Dial M for Murder

London apartment. Margot and Mark, American writer, saying goodbye. Having affair. Her husband Tony does not know. Comfortable but dangerous situation. Marriage of convenience hiding passion. Secrets will unravel.

Tony: "In stories things always go wrong for the murderer. In real life it is quite different." Theme of perfect crime unraveling, hubris leading to downfall, and clever plans undone by tiny details.

Tony Wendice, retired tennis pro, knows about affair. Pretends ignorance. Financially dependent on Margot wealthy family. If she divorces him, loses everything. Mark returning to America. Margot must choose. Tony desperate. Must act.

Tony blackmails old school acquaintance Swann, criminal, into murdering Margot. Elaborate plan: Tony will call at exact time, Swann strangles Margot when she answers. Alibi perfect. Contingencies planned. Murder for hire arranged. Plan in motion.

Swann breaks into apartment, hides. Tony takes Mark to party for alibi. Will plan work? So many variables. What if Margot does not answer phone? What if Swann fails? Tension of waiting for murder to happen. Clock ticking toward kill time.

Tony calls at planned time. Margot answers. Swann attacks with stocking. She fights back, stabs him with scissors. Swann dies. She kills attacker in self-defense. Plan failed completely. Entering world where perfect plan unravels. Must adapt.

Margot and Mark love story. She wants to confess affair, start over. Mark wants to marry her. But Tony still controls narrative. Can their love survive Tony manipulation? Trust between Margot and Mark vs. Tony deception.

Police investigate. Tony improvises new plan: frame Margot for premeditated murder. Plants evidence, manipulates her story. She arrested, tried, convicted. Death sentence. Plan B working. Promise: watching criminal mastermind pivot and adapt.

Margot sentenced to death. False defeat. Tony seemingly won. Margot and Mark devastated. Inspector Hubbard suspicious but no proof. Tony got away with attempted murder and framed wife for killing his hitman. Brilliantly evil. Stakes maximum.

Inspector notices inconsistencies. Key timeline does not work. How did Swann enter? Tony explanations do not hold. Mark obsessed with proving innocence. Both investigating. Net closing on Tony but he is clever. Can he stay ahead?

Inspector tests theory. Brings Tony back to apartment. Watches him carefully. Trap being set but Tony does not know it yet. If he makes one wrong move, caught. If he is perfect, Margot dies. Final test approaching.

Inspector reveals he knows Tony guilty. Explains how he figured it out. Key stolen, entered through door not window. Tony married for money, hired hitman, framed wife. All evidence circumstantial but clear. Tony calm. Can he still escape?

Inspector hidden with Mark. Margot "escapes" with Tony key. Returns to apartment. Tony comes home, goes to hide key. Reveals he had it all along. Caught red-handed. Synthesis: perfect crime undone by small detail he could not control. Hubris failed.

Tony arrested. Margot freed. Mark by her side. Inspector explains how tiny details exposed plan. Tony almost succeeded. One key placement betrayed him. Murder plot completely unraveled. Justice served through observation and logic.

Margot and Mark leave apartment together. Tony taken away. Perfect crime was impossible. Clever man undone by thinking he could control everything. Love survived, evil punished. Satisfying. Hitchcock shows even brilliant villainy fails.