Adapted from the Patricia Highsmith novel by Raymond Chandler and Czenzi Ormonde, this blackly comic thriller focuses on the unique relationship between harried tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger, Rope) and Bruno Antony (Robert Walker, My Son John), a spoiled socialite.
Guy and Bruno first meet on a train and begin discussing their respective personal difficulties - Guy has a vindictive wife (Kasey Rogers, A Place in the Sun) who won't grant him a divorce, while Bruno lives in the shadow of his domineering father (Jonathan Hale, Call Northside 777). As a solution, Bruno proposes that each man murder the person the other one wants dead, a notion that Guy waves off as a joke before leaving Bruno's company....except Bruno isn't kidding, and he's ready to do anything to make Guy uphold his side of the bargain.
Dial M for Murder:
This screen adaptation of Frederick Knott's popular stage drama stars Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend) as Tony Wendice, a professional tennis player who conspires to kill his wife Margot (Grace Kelly, Rear Window) when he learns of her infidelity with another man (Robert Cummings, Saboteur).
After hiring a down-on-his-luck crook (Anthony Dawson, Dr. No) to carry out the murder, Wendice assumes his next step will be to collect his wife's sizable inheritance. However, his plans spiral out of control as Margot turns the tables on her would-be assailant, an action that forces Wendice to improvise in order to avoid the suspicions of his wife and a tenacious police inspector (John Williams, To Catch a Thief).
While the complete technical specifications are still unknown for Warner's Blu-rays, the studio offers Dial M for Murder in a Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray combo pack. Warner's press release notes that its "Motion Picture Imaging division...has meticulously and painstakingly restored the original 3D presentation...[at] a 4K scan of the original camera negative...[along with] convergence fixes to ensure perfect alignment."
The discs also contain the following bonus supplements:
Strangers on a Train:
Extended preview version of the film with adult content not present in the U.S. theatrical edition
Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich, Joseph Stefano, Andrew Wilson, Joe Alves, Peter Benchley, Tere Caruba, Whitfield Cook, Katie Fiala, Richard Franklin, Alfred Hitchcock, Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell, Kasey Rogers, Richard Schickel, and Mary Stone
Behind-the-scenes featurettes:
Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic
Strangers on a Train: The Victim's P.O.V.
Strangers on a Train: An Appreciation by M. Night Shyamalan