Cat and Mouse Games in Dial M for Murder

Reflecting on Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, one character stands out above the rest. Ray Milland and Grace Kelly are the film’s headliners but it is John Williams - who plays Chief Inspector Hubbard - that really steals the show for me.

Hitchcock clearly took one look at the man and saw an Inspector. As per usual his judgement was spot on, and Hitch invited Williams back to play two different inspectors in his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His wonderful moustache and meticulous attention to detail, not only of the crime scene but also of his appearance, harkens back to the traditional police inspector dreamed up by J.B. Priestely.

The first half of the film is essentially about a love triangle, revolving around Milland, Robert Cummings and Grace Kelly. The stage seems to be set for a battle between the two men but as the film progresses another Tête à Tête takes centre stage. The contrast between the calculated criminal mind of Milland’s character and the ever-questioning (albeit incredibly politely) mind of the Inspector is stark. It seems as the plot unravels that the murderer will surely be caught by this cunning fox of a man so much so that when it finally happens Milland is not distraught but almost relieved. This ‘oh well, you got me old chap’ mentality seems to suggest that prison was an altogether different experience in the 1950s; or, perhaps more so that in the movies it is the chase that counts and not the consequences.

Whenever the audience thinks that the killer (or more specifically the murderous planner) has slipped away, the wily Inspector shows up to raise his eyebrows, stroke his moustache and ask suggestive questions. His supreme confidence is clear throughout, and one can’t help but enjoy lines such as when he tells Kelly and Cummings about Milland’s plot: “Mind you, even I didn't guess that at once... extraordinary.” Or, perhaps even more so when he reveals his investigative methods: “So yesterday afternoon, I went to the prison and asked to see your handbag. While I was doing this, I managed to lift your latchkey. Highly irregular, of course, but my blood was up.”

It is very fitting that the last image of the film is of Inspector Hubbard nonchalantly combing that grand moustache.

FEATURES ARCHIVE (CURRENT)

FEATURES ARCHIVE (2009)

FEATURES ARCHIVES Through 2008