Blu-ray

One of Hitchcock's middling works (even he once joked that he could have 'phoned it in'), Dial M for Murder stars Ray Milland as Tony Wendice, a former tennis professional plotting to kill his adulterous wife Margot (Grace Kelly) and grab the £90,000 he'll be left in her will. Sadly - for Ray, if not his wife - his elaborate plan doesn't run smoothly, but will Margot and her lover ever discover the truth about the attempt on her life?

Picture: The obvious selling point of this Blu-ray release is the chance for fans to finally watch Hitchcock's only 3D movie in its native stereoscopic form. So how does it hold up?

Well, while unlikely to knock the likes of Avatar off the top of the pile when it comes to 3D demo fodder, Dial M for Murder still manages to impress with its convincing image depth (the film's unusual mise-en-scène, heavily loaded with foreground objects, now makes more sense) and the quality of the restoration.

On the downside, there's clearly an issue with the source material that causes a pronounced fringing effect on certain sequences. Additionally, the 3D version also looks a little dark – a problem that may stem from a need to find a happy medium between contrast levels for the 2D and 3D iterations, as this single-disc release generates both from the same MVC 1.78:1 1080p encode.
Picture rating: 3.5/5

Audio: Warner's Blu-ray release features a lovingly restored DTS-HD MA mono soundtrack. While it's unlikely to get audiophiles' blood pumping too hard, others will rejoice in the track's clarity when it comes to dialogue and the tonality of Dimitri Tiomkin's score.
Audio rating: 4/5

Extras: Bonus features are rather limited and clearly stem from the previous DVD release. Hitchcock and Dial M is an interesting 22-minute featurette that gives various fans (including Peter Bogdanovich and M. Night Shyamalan) a chance to discuss the film. The real missed opportunities here are the chance to include some discussion of the challenges that were faced restoring the film for both 2D and 3D Blu-ray, and a broader retrospective look back at the so-called 'golden age' of stereoscopic cinema. Also included on the disc is a theatrical trailer.
Extras rating: 1.5/5

We say: Not Hitchcock's finest, but a great hi-def showcase for Hollywood's original 'golden age' of 3D filmmaking

Warner Home Video, All-region BD, £27 Approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 3.5/5