Dial M for Murder: Difference between revisions

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Line 52: * [[Robin Hughes]] as Police Sergeant ==Production background== ~~==Cinematography==~~ A commentary on ''Dial M for Murder'' ascribed to Hitchcock goes like this: "As you can see, the best way to do it is with scissors." This refers at the same time to the film's pivotal scene, in which Grace Kelly stabs her would-be murderer with a pair of [[scissors]], and to the clever editing which is a hallmark of his movies. One of the finest scenes is when we see Tony Wendice at the stag party, slightly nervous and frequently looking at his watch. It is already past eleven when he notices that it has stopped: He gets up from the table, hurries to the phone booth, has to wait there and eventually calls his flat well after 11 o'clock, at the very moment Lesgate is about to leave it again, believing that he has waited in vain. This is a miniature race against time full of dramatic music, complete with a cut to the automatic telephone exchange. Line 58: Apart from a few short outdoor shots—Tony Wendice approaching and leaving his flat etc.—the claustrophobic atmosphere of other Hitchcock films (''[[Lifeboat (film)\|Lifeboat]]'', ''[[Rope (film)\|Rope]]'', ''[[Rear Window]]'') can also be found here. Most of the action is restricted to a single set. The angle of the camera is also of interest (several times shot from the ceiling, a sort of bird's eye view, other times shot from low down, so that the scene includes the part of the floor where the body was found). Hitchcock was planning to film ''The Bramble Bush'' based on the 1948 novel by [[David Duncan (writer)\|David Duncan]] as a [[Transatlantic Pictures]] production with partner [[Sidney Bernstein]]. However, there were problems with the script and budget, Hitchcock and Bernstein decided to dissolve their partnership, and Warner Brothers allowed Hitchcock to scrap ''The Bramble Bush'' and begin production on ''Dial M for Murder''.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Bf5l0qtZabMC&pg=PA456&lpg=PA456&dq=david+duncan+the+bramble+bush&source=bl&ots=U8psC0NI4c&sig=3EM1D6BRMmJQou9rE3kkGA1GlmQ&hl=en&ei=fxC-TIfDDoyqsAPSpqD7DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=david%20duncan%20the%20bramble%20bush&f=false Patrick McGilligan, ''Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light'' (2002) via Google Books]</ref> Margot and Mark's names were changed for the film. In the original play, they were Shelia Mary Wendice and Max Halliday.