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52-516: Frederick Major Paull Knott (28 August 1916 – 17 December 2002) was an English playwright and screenwriter known for complex crime-related plots. Although he was a reluctant writer and completed a small number of plays, two have become well-known: the London-based stage thriller Dial M for Murder , later filmed in Hollywood by Alfred Hitchcock , and the 1966 play Wait Until Dark , which

104-486: A Tony Award for his role as Inspector Hubbard. He previously sold the screen rights to Alexander Korda for only £1,000. The play was also made into a 1981 TV movie starring Christopher Plummer and Angie Dickinson , as the 1985 film Aitbaar in India , and as A Perfect Murder in 1998 with Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow . Based on the same plot, a Soviet TV film Tony Wendice's Mistake ( ru:Ошибка Тони Вендиса )

156-445: A brain implant , which makes him subconsciously want to kill his mother Malory . Wait Until Dark Susy Hendrix is a blind Greenwich Village housewife who becomes the target of three con-men searching for the heroin hidden in a doll, which her husband Sam unwittingly transported from Canada as a favor to a woman who has since been murdered. "Roat" leads his companions into thinking that they are going to be rich and will get

208-493: A contract killing of her ( Gwyneth Paltrow ). The 2002 Bollywood film Humraaz starring Bobby Deol , Akshaye Khanna , and Amisha Patel , was in turn inspired by A Perfect Murder . 2001 Paksitani film Khoey Ho Tum Kahan is based of film. The television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents premiered in the United States the year after Dial M for Murder was released. The main character in an episode from

260-608: A Tony Award nomination for her performance. Later the same year, Honor Blackman played the lead in London's West End at the Strand Theatre . The film version, also titled Wait Until Dark and released in 1967, had Audrey Hepburn in the lead role. The play ran on Broadway in 2001, featuring Quentin Tarantino . Knott stopped writing plays, choosing to live comfortably on the income from his earlier works. "I don't think

312-739: A UK tour, featured Susie Amy , Derren Nesbitt and Michael Melia . The setting was changed to Notting Hill. A production of the play took place at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010. It was performed at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh by students of Oxford University. On October 16, 2013, a revised version by Jeffrey Hatcher opened at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, featuring Allison Pill , Adam Stein, and Mather Zickel . The story

364-478: A divorce would leave him penniless. Tony is also aware that Charles Swann, an old acquaintance from Cambridge University , is a small-time con man with a criminal record. Tony invites Swann to his Maida Vale flat on a pretext and tells him about Margot's affair. Tony also confides that six months previously he had stolen Margot's handbag, which contained a love letter from Mark, and had anonymously blackmailed her. After tricking Swann into leaving his fingerprints on

416-453: A field day with his camera angles, darting our eyes now here, now there, doing tingling tricks with shadows and long longshots in quick contrast to fuzzed close-ups. It's the work of a master enjoying his script." John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote a generally positive review, writing that he wished the script would give Hitchcock "a chance to cut loose with one of those spectacular chases he used to specialise in", but finding that after

468-514: A sophisticated, chillingly sinister thriller -- and one that boasts an unforgettable performance from Grace Kelly to boot." In 2012, The Guardian called the film "a taut, acidly funny thriller". The film was listed by American Film Institute in 2001 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills (#48), and in 2008 in AFI's 10 Top 10 (#9 in Mysteries). As it is considered one of the classic examples of

520-403: A stage thriller , Dial M for Murder has been adapted a number of times. The New Vic Theatre staged a production of the play in its main house (in the round) in 2017. It was directed by Peter Leslie Wild, and the cast featured William Ellis as Tony. The play received positive press reviews. In 2022, another stage adaptation of Dial M for Murder written by Jeffrey Hatcher and approved by

572-485: A talky opening 30 minutes, "things speed up once the murder wheels are set in motion, and eventually the piece becomes grimly diverting". The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the film "offers the prolific Hitchcock little more than an opportunity to carpenter a neat piece of filmed theatre—an opportunity which perhaps satisfied the master a little more than it does us ... The characters are fitted to their situations, and hardly exist in themselves (nor are they enlivened by

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624-400: Is a signature occurrence in most of his films. In Dial M for Murder , he can be seen thirteen minutes into the film, in a black-and-white reunion photograph, sitting at a banquet table among former students and faculty. Dial M for Murder was shot using Warner Bros.' own proprietary 3-D camera rig, the so-called All-Media Camera. After one preview performance on May 18 and four showings on

676-444: Is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death . Months later, on the day before Margot's scheduled execution, Mark visits Tony, saying he has devised a story for him to tell the police to save Margot. Mark's "story" is very close to what actually happened: that Tony paid Swann to kill Margot. If Tony confesses to Mark’s story, Tony would go to jail for a while, but Margot would be saved. Hubbard arrives unexpectedly, and Mark hides in

728-447: Is titled "Dial M for Martin". The plot centres on the title character's father believing that his younger son is subconsciously trying to kill him when he is beset by a series of mishaps seemingly caused by Frasier 's younger brother, Niles . The season 1 finale of the TV series Archer is titled "Dial M for Mother" in reference to the film. In the episode, Sterling Archer is given

780-671: The 1948 novel by David Duncan , as a Transatlantic Pictures production, with partner Sidney Bernstein . However, there were problems with the script and budget, and Hitchcock and Bernstein decided to dissolve their partnership. Warner Bros. allowed Hitchcock to scrap the film, and begin production on Dial M for Murder . Mark's name was changed for the film; in the original play, he was Max Halliday. Actors Dawson and Williams reprise their Broadway roles as Swann/Captain Lesgate and Inspector Hubbard, respectively. Cummings had previously made Saboteur for Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock's cameo

832-550: The Hankow Operatic Society. Descended from a line of Lancashire mill-owners, Knott came from a wealthy enough background to be sent back to England to be schooled privately, and from 1926 he was educated at Sidcot School and then, from 1929, at Oundle School in Northamptonshire . In 1934, Knott went up to Downing College, Cambridge , to read law. An exceptional tennis player (a profession he gave

884-799: The Knott estate opened at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, California. Hatcher kept the original setting of 1950s London but changed the character of "Max Halliday" to "Maxine Hadley," making the love affair with Margot a lesbian one. That and other changes garnered critical praise. The adaptation has enjoyed many productions since its premiere. The film partially inspired a Hindi-language version in 1985, released as Aitbaar , starring Raj Babbar , Dimple Kapadia and Suresh Oberoi . A Tamil-language adaptation, titled Saavi , with Sathyaraj , Saritha , Jaishankar and Nizhalgal Ravi ,

936-558: The May 19, a Philadelphia theater manager frantically contacted the studio and said that people were staying away in droves. He asked for permission to drop the 3-D and show the film flat. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on May 23 that the "first audiences proved to be a jury that could not only make up its mind, but could make it up in a hurry. In exhibitors' own terms, ‘DIAL M’ literally died. And after just four performances on Wednesday, some long-distance telephoning to report complaints,

988-485: The TV series 77 Sunset Strip recreated Dial M for Murder , with Richard Long portraying Tony Wendice. A US TV film 1981 with Angie Dickinson and Christopher Plummer aired in 1981. Tony Wendice's Mistake  [ ru ] ( Ошибка Тони Вендиса ), based on the stage play version of Dial M for Murder , aired in on TV in the Soviet Union in 1981. The third episode of the sixth season of Frasier

1040-456: The Wendices' key back in its hiding place after unlocking the door. Now, correctly suspecting Tony of having conspired with Swann, Hubbard has developed an elaborate ruse to trap him. Plainclothes police officers bring Margot from prison to the flat. She tries unsuccessfully to unlock the door with the key in her handbag, then enters through the garden, proving to Hubbard that she is unaware of

1092-455: The bedroom. Hubbard asks Tony about large sums of cash he has been spending around town, tricks Tony into revealing that his latchkey is in his raincoat, and inquires about Tony's attaché case . Tony claims to have misplaced the case, but Mark, overhearing the conversation, finds it on the bed, full of banknotes. Deducing that the money was Tony's intended payoff to Swann, Mark confronts Tony and explains his theory to Hubbard. Tony "confesses" that

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1144-474: The cash was Margot's blackmail payment to Swann, which he had concealed to protect her. Hubbard appears to accept Tony's explanation, and Mark leaves angrily. Hubbard discreetly swaps his own raincoat with Tony's. As soon as Tony leaves, Hubbard uses Tony's key to re-enter the flat, followed by Mark. Hubbard previously discovered that the key in Margot's handbag was Swann's own latchkey and deduced that Swann had put

1196-729: The central character in Dial M for Murder ), he became a Blue , and in 1937 was a member of the Oxford-Cambridge tennis team that played the Harvard-Yale squad at Newport . He graduated in 1938 with a third-class degree in law, but the outbreak of the Second World War prevented his competing at Wimbledon. He served in the British Army Artillery as a signals instructor from 1939 to 1946, rising to

1248-548: The drive was there any more. He was perfectly happy the way things were," said his wife Ann Hillary. He died in New York City in December 2002. Dial M for Murder Dial M for Murder is a 1954 American crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock , starring Ray Milland , Grace Kelly , Robert Cummings , Anthony Dawson , and John Williams . Both the screenplay and the successful stage play on which it

1300-491: The fact that he told her not to call the police. Chief Inspector Hubbard arrives to question the Wendices, though Margot makes several conflicting statements. When Hubbard says the evidence indicates that Swann entered through the front door, Tony claims that Swann must have been responsible for stealing Margot's handbag, and made a copy of her key. As Tony intends, Hubbard does not believe the story and arrests Margot after concluding that she killed Swann for blackmailing her. Margot

1352-497: The film a cinch winner." Harrison's Reports wrote that the film "shapes up as no more than a mild entertainment, despite the expert direction of Hitchcock and the competent acting of the players. The chief weakness is that the action is slow, caused by the fact that the story unfolds almost entirely by dialogue." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called the film "completely choice", with Williams and Dawson "smooth as silk in reprising their stage roles", adding, "Hitch has

1404-537: The flat and Tony rings as planned. When Margot comes to the phone, Swann tries to strangle her with his scarf, but she fatally stabs him with scissors. Upon hearing Margot plead for help instead of Swann's whistle, Tony advises her not to speak to anyone. He returns home, calls the police, sends Margot to bed and transfers what he thinks is Margot's key from Swann's pocket into her handbag. He also attempts to frame Margot by planting Mark's letter on Swann and destroying Swann's scarf. The next day Tony persuades Margot to hide

1456-407: The flat with Margot's latchkey, which Tony will hide on the staircase under a carpet. Tony will then telephone the flat from the party and Swann will kill Margot when she answers the call. Swann will whistle over the phone to signal the job is done, then create signs of a burglary gone wrong and put the key back under the staircase carpet as he is leaving the building. The following night Swann enters

1508-402: The heroin soon enough, but in the end he murders all of his partners after they outlive their usefulness. The trio tries to convince Susy that her husband will be suspected of murdering the woman, and the only way to protect him is to give them the doll, which connects him to her. Little do the men know that Gloria, a little girl in the upstairs apartment, has stolen the doll after finding out it

1560-508: The hidden key and is therefore innocent. Hubbard has Margot's handbag returned to the police station, where Tony retrieves it after discovering that he has no key. The key from Margot's bag does not work, so he uses the hidden key to open the door, demonstrating his guilt and exonerating Margot. With his escape routes blocked by Hubbard and another policeman, Tony calmly makes himself a drink and congratulates Hubbard. After I Confess (1953), Hitchcock planned to film The Bramble Bush , based on

1612-467: The increasing skimpiness of customers—a good many of them making no bones of their dissatisfaction—permission was given to throw away the glasses and hastily switch to the 2-D version. Whereupon business at the Randolph took a turn for the better." Dial M for Murder marked the end of the brief flirtation with 3-D films of the early 1950s. Hitchcock said of 3-D: "It's a nine-day wonder, and I came in on

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1664-428: The intruders. Roat kills both of his partners after the men discover Susy has the doll in the apartment. He spills gas around the apartment to destroy any evidence. Susy turns off all the lights so that "Roat" cannot see her. "Roat" uses matches to see until Susy douses him with the gasoline. He uses the refrigerator light to see, threatens Susy, and tries to kill her. She ultimately defeats "Roat". Sam bursts in with

1716-577: The lead. The play was produced by the Brunton Theatre Company , Musselburgh , under the direction of Sandy Neilson during its first season in 1979. After 11 previews, a Broadway revival directed by Leonard Foglia opened on April 5, 1998, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre , where it ran for 97 performances. The cast included Marisa Tomei , Quentin Tarantino and Stephen Lang . A 2003 London revival, followed by

1768-416: The letter, Tony entraps him, threatening to turn him in as Margot's blackmailer unless he kills Margot. With the added inducement of £1,000 in cash, Swann agrees to the murder. Tony then explains that he and Mark will attend a party while Margot stays at home alone. At a specific time when Margot is certain to be in bed, Swann will enter the front door, which is always unlocked, and will enter the locked door of

1820-402: The lot is John Williams, late of the stage play, who is the detective who solves the sinister ruse." Variety wrote: "There are a number of basic weaknesses in the set-up that keep the picture from being a good suspense show for any but the most gullible. Via the performances and several suspense tricks expected of Hitchcock, the weaknesses are glossed over to some extent but not enough to rate

1872-673: The next 11 months, it transferred to the Shubert , the George Abbott and the Music Box Theatre , running for 373 performances. Remick was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The West End production, with Honor Blackman and Peter Sallis , at the Strand Theatre , was also successful, running for nearly two years, during which time Barbara Murray and Lana Morris took over from Blackman in

1924-661: The ninth day." The dual-strip system was used for the February 1980 revival of the film in 3D at the York Theater in San Francisco, California. This revival performed so well that Warner Bros. did a limited national re-release of the film in February 1982 using Chris Condon 's single-strip StereoVision 3-D system. The re-release included a sold-out engagement at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The film

1976-557: The police and finds that Susy has already dealt with Roat. He sees that Mike is also dead. Gloria yells at the police when they appear too patronizing to Susy and defends Susy's ability to take care of herself. After the police leave, Susy and Sam embrace. Produced by Fred Coe and directed by Arthur Penn , the Broadway premiere of Wait Until Dark opened on February 2, 1966, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre . Within

2028-479: The police. Her call is intercepted by "Mike", and Susy is visited by "Sergeant Carlino". Gloria returns and admits her theft of the doll, and Susy hides it. Susy contacts "Mike" to ask for help now that the doll is found. Gloria has been watching the nearby phone booth used by the con-men, and she alerts Susy that all three of the men she has been dealing with are tricking her. Susy sends Gloria to meet her husband on his way home from work, and begins planning to handle

2080-676: The rank of major , and eventually moved to the United States. He met Ann Hillary in 1952 and married her in 1953; they lived in New York for many years. Although Dial M for Murder was a hit on the stage, it was originally a BBC television production. As a theatre piece, it premiered at the Westminster Theatre in Victoria, London in June 1952, directed by John Fernald and starring Alan MacNaughtan and Jane Baxter . This production

2132-417: The rather drab performances of Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings); only John Williams' dry, sardonic police inspector has a touch of individuality." On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 90% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The website's consensus reads: " Dial M for Murder may be slightly off-peak Hitchcock, but by any other standard, it's

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2184-546: The series's first season, "Portrait of Jocelyn", is named Mark Halliday. In the episode, Halliday's wife, Jocelyn, has disappeared several years earlier, and at the conclusion, it is revealed that he murdered her. In 1956, NBC aired a television film in which Maurice Evans (as Tony), Williams and Dawson all repeated their roles from the original Broadway play. ABC produced a two-hour color version in 1967 featuring Laurence Harvey as Tony, Diane Cilento as Margot and Hugh O'Brian as Max. The episode "The Fifth Stair" of

2236-479: Was adapted to a Hollywood film directed by Terence Young . He also wrote the Broadway mystery Write Me a Murder . He has a son named Tony Knott who attended Princeton Day School in the 1970s. Knott was born in Hankou, China, the son of English missionaries , Margaret Caroline (née Paull) and Cyril Wakefield Knott. He became interested in theatre after watching performances of Gilbert and Sullivan works held by

2288-545: Was backdated to 1944, and Sam and Mike are supposedly Marine buddies who served together in Italy. Warner Bros.-Seven Arts purchased the film rights in 1966 soon after the play's Broadway premiere. The film, directed by Terence Young with a screenplay by Robert Carrington and Jane Howard-Carrington and a score by Henry Mancini , premiered on October 26, 1967. It starred Audrey Hepburn , Alan Arkin , Richard Crenna , Efrem Zimbalist Jr. , Jack Weston , and Julie Herrod, and it

2340-534: Was based were written by English playwright Frederick Knott . The play premiered in 1952 on BBC Television , before being performed on stage in the same year in London 's West End in June, and then New York's Broadway in October. Originally intended to be shown in dual-strip polarized 3-D, the film played in most cinemas in ordinary 2-D owing to the loss of interest in the 3-D process (the projection of which

2392-520: Was difficult and error-prone) by the time of its release. The film earned an estimated $ 2.7 million in North American box office sales in 1954. In the mid-1950s Tony Wendice, a retired English professional tennis player, is married to wealthy socialite Margot, who has been having an affair with Mark Halliday, an American crime-fiction writer. Unbeknownst to them, Tony knows about the affair and plots Margot's murder to inherit her fortune, fearing

2444-517: Was followed in October by a successful run in New York City at the Plymouth Theater , where Reginald Denham directed Maurice Evans , Richard Derr. Gusti Huber . Knott also wrote the screenplay for the 1954 Hollywood movie which Hitchcock filmed for Warner Brothers in 3D , starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly , with Anthony Dawson and John Williams reprising their characters from the New York stage production, which had won Williams

2496-465: Was not a gift for her. One of the men poses as Sergeant Carlino, a strange police detective, while another poses as Mike, an old friend of her husband dropping by for a visit. Susy relies on "Mike", and he eventually begins to feel sympathy for her. "Roat" poses as both the elderly Mr. Roat and his "son", Roat Junior. Roat Senior ransacks Susy's room and steals a wedding photo from the bedroom. He threatens Susy's and her husband's well-being, so she calls

2548-478: Was produced by Hepburn's then-husband Mel Ferrer . In an effort to duplicate the suspense on screen, movie theaters dimmed their lights to their legal limits, then turned off one by one until each light on-screen was shattered, resulting in the theater being plunged into complete darkness. Hepburn was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress, and Zimbalist was nominated for

2600-498: Was released in 1981. In 1960, Knott wrote the stage thriller Write Me a Murder , produced at the Belasco Theatre in New York in October 1961. It was directed by George Schaefer and included Denholm Elliott and Kim Hunter in the cast. In 1966, Knott's stage play Wait Until Dark was produced on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre . The director was Arthur Penn and the play starred Lee Remick who received

2652-416: Was released in the same year. The film also inspired a Malayalam-language adaptation as New Year starring Jayaram , Urvashi and Suresh Gopi in 1989. A Perfect Murder is a 1998 remake directed by Andrew Davis in which the characters of Halliday and Swann are combined, with the husband ( Michael Douglas ) both hiring and coercing his wife's lover (played by Viggo Mortensen ) into committing

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2704-405: Was shown in 3D in some UK cinemas during the summer of 2013 and in Italy at the beginning of fall of the same year. Warner Bros. released Dial M for Murder as a 3D Blu-ray on October 9, 2012. "This is a technical triumph that Hitchcock has achieved", wrote Bosley Crowther of The New York Times in a favourable review. "It is one for which he needed good actors. He has them—and the best of

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