About the Production...

"This film is not a who done it," says "A Perfect Murder" cast member David Suchet, "it's a how done it."

Indeed, the film does not rely upon keeping the audience in the dark about the often-sinister goings-on within...rather, it lets them in on the lethal mischief step by step, as the story weaves a not-so-straight path through the twisted corridors of love, passion, deception, sexual jealousy and murder.

These were the themes that interested Christopher Mankiewicz, an independent producer who was developing several projects at Warner Bros. Says Mankiewicz, "I had always loved 'Dial M For Murder,' but felt that it contained untapped potential. I thought that with its themes of greed, jealousy and intrigue, the bones of the story were remarkably contemporary and we could bring the rest of the elements into the '90s and have a very exciting new movie."

At about the same time, producer Arnold Kopelson had viewed a laser disc of 'Dial M for Murder' and decided, with his producing partner and wife, Anne Kopelson, that he wanted to remake the film. When he learned that Christopher Mankiewicz was already involved in the project, he teamed with Mankiewicz to continue bringing a new version of the movie to fruition.

Explains Kopelson, "There's an old adage about there only being about two dozen stories in the world and they're told and re-told in every culture. A really good story is full of potential, and this is a first-rate story -- full of glamour, dramatic tension, interesting characters, unexpected plot twists and suspenseful thrills. As soon as I saw it, I knew that we could make a provocative contemporary version of this story that people would want to see."

Mankiewicz continues, "We brought on screenwriter Patrick Kelly to develop a story that would embrace the classic thriller elements of Knott's play and Hitchcock's adaptation, and at the same time contemporize the characters and their environment. We attempted to open up the story to move it away from being what we thought was a contained stage production. And in particular, we changed the role of the lover to make him a more active part of the story. Patrick Smith Kelly gave us a razor's-edge script which updated and re-tailored the material."

Producers Arnold and Anne Kopelson also immediately asked Peter Macgregor-Scott, with whom they had previously collaborated on Warner Bros.' massive hit, "The Fugitive," to join them as a producer on the film. And all of the filmmakers agreed that Andrew Davis, who had directed the Oscar-nominated "The Fugitive," was a first-rate choice to direct this sophisticated thriller.

Kopelson emphasizes, "Andy Davis is an intelligent and disciplined director, and this story is just right for him, with its mix of plot and character. We were very excited to be re-teaming on this project after our experience on 'The Fugitive.'"

"It's a puzzle piece," says Davis, "a triangle about three people who seemingly love and hate each other at the same time. I was really attracted to the story and the script. The possibility of exploring this incredible tension and puzzling twists and turns really lured me into directing this film."

"Hitchcock, of course, filmed Knott's play with great style," says Macgregor-Scott. "What we've tried to do is to resurrect it in a completely new and fresh form. And Andy Davis was the perfect director for 'A Perfect Murder' because, although he's become known as an action specialist, if you look at 'The Fugitive' you realize that making it work as well as it did took a delicate touch. That movie isn't primarily about train crashes. It's a psychological thriller as much as it is an action thriller. 'A Perfect Murder' required the touch that Andy brought to 'The Fugitive,' because the fascinating tale is of how a triangular love story goes tremendously awry."

Screenwriter Patrick Smith Kelly felt that at the heart of "Dial M for Murder" are themes which are both timeless and timely. "The basic thrust is about possession," he says, "and that it's hard to kill someone perfectly. And if you plan to murder someone, and you involve a third person, it's a quantum leap in what can happen."

Among Kelly's changes from the source material--including a major alteration in the set-up which vastly alters the way the story plays out--was relocating the action from 1950s London to the alternately gleaming and tawdry New York City of today. "The kind of vital, moneyed, art-soaked, fast-paced world depicted in our story only exists in New York or London," notes Kelly. "I don't know London, but I lived in New York for 16 years. It's the most interesting place I know, and I've set almost everything that I've written in New York."

New York is certainly familiar territory to Arnold and Anne Kopelson, whose recent hit, Warner Bros.' "The Devil's Advocate," had been filmed there in its entirety. States Anne Kopelson, "Peter Macgregor-Scott's technical expertise and insight to the filmmaking process enabled us to capture the diversity of New York City to enhance the multidimensional lives of each of our characters."

---

Bring in the Cast...Bring on the Crew

As the filmmakers assembled a first-rate crew--including innovative Polish-born director of photography Darius Wolszki, Oscar-winning production designer Philip Rosenberg, acclaimed costume designer Ellen Mirojnick and film editor Dennis Virkler (an Academy Award nominee for his work on "The Fugitive")--an outstanding cast also began to evolve.

"Michael Douglas as Steven Taylor is the best thing that could have happened to my script," says Pat Kelly. "This character is the center of gravity in the story, an improvisational predator who plans the perfect murder. And when it goes wrong, as it must, the heart of the piece is about how Steven manipulates himself and others like chess pieces, in an attempt to win the game. As Steven, Michael is charming, scary and poised, all at the same time."

Adds Macgregor-Scott, "Michael is also a consummate filmmaker in his own right. In fact, he's made more pictures as a producer than I'm likely to do in my entire career. He understands the innumerable challenges of motion picture production, and works as a complete professional in every sense."

Douglas was, in this case, drawn to his character and to the acting challenges of his complex role. "Steven is a real mixture: a successful, charming man and a conniving, potentially lethal mate," explains Douglas. "He makes a murderous decision when he learns his wife has been unfaithful, a choice that makes him easy to hate, but I wanted the audience to care what happens to him anyway -- to understand how he loved his wife, how many pressures he was carrying inside himself, and what a blow to his ego it was for him to come face to face with the man who had cuckolded him.

"This character is the first villain I've played since 'Wall Street,' and it was fun to revisit the type; I usually think the bad guy is the most interesting character in the story. Of course, in this story we're all villains, so maybe that's the best part of it!"

A perfect choice for the role of Emily Bradford Taylor, Steven's beautiful and resilient wife, was Gwyneth Paltrow, one of the most respected young actresses today. Paltrow was drawn to the script's roller-coaster twists and turns and to the validity of its characters.

"The nice thing about Emily is that she's an intelligent woman who's also emotionally motivated," she comments. "Emily's emotions catalyze almost everything she does. She's very aware of what's going on, but so much has been hidden from her, both in her sheltered upbringing and her equally sheltered marriage to Steven, that it takes a long time for her to uncover what's really happening.

"But when she does," Paltrow continues, "she responds with strength and character."

Paltrow also appreciated that although the script paid respectful homage to Knott's original play, "A Perfect Murder" also strove for originality. "Some broad fundamental strokes are the same," she comments, "but only in big structural ways. I wouldn't dare to presume to fill Grace Kelly's shoes. I just think that we're making our own movie. The Hitchcock movie is, of course, its own lovely thing. We've taken a good idea and adapted it, making it modern and, hopefully, fun and scary."

The third member of the triangle, the enigmatic artist David Shaw, is portrayed by Viggo Mortensen, who, after several years of strong supporting performances, has been edging his way into the upper echelon of American leading men.

"I could see immediately that Viggo was going to bring even more to the role of David Shaw than what I had on the page," admits screenwriter Kelly. "He not only brought his own ideas to the role, but his actual art as well."

It was decided early on by Andy Davis and the producers that Mortensen--a talented artist in his own right portraying Shaw, also in that vocation--would actually contribute his own resonant, sometimes disturbing works to the film, rather than have the filmmakers rely upon canvases by those without any other connection to "A Perfect Murder." To prepare for his role, Mortensen actually inhabited--as often as possible--the set selected and then designed by production designer Philip Rosenberg as David Shaw's loft, on the upper floor of a crumbling warehouse in Brooklyn's Greenpoint district.

Mortensen was drawn to "A Perfect Murder" not only because he would have the opportunity of playing an artist, but also because he felt that the script dealt with some fascinating if harsh universalities. "All three protagonists in the story are forced by circumstances to lie," he notes, "as most people are in small ways, everywhere, always, even if only to themselves. To me, that's an interesting consistency about our species.

"I also appreciated the fact," continues Mortensen, "that the story hopefully stimulates complicated emotions and thoughts. There aren't a lot of special effects or explosions. It's a character-driven drama with characterizations that are layered and well-balanced."

For the role, Mortensen faced a curious prospect. Would David Shaw's artwork reflect the actor's sensibilities, or in some way be "in character?" "Actually, I suppose they were a little of both," Mortensen responds, "but, not having a lot of time to think about it, I just had to dive in and go for it. For better or worse, I suppose the artwork reflects both my subconscious and my ideas of who David Shaw is as well."

Also working hard on his preparation was the distinguished British actor David Suchet, cast as New York Detective Mohamed Karaman. Suchet isn't exactly a neophyte when it comes to playing sleuths...after all, he's famed the world over for his portrayal of Agatha Christie's immortal Belgian Hercule Poirot on the British television series.

But for "A Perfect Murder," Suchet would be working quite another beat as an Arabic American officer whose turf is the Big Apple. Thus, Suchet had to brush up on his American accent (previously perfected for such films as the Sundance Festival-honored "Sunday" and several theatrical productions in England), learn more-than-passable Arabic and study the terrain.

"I hung out with an NYPD detective named Scott Dillon, who helped me enormously," notes Suchet. "I had a look around the station and the interrogation room, and spoke with Scott and other detectives about how they proceed with their work, step by step."

Suchet was also delighted--as were his fellow cast members--that screenwriter Pat Kelly had created a wholly sympathetic character for whom ethnicity is merely back-ground rather than the impetus for his being. "During the time I spent in New York, I just happened in with a lot of Arab-American friends," says Kelly. "There haven't been a lot of characters with that ethnicity portrayed in average terms, and I thought it would be interesting. I also thought that with Emily's background in languages, having her and Karaman create some kind of bond shared on their ability to converse in Arabic would be something different as well."

"My approach to the role of Karaman," adds Suchet, "is that he's a first-generation American without a trace of an accent. When the audience hears him speaking Arabic on the telephone to his wife, it should come as quite a surprise. He's merely a New Yorker who, like so many others living in the city, is still connected to his ethnic roots."

Other fine talents assembled for "A Perfect Murder" include the distinguished stage, screen and television star Constance Towers as Emily's mother Sandra. "When you have the opportunity of working with Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen and Andrew Davis in one movie, it's an offer you can't refuse," she says.

Although Tower's working schedule was brief, her role was crucial in clarifying Emily Bradford Taylor's background and upbringing. "I think the script allows you to understand the generations of quality, breeding and wealth that Emily comes from," adds Towers, "and Sandra is a major part in portraying that to an audience. I loved the fact that Pat Kelly had the courage to write a loving mother/daughter relationship. We often see the angst between mothers and daughters on screen and television, but my mother was a great source of strength in my life, and that's what Sandra is to her daughter. Emily goes back to her mother for healing and a moment of respite before she goes back to the anxiety and threat of the outside world."

more