Dial M for Murder Page #5

Synopsis: In London, wealthy Margot Mary Wendice had a brief love affair with the American writer Mark Halliday while her husband and professional tennis player Tony Wendice was on a tennis tour. Tony quits playing to dedicate to his wife and finds a regular job. She decides to give him a second chance for their marriage. When Mark arrives from America to visit the couple, Margot tells him that she had destroyed all his letters but one that was stolen. Subsequently she was blackmailed, but she had never retrieved the stolen letter. Tony arrives home, claims that he needs to work and asks Margot to go with Mark to the theater. Meanwhile Tony calls Captain Lesgate (aka Charles Alexander Swann who studied with him at college) and blackmails him to murder his wife, so that he can inherit her fortune. But there is no perfect crime, and things do not work as planned.
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.2
Rotten Tomatoes:
88%
PG
Year:
1954
105 min
7,268 Views


-How about 11?.

-Fine.

-We can have lunch at the Kings Head.

-Is that right in Windsor?.

-No, it's just outside.

Did I lend you my latchkey?.

I can't seem to find it anywhere.

I don't know. I may have them

both in my handbag.

I'll just look.

-No. I've only got one here.

-Are you sure yours isn't in your overcoat?.

No, I've looked.

May I borrow yours?.

-Well, that's a bit awkward.

-Why?.

I may want to go out.

Tonight?.

Yes, I thought I might go

to a movie.

What about the radio?.

Saturday Night Theatre?.

Oh, no. It's a thriller.

I don't like thrillers when I'm alone.

-I see.

-In any case, I'll be back...

...before you, so I can let you in.

But we won't be back until after midnight.

You may be asleep by then.

You can always put your key

under the proverbial mat.

It's all right. Here it is.

It was in my glove all the time.

Well, that settles that.

What movie are you going to?.

The classic, I expect.

-Will you get in?. Saturday night?.

-I can always try.

-But, darling--

-Now, don't make me stay home.

You know I hate doing nothing.

Doing nothing?. There are

hundreds of things to do.

Write Peggy, thanking her

for the weekend.

And what about those clippings?.

It's an ideal opportunity.

Well, I like that.

You two go gallivanting...

...while I stay home and do

those boring clippings.

-Very well. We won't go.

-What do you mean?.

It's obvious you don't want us

to go, so we won't.

We'll stay here with you.

What shall we do, play cards?.

Tony, darling....

I'll call the Grendon and tell them

we're not coming.

Tony, please, let's not

be childish about this.

All right, I'll do your

old press clippings.

You don't have to if you

don't want to, you know.

But I do want to.

I think I'll try and scare up a taxi.

Have we any paste?.

Yes, there's some in the desk,

I believe.

-You need some scissors.

-They're in my mending basket.

Lend me some change.

I need some money for the taxi.

Hey, you leave

my bag alone.

-How much do you need?.

-Let's see how much you've got.

-You put that down.

-You owe me 1 0 bob anyway.

-Why?.

-I paid that package...

...you sent Peggy.

That comes out of housekeeping.

Let me get it, then.

Keep your hands off.

There, now.

How much do you want?.

I've got 3, 5, 7 and a sixpence.

-It ought to get us there and back.

-But you'd better take something.

-How much are dinner tickets?.

-Paid for, tip included.

If I run short,

Mark will help out.

Taxi's here.

Tony, what are you waiting for?.

-Nothing, dear.

-Good night, Margot.

What time will you get home?.

About 1 2. I'll bring Mark back

for a nightcap.

-Will you be up?.

-I shall be fast asleep...

-...and I don't want to be disturbed.

-We shall be quiet.

-Good night.

-Good night.

-Margot.

-Yes.

You know it's possible

old man Burgess might call.

Tell him we're at the Grendon.

It may be important.

-What's the number?.

-It's in the book.

All right.

Goodbye, dear.

All right, Mark.

I'm staying at the Torbay Hotel.

You know the hotel in Dartmoor?.

Well, it's not exactly in Dartmoor,

but sort of in the district.

Anyway, the whole point of this story

is that it concerns Dartmoor Prison.

I was staying at the Torbay Hotel,

as I was saying, I went to the bar....

I turned to him and said,

"What are you doing here?."

He says, "I'm a commercial traveler.

I sell agricultural machinery." I said--

Would any of you fellows

have the right time?.

Yes, I have seven minutes past 11.

-I make it only just after 11.

-My watch has stopped.

-I must have overwound it.

-As I was saying--

Excuse me, old boy.

I have to call my boss.

Agricultural machinery....

Hello.

Hello?.

Hello?.

Hello?.

Hello?.

Hello?

Hello?.

Get the police.

Quickly. Police.

-Margot?.

- Who 's there?

Darling, it' s me.

Oh, Tony.

Tony, thank God.

Come back at once.

-What' s the matter?.

-I can 't explain now.

-Come quickly, please.

-Darling, pull yourself together.

-What is it?.

-A man attacked me.

-Tried to strangle me.

-Did he get away?.

No. He 's dead.

Tony, are you still there?.

-Margot.

- Yes?

Now, listen very carefully.

Yes. I'm listening.

Don ' t touch anything.

I'll be with you right away.

-No. No, I won ' t.

-Don 't touch anything...

...and don 't speak to anybody

until I get there.

No, I won ' t touch anything.

- You promise?

-Yes, I promise.

Tony, please be quick.

I ' m sitting at the same bar, and I see

the same man standing at the end of the--

He came to me and said--

No, do sit down.

I have to run along.

Margot's not feeling too well.

-Serious?.

-Nothing serious.

-You stay and enjoy yourself.

-I'll come.

No. It's perfectly all right.

--with which he was buying me

dry martinis....

Tony!

Oh, Tony.

It's all right, darling.

It's all right. What happened?.

He put something around my throat.

-It felt like a stocking.

-Are you sure?. Let me see.

I got up to answer the phone,

and he came from behind the curtain...

...and tried to strangle me.

I almost passed out.

I felt the scissors in my hands...

...and then he let go suddenly,

and he fell on the floor.

There's hardly any blood.

When he fell,

he must have--

-What are you doing?.

-I'm trying to find my--

Here they are, my aspirin.

I've got such an awful head--

What is it?.

I'd better get a blanket.

Shut the window, please.

No. We mustn't touch anything

until the police arrive.

He must've broken in.

I wonder what he was after.

-Those cups, I expect.

-When will the police get here?.

-Have you called them already?.

-No.

You told me not to speak to anyone.

Hadn't you better

call them now?.

Yes.

-Where's Mark?.

-I told him to go straight home.

-Operator.

-Hello, operator...

-...get me the Maida Vale Police.

-Did you tell him?.

I didn't know what had happened.

I said that you weren't well.

Maida Vale Police.

Police?. There's been

a ghastly accident.

- Yes, sir?

-A man has been killed.

- Your name, sir?

-Wendice.

-Is that a double S?

-No, D-l-C-E.

"C-E."

Your address, sir?.

Ground-floor apartment.

-Was it an accident?.

-I don ' t know.

What do you mean,

you don ' t know?.

Do you think he might have

been killed by someone?.

I don 't know.

Have you any idea

who might have done it?

I'll explain when you come.

How long will it take?.

-About two minutes.

-Two minutes.

And don't touch anything,

will you, sir?.

No, we won't touch anything.

Goodbye.

-I'll get dressed.

-Why?.

-They'll want to see me.

-They're not going to see you.

But they'll ask me questions.

We'll wait until tomorrow.

I'll tell them all they need to know.

-Tony?.

-Yes?.

-Why did you phone me?.

-What?.

I'm sorry, darling,

I'll tell you about that later.

I just thought of something.

You said he used a stocking?.

I think it was a stocking or a scarf.

-Isn't it there?.

-No, but I expect they'll find it.

Now you go on to bed.

Tea, gentlemen?.

Sergeant. Look. It's the other stocking.

All right. Break it up.

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Frederick Knott

Frederick Major Paull Knott (28 August 1916 — 17 December 2002) was an English playwright and screenwriter known for his ingeniously complex, crime-related plots. Though he was a reluctant writer and completed only three plays in his career, two have become classics: the London-based stage thriller Dial M for Murder, which was later filmed in Hollywood by Alfred Hitchcock, and the chilling 1966 play Wait Until Dark, which also became a Hollywood film. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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