Alfred Hitchcock - North By Northwest / Dial M For Murder / Strangers On A Train

Triple bill of classic suspense thrillers from director Alfred Hitchcock. In 'Dial M for Murder' (1954), adapted from the stage play by Frederick Knott, former tennis pro Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) hatches a cunning plot to get rid of his socialite wife, Margot (Grace Kelly), when he discovers that she has been unfaithful. Wendice blackmails a corrupt former schoolmate into murdering her but the fellow bungles the job and Margot, having killed her would-be assailant in self-defence, then finds herself under suspicion of premeditated murder.

In 'Strangers On a Train' (1951), based on Patricia Highsmith's novel, tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) meets Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) by chance in a train carriage. After some idle chat in which it transpires that each man has someone in their lives they would like to dispose of, Bruno proposes that he kills Guy's wife, in return for Guy murdering Bruno's father. Guy is appalled, but when his wife is murdered he realises that Bruno is intent on carrying out the 'deal', whether Guy wants to or not.

In 'North By Northwest' (1959) advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is lunching in a restaurant with his mother when he mistakenly answers a page for one George Kaplan. He soon finds himself on the run across the country, being pursued by enemies of the government who are convinced that he is a secret agent. He finds a friend in Eve Kendall (Eve Marie Saint), who helps conceal him during a perilous train journey, but soon discovers she is not all that she seems...