Home video and soundtrack
- After two decades, the Master’s entrée to widescreen, colour and 3D filmmaking
- Starting with this one, every American film has been issued altered on home video
- Audio, aspect ratio, runtime, etc: all of them have various compromised releases
- Detailed: every original and re-recorded release of Dimitri Tiomkin’s popular score
Note: this is part of an ongoing series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles; any dead links are to those not yet published. Subscribe to the email list to be notified when new ones appear.
Dial M for Murder: Writing on a Classic, Part 2 | Collectors Guide, Part 2: Home video and soundtrack
UK 2013 re-release poster
Contents
- Home video
- Soundtrack
- Related articles
Preserved transfer
Dial M for Murder, Hitch’s first widescreen film, was composed for 1.185:1 aspect ratio projection. But like all his widescreen films and so many others, right from its first TV broadcasts like those in Germany 1971 and the UK 1975; and through every VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc release, it was transferred in the tube TV-screen-filling 1.33:1 aspect ratio. This was achieved by cropping the sides and opening up the top and bottom mattes to reveal more information than was ever intended to be seen. Compare and contrast the open matte examples above with the correct widescreen trailers and clips here.
The film hails from Warner Bros., who have by far the most impeccably presented home video catalogue of any major studio. That’s partly due to their originally-produced films suffering less than most the vicissitudes of changing ownership or being released in compromised condition by careless third parties. And they’ve generally been knowledgeable and assiduous about presenting their catalogue as intended by the original filmmakers, especially since the advent of DVD.
After years of 1.33:1 issues of various preserved prints, the introduction of DVD and widescreen TVs was an opportunity for Warner to finally present their latest remaster in the correct AR. But like most studios, they let a few open matte transfers slip through, with Dial M being one of the most notable examples. It’s also unique in that unlike the other four similarly compromised US Hitchcocks from Universal, all American Dial M DVDs are 1.33:1 while (almost) the rest of the world have widescreen discs. With the other four films, the exact opposite applies: American releases good, all foreign releases bad. Therefore, do not buy or settle for any domestic discs.
Open matte DVDs
Despite having the same original US one sheet poster and window card artwork as other releases, this US DVD (rear) is a dud; skip it and call for one of the others. Incidentally, the “is that you, darling?” quote has been removed, as per the three sheet, but it doesn’t appear in the film anyway!
- US: DVD (2004), also in…
- 2/4-DVD/4-film TCM Greatest Classic Films: H Thrillers*
- 2-DVD/4-film Silver Screen Icons: Murder Mysteries – no extras
- 4-DVD TCM Greatest Classic Films
- 5-DVD Leading Ladies of the Studio Era
*Initially two flipper discs, reissued as four singles
- Spain: DVD (2008, reissued 2009)
- Mexico: DVD (2004, reissued 2019)
- Brazil: DVD (2004, Digibook 2005)
The US rear sleeve states: “Presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition.” Piffle. That’s generic blurb appearing on many Warner DVDs and in this case it’s a complete lie. Dial M was never shown anywhere in that AR. It’s a special shame as the 1.33:1 NTSC DVDs have a slightly squeezed but more detailed image and stronger colours than their PAL widescreen counterparts. Of course, it can always be watched zoomed in to fill a 16:9 display but would still be missing a chunk off the sides. It’s also in the US box sets and the most recent of this bunch, the Mexican reissue, was released in 2019; can you believe Warner are still pushing 4:3 tube TV-era masters in this day and (HD widescreen) age? Outrageous.
The Spanish DVD is a real oddity: it too has a 1.33:1 transfer but it’s been squeezed to 1.17:1. The rear of its first issue states the contradictory “16:9 / 1.85:1 / Anamorphic Widescreen” – wrong on all three counts. There are no extras whatsoever, English audio and subtitles, and an ineptly done Spanish dub. Admittedly though, they’re both very attractively packaged: the first is in a 20-page Digibook, while the reissue has a slipcase and 20 postcards. But that’s not nearly enough: swerve. Incidentally, the only other DVDs to have Spanish subs, but no dub, are the bodged US and Mexican discs. The widescreen German DVD below is also distributed across much of Europe and Scandinavia, and includes Portuguese subs.
Though far fewer than the literally countless bootlegs of Hitch’s British films, there are still many unofficial rip-offs. This time it’s anything not from Warner Bros. That includes various very poor quality DVDs from East Asia which also have open matte transfers, this time due to being bootlegged from old VHS and LaserDisc copies. Brazil (New Line), Chile (Cinematekka/set/set), Japan (unknown 3D), South Korea (Cine Korea, Cleo Entertainment, Content Zone, Peter Pan BD) and Taiwan (BitWel BD).
Widescreen DVDs
French 2-DVD
- UK: DVD (2009, reissued 2019)
- Italy: only in box sets
- Germany: DVD (2004, reissued 2010), also in 2-DVD w/North by Northwest
- France: DVD (reissued 2006, 2007), also in 2-DVD and 4-DVD Édition Collector w/North by Northwest
All other Dial M DVDs, along with every BD and streaming release, have a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that’s acceptably close to the original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, despite their sleeves often stating the latter. Apart from variations in sub and dub options, all these discs are the same and, like the duds above, their extras consist of:
- “Hitchcock and Dial M” (2004, 21:35)
- “3D: A Brief History” (2004, 7:07)
- Theatrical trailer (2:35)
- Le Crime était presque parfait: Tuer est horriblement difficile (2005, 55min) – French Édition Collector only
The slipcased French set is worthy of consideration – si vous parlez français. It has a second disc with an exclusive documentary from 2005, named after the film’s domestic title which translates as The Crime was Almost Perfect: Killing is Horribly Hard. But it’s mostly in French except for a few brief English-language portions with French subs. Its director, Virginie Apiou, also helmed a similar doc for the companion release/reissue of North by Northwest.
Restored transfer
UK BD; would-be killer Anthony Dawson is good with his hands but don’t worry; he prefers fun and games
- Prime Video HD | YouTube
- US: BD (2012, reissued 2019)
- Canada: BD (2012)
- UK: BD (2012)
- Italy: BD (2012) teaser
- Germany: BD (2012, reissued 2015)
The widescreen DVDs were great for their time but are blown out of the water by Warner’s 4k restoration and realignment of both original negatives. Unlike the messy release pattern of the DVDs, this time just one region 0 BD, with the optional 3D version and left eye-only 2D version, seven dubs and nine sub options, has been released worldwide. It retains the main featurette and trailer but drops the “3D: A Brief History” DVD featurette which, ironically, is on the earlier non-3D discs and missing from the 3D discs!
- France: BD (2012), also in 2-BD w/The Wizard of Oz
- Spain: BD (2012)
- Mexico: BD (2012)
- Brazil: BD (2012)
- Japan: BD (2012)
Italian (Ero lì!), French | Now Showing: worldwide screenings
Screenshots
There are lots of comparison screenshots at the invaluable Hitchcock Zone and Caps-a-holic, and though it was never commercially released in anaglyph 3D, check out these 3D broadcast screenshots to see just how far we’ve come.
DVDs: boots: 3D Japanese, Korean; US, UK | BD
- Titles: 3D, Ko; US, UK | BD
- Trio: 3D, Ko; US, UK | BD
- Duo: 3D, Ko; US, UK | BD
- Cameo: 3D, Ko; US, UK | BD
- Dawson: 3D, Ko; US, UK | BD
- Duo #2: 3D, Ko; US, UK | BD
Soundtrack
This was the last of four scores composed by Dimitri Tiomkin for the Master, following Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train and I Confess. Throughout his incredibly prolific Hollywood years, among many other other accolades Tiomkin was Oscar nominated 22 times, winning four, and the recipient of eight Golden Globe Awards. There was no Dial M soundtrack album – Vertigo would be the first for a Hitchcock – and apart from a snippet lifted directly from the film itself for a recent compilation, no original score recordings have ever been officially issued.
- Cinezik 2-LP Best Scores from Alfred Hitchcock’s Films/alt (2020)
However, following the film’s May 18, 1954 Philadelphia première, on June 14 Tiomkin re-recorded his Main Theme for a tie-in single paired with another of his recent successes and both were included on his subsequent “greatest hits” LP.
- 7″/10″ The High and the Mighty/Dial M for Murder/alt (1954) (3:30/3:16)
- LP Movie Themes from Hollywood/alt (1955)
Tiomkin’s US, UK and Japan-released album has never been reissued its entirety but its Dial M theme is an unsurprisingly popular choice for compilations:
- Hip-O CD AH Presents… Signatures in Suspense/alt (1999)
- Milan CD Hitchcock et la musique (2001)
- él/Cherry Red CD Music from the Films of AH (2010)
- Milan CD Grace Kelly et la musique (2013)
- Milan 2-CD/MP3 Alfred Hitchcock and His Music/alt (2013)
- DC MP3 Best… Grace Kelly Movie Themes/Tiomkin Movie Themes, Vol. 3/Music from 1950s Thriller Movies (2019/2024)
- Fnac LP Alfred Hitchcock: Bandes Originales (2020)
- Acrobat 2-CD Movie Music of Dimitri Tiomkin 1937-62 (2022)
The theme has also made its way to any number of bootlegs, especially on MP3; physical offenders include:
- UK: Chrome Dreams CD (2010)
- UK: Enlightenment 4-CD/rear (2018)
- Holland: Factory of Sounds 3-CD and 2-CD/rear (2015/2018)
- Holland: Vinyl Passion LP/rear, also on orange or white vinyl (2017/2020)
There have been several re-recordings of Tiomkin’s music with his My Favorite Memory cue appearing as sheet music and on an album tie-in for Grace Kelly’s royal wedding. It’s also on the Best Grace Kelly… album above, while the Main Theme was re-recorded for a much later compilation:
- MP3/LP Serenade to a Princess (1956, reissued 1957) David Carroll and His Orchestra (2:45)
- RPO CD/MP3 The Golden Age of Hollywood (2006/7) Royal Philharmonic cond. José Serebrier (4:34)
Four specially adapted suites were recorded more recently:
- Silva Screen 2-CD/MP3 Psycho: The Essential AH (1999) City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Paul Bateman (7:20) rec 1992
- LSO Live CD/MP3 Greatest Film Scores of Dimitri Tiomkin (2012) London Symphony Orchestra cond. Richard Kaufman (5:24)
- Toccata CD/MP3 Music for AH (2014) Danish National Symphony Orchestra cond. John Mauceri (7:47)
Saving the best for last, in the most recent recording we finally get the entire score: all 53 minutes of it, bolstered by an additional 12 minutes of alternate and unused cues, and the “première recording of dazzling Tiomkin suite from Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, prepared for performance by Christopher Palmer.” It comes courtesy of soundtrack specialists Intrada’s first crowdfunding campaign. For reference, here’s Tiomkin’s full cue sheet.
- Intrada CD/MP3 Dial M for Murder (2019) Royal Scottish National Orchestra cond. William Stromberg | review, vid
Dial M for Murder: Writing on a Classic, Part 2 | Collectors Guide, Part 2: Home video and soundtrack
Related articles
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.
