Dial M for Murder - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Dial M for Murder or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Dial M for Murder

[melinda]

Warner Brothers forced Sir Alfred Hitchcock to make the movie to fulfill his contract. Such was his disinterest that he claimed he could have phoned in his direction, and that the action wouldn't have been any less interesting if he'd staged it in a phone booth.

[ivan]

Sir Alfred Hitchcock's dream cast for this movie included Deborah Kerr, William Holden, and Cary Grant. Kerr and Holden were busy making other movies. Grant refused to play a villain, a role Ray Milland was happy to play.

[albert]

Grace Kelly was instructed to behave as if she were in a trance of some type, during her scenes in the final act, to make her seem somewhat detached and distant.

[francisco]

A Perfect Murder (1998) was a very liberal adaptation of the stage play, "Dial M for Murder".

[stephanie]

In a television interview, Ray Milland said that he had fluffed his lines in a particular scene and ruefully apologized to Hitchcock. Sir Alfred Hitchcock, he said, stared at him stonily for few seconds and then said, "I wound it up, put it on the floor, and it wouldn't go."

[phyllis]

Warner Brothers insisted on shooting the movie in 3-D, although the craze was fading and Sir Alfred Hitchcock was sure the movie would be released flat. Hitchcock wanted the first shot to be that of a close-up of a finger dialing the letter M on a rotary dial telephone, but the 3-D camera would not be able to focus such a close-up correctly. Hitchcock ordered a giant finger made from wood with a proportionally large dial built in order to achieve the effect.

[christina]

At their first meeting, the untrustworthy Captain Swann is wearing a tie in the colors of a Guards regimental tie. However, this is not a genuine tie, as the diagonal stripes run in the American direction, opposite to British style. This is a contemporary detail used by spivs*. The tie resembles the trustworthy Guards tie well enough to fool most, but gives an excuse if a genuine Guardsman queries one's service record. (*"Spiv" is a Britishism for "a man who lives by his wits without regular employment" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, eleventh edition).)

[russell]

Sir Alfred Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant to star, but Warner Brothers felt that he would be miscast as a villain.

[liam]

The characters of Margot (Grace Kelly) and Mark (Robert Cummings) were named Sheila and Max in the original play's writing tablet or book.

[jeffrey]

Sir Alfred Hitchcock had chosen a very expensive robe for Grace Kelly to wear when she answered the phone. Kelly balked and said that no woman would put on such a robe just to answer the ringing telephone while she was asleep alone; she would answer it in her nightgown. Hitchcock agreed to do it her way and liked the way the rushes turned out. Hitchcock agreed to allow Kelly to make all costume decisions for her in their subsequent movies together.

[sandra]

This is the only movie that Sir Alfred Hitchcock filmed in the 3-D format.

[darrell]

Grace Kelly made three of her eleven movies with Sir Alfred Hitchcock. The others being To Catch a Thief (1955) and Rear Window (1954).

[scarlett]

The wing back chair near the fireplace appears to be excessively worn in comparison to the other furniture in the apartment.

[dustin]

Olivia de Havilland was offered the role of Margot, but she wanted too much money.

[michele]

Adapted from a Broadway play that opened at the Plymouth Theater in New York City on Wednesday, October 29, 1952, and ran for five hundred fifty-two performances. In the original production, Maurice Evans played Tony Wendice. In this movie, John Williams and Anthony Dawson re-created their stage roles of Chief Inspector Hubbard and Captain Lesgate. J. Pat O'Malley replaced Williams as Hubbard.

[jessica]

Sir Alfred Hitchcock made a special effort to shoot scenes indoors, almost exclusively. Only a few brief shots, usually involving Chief Inspector Hubbard, take place outside. Hitchcock believed the decision to shoot most scenes indoors would create a sense of claustrophobia.

[nina]

Sir Alfred Hitchcock not only expressed a great deal of interest in selecting Grace Kelly's wardrobe, he selected nearly all of the props for the Wendice's apartment.

[ethel]

DIRECTOR CAMEO (Sir Alfred Hitchcock (At around thirteen minutes) Hitchcock can be seen on the left side of the reunion photograph. As he is only seen in a photo, this is the final Hitchcock movie in which he does not appear in person.

[ken]

If one compares the 3-D version to the Turner Classic Movies print, the "flat" print is clearly the one intended for the viewer's right eye.