Étude d'un extrait du film Dial M For Murder d'Alfred Hitchcock (document en anglais)

Dial M for Murder

The scene we studied is an extract of the movie “Dial M for Murder”. This is a thriller movie in color directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The music created by Dimitri Tiomkin is spooky/scary/stressful. This movie was shot in 1954. It’s lasted 105 minutes. The 3 famous actors who play in this movie are: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings.

Before the scene we studied Tony had established a plan. So, Tony explains to the killer his plan. He said that he has decided to hire the killer to kill his wife. Tony wants that Swann follow his plan. First Swann have to take the keys which are hiding outside the front door of the flat and come in by the front door. Then Swann have to hide himself behind the curtains in front of the French doors to the garden. At 23:00 Tony will distract his wife with a phone call. That’s when Swann can strangle Margot with a scarf and before leaving he’ll arrange the room to pretend there has been a burglary gone wrong. Then Swann can exit by the front door and hiding the key where he finds them.

The scene takes place inside a house, either in a living room or in an office, we can't know exactly. Margot's phone rings, she takes it. Her husband is calling her (he inserts coins in the public phone, she says « allo » 7 times) but he doesn't speak to her he just waits, then a man with bad intentions appears behind her ; he has waited for her to end up the call. Then he tries to strangle her with a scarf and she defends herself, she wrestles with him, there is a fight between them. She tries to catch an object on the desk; finally she kills him with a pair of scissors/ stabs him to death with a pair of scissors. She is panic-stricken, scared and shocked- she's groaning/moaning- so she picks up the phone again and speaks to her husband because she needs help and she doesn't know what she must do. He orders her to touch nothing, to speak to anyone and to listen to him carefully. The husband is not surprised and neither shocked. Maybe he is an accomplice of the man who has died. The husband is surprised when his wife answers the phone because he thinks she has already been killed, and he thinks the killer is going to pick up the phone. He looks disappointed.

If he wants to see her dead he has got a motive:

Motive:

Tony fears that his wife Margot, who has an affair with crime fiction writer Mark Halliday, leave him.

And to protect himself, he needs to have an alibi:

Alibi: he was out for a night party with his friend.

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