I’ve said this once or twice before, hut if WHE were to release a Bluray of the boxy version of Alfred Hitchcock‘s Dial M For Murder, I would buy it in a split second.

All through the 20th Century and into the 21st I watched Dial M for Murder at 1.33 or 1.37. I also saw it in 1.33 or 1.37 3D at the Eighth Street Playhouse in ’80. And the compositions and framings were and are entirely satisfactory and didn’t need to have their tops and buttons CHOPPED OFF WITH A MEAT CLEAVER.

Sidenote: This is a very small deal and barely worth mentioning, but in Dial M for Murder Ray Milland and Grace Kelly‘s street-level, one-bedroom flat is not in Mayfair, as Marty says below at the 1:19 mark, but Maida Vale.

“Dial M Mauled By Fascists,” posted on 4.28.12:

The 1.78 or 1.85 a.r. on the Dial M For Murder Bluray was favored because of one reason only — because this a.r. conforms to the 16 x 9 aspect ratio of high-def flat panels. The people who made this call were nothing but a FASCIST REVISIONIST GANG.

“We have a vision,” their manifesto reads. ‘A vision of all films shot from the early ’50s to mid ’60s with their tops and bottoms CHOPPED OFF, and we will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Because of 16 x 9 high-def screens, we are committed to killing visual information. And we will succeed because we have the factual data and research to back up the assertion that these films were shot to be shown at 1.85, but could also be shown at 1.33 or 1.37 for purist film buff screenings and for television airings and VHS and DVD versions.

“Repeat after us: WE HAVE A VISION, and it is about KILLING VISUAL INFORMATION by slicing off the tops and bottoms of films.”

More height is always right.