, at least) that he's still involved, even though she lets her detective boyfriend think the case is over.

She then starts having strange accidents- a step breaks on her way down, and she nearly suffocates in the garage after someone starts the car, takes the key, and closes the door after her. Needing leverage, she goes through her uncles things to take back the incriminating ring- when he sees her wearing it, he announces his intention to leave town after all.

Bidding goodbye on the train, all three children see him to his compartment, but he holds his niece back as the train begins to move. He pushes her to the space in between cars, and moves to throw her onto the tracks. He has to, he claims, since she knows what she does.

But she struggles, and he ends up faling on the tracks instead, right the path of an incoming train! Another odd shot of couples waltzing, and we go to his funeral, where at least Charlie can tell the whole story to her detective boyfriend, if no one else.

END SPOILERS


Overall: Should It Be Higher, Lower?

Eh. I liked it, sure, but Hitchcock's best film? Shadow Of A Doubt certainly had a more exciting finish than the anticlimactic Rope, but it's hard to believe there's not better suspense out there. Cotten adn Wright certain tangle memorably, but the melding of Hitchcock's murderous existentialism and Wilder's aw-shucks communal togetherness didn't yield much for me.

The Legacy:

It was turned into several radioplays, and loosely remade in 1958 as Step Down To Terror. The only Oscar nomination was for the screenplay, and it's been included in the National Film Registry and all.

Allegedly Hitchcock referred to it as his favorite of his American films, so take that, Psycho.

The Best Video Of It On YouTube:

Listen to the score as she runs to the library. Never has reading a newspaper been so dramatic!



Leftover Thoughts:

-Henry Travers (the dad) totally looks like Richard Nixon in this film. I found it distracting.

Coming Up...

196. Sleuth (1972)

195. A Streetcar Named Desire

194. King Kong (1933)

Today Alfred Hitchcock makes the first of approximately eight thousand appearances on the countdown with 1948's Rope. Based on Patrick Hamilton's 1928 play, Rope was inspired the real-life case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two brilliant University of Chicago students that sought to commit the "perfect crime."

It starts with a muffled shriek, and ends with a gun fired into the air. In between...cold cuts and champagne! Let's do this.

The Key Players:

It would take a while to list all of theHitchcock films that we'll get to- though oddly the classic The Birds is not among them. Clearly a profound influence on film, Hitch went 0 for 6 in the Best Director Oscar category, though they gave him a Thalberg eventually.

Pretty sure we've seen Jimmy Stewart before.

John Dall we've already met many years (and pounds) later in his life as Glabrus in Spartacus, and Farley Granger will appear with Hitchcock in the future with Strangers On A Train

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The Story:

After the credits (remember when the credits used to all be in front of the film instead of the end? How did people stay awake you guys?), we hear a shriek and then see Dall and Granger finish strangling a man and then stuff the body in a large book chest.

After a breathless few moments that are a clear analogy to a post-coital state, they begin to plan for their upcoming dinner party. The man they killed was David Kentley, whom they considered an inferior being- they decided to commit the perfect murder by strangling him and then hiding his body during a party that includes his parents, his fiancee, and his former best friend.

The nerve! They've also invited their former schoolmaster (Stewart), an intellectual who had taught them Nietzsche's concept of the superman- a superior being unbound by the concepts of right and wrong.

Dall, clearly the more dominant of the muderers, is thrilled and bemused to have pulled it off- he makes several ironic remarks about the victim's abscence, although it worries the rest of the guests. Granger slowly unravels as the night continues, wrought with worry and guilt.

After a few obvious clues, it's clear that Stewart is going to figure it out. But will he approve of the supposed intellectual exercise?

The Artistry:

Rope is shot in an interesting way- in only ten long shots, the camera dancing around the actors and removable scenery like a guest itself. Half of the cuts are disguised by closeups into someone's back, making the film look like five uninterrupted takes. It's fun to watch, and the premise holds up reasonably well for the brisk 77 minute run-time.

Dall's performance sells the film for me- he moves from threatening to charming at will, and his chemistry with Stewart is fascinating. Stewart doesn't show up until 27 minutes into the story, but he takes over once he does, with wry humor and obvious glances at the book chest and Granger's nervous pallour.

It's surprising that the relationship at the film's center made it past the Hayes Code: not a lot of men shared apartments onscreen in 1948. Apparently there are even more undertones between them and the schoolmaster in the play.

THE ENDING! SPOILERS!

After the guests become frantic over their son/fiancee/friend's failure to appear or call, they all decide to leave. The housekeeper accidentally hands Stewart a hat with the dead man's initial monnogrammed on the inside on his way out- he returns a brief time later, pretending to have forgotten his cigarette case.

After some meaningful questions, he finally opens the chest and is horrified. He's also deeply ashamed that his own idle rhetoric led Dall and Granger to the murder. He takes Dall's gun and fires shots out the window- we hear startled neighbors shout in alarm, and sirens approach as the three men stand grimly by.

END SPOILERS


Overall: Should It Be Higher, Lower?

I think it's fine enough where it is- the way it's staged is memorable for such a director and star. These days it's all Tony Scott cutting every thirty seconds until we get epileptic tremors.

The Legacy:

No awards, no AFI inclusion- it's arugably the least-lauded classic film we've seen so far.

But it stands as one of the gutsiest experiments in Hollywood history.

The Best Video Of It On YouTube:

A scene near the end, when Dall and Granger realize Stewart is coming back. It was either this or an entire ten-minute chunk, as several people have put the whole thing on there in pieces.



Leftover Thoughts:

-There's apparently a Hitchcock cameo in caricature in the background, but I didn't notice.

-The background itself is a full on miniature replica of the Manhattan skyline, complete with working chimneys.

-Maybe it's for tension, or just to fit into the shot, but a lot of people stand awkwardly close to one another while talking in Rope.

-Make sure to check out the trailer up there, it's a trip- there's a prequel scene not in the film, and then Stewart talks to us as his character.

Coming Up...

202. Duck Soup

201. The African Queen

200. Brief Encounter