Dial M for Murder (1954)

A has-been tennis player (Ray Milland) hires/blackmails a seedy guy from his own past (Anthony Dawson) into killing his wealthy wife (Grace Kelly) who has of late been thinking about leaving him, and therefore out in the cold.

Is there such a thing as a perfect murder? Clearly not, even when plenty of people get away with lots of crimes every day.

In this care the imperfection begins when the wrong person is killed.

And I should really stop there, except that the movie intends for the criminal not to get away with it, and so he must inevitably take some seemingly meaningless missteps if not for the incredible doggedness of the officer in charge of the investigation even up to a day before the date of the execution of the wrong person.

This may seem unrealistic, and so it is. In much of the Hitchcock crime output the criminal nearly almost gets away with it all, but if we are to believe his words the intent is merely to maximize suspense, and not necessarily to meet out screen justice.

The case is complicated (not just for the law, but for the audience, of course) because the innocent victim proves to be not so innocent after all: She had been cheating on her husband (with Robert Cummings, playing a mystery writer who almost figures out the plot,) even when she is just about ready to call it quits on the extramarital affair.

That allows Hitchcock to take perverse pleasure in having the audience identify with a sinner, not that the audience has much choice in the matter, with the killer established not only as a cold-blooded killer but also as an arrogant, world-class heel.

Hitchcock famously stated he filmed his murder scenes like love scenes and vice versa, but that is clearly not the case here. The murder might be exciting, but it is disturbing and vicious.

The details of the case are maybe not so much unrealistic as simply unbelievable, even when they are (unsatisfactorily) explained. Why should Ray Milland want to kill Grace Kelly for her money when he already has both? He may not be aware that she is ready to end the affair, but Hitchcock adds some intimation of homosexuality which may not explain all, but simply casts some doubt on the established motivations.

Slow, stagey and not the best Hitchcock, but still a nice murderous puzzle.