There is no such thing as a perfect murder, at least, in the real world; you make a mistake... somewhere, or the other. That seems to be the underlying theme in the Hitchcock movies I have seen. I saw Dial M for Murder while traveling, and it was utterly awesome timepass. With the simplest of sets, this great man can have your attention like none other. I forgot I was traveling, I forgot I was in a narrow upper berth with no space to move... Grace Kelly was there, in her nightgown, in that train! phew.
The movie is basically about a tennis-player-turned-good-husband who wants to murder his previously philandering wife and inherit all her fortune. So, it starts with the guy scheming the murder, the actual event which goes all wrong, and the consequences. Pretty simple story with red herrings thrown in, a central clue, a detective that reminded me of Poirot... it was all there.
Hitchcock builds the suspense up with each sequence, in his characteristic manner. In my opinion, he does this primarily using music. The music seamlessly blends into the movie, and gets choppy or calm based on the sequence on play - the best part, you hardly notice it. But in its absence, would he still be able to create the same effect?
This movie is super, but it doesn't come close to Rear Window, the best I've seen of his so far. Right now, it stands 2nd between RW and North by Northwest. The problem with classy old movies is that, many new people make movies that are inspired, or at least, pay homage to them. Many of these new movies are plain kickass. I know it is not fair to compare, and they are giants in their own rights; but somehow, I can't help thinking how Lynch or Polanski would have done this movie :)
