Dial M for Masterpiece

I watched Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder today. Crikey they don't make 'em like that anymore. No one acts like that anymore. The cast was so eloquent and poised. But as I didn't live in the 1950s, I have no way of knowing if this was just the way people acted in films and that people were really the same as we are now on the street. I'm after realising this is a stupid thing to try to talk about. It doesn't matter. It is inconsequential. While the allure of the 1940s and 1950s silver screen is very enticing to a person who dwells in a world where manners and grace (including the author's own) are rare indeed, whether an image or not, we cannot return to the past (just like I can't return to the past and resist all those Christmas diabetes-inducing sweeties). All one can do is admire the style of Hitchcock and the way his players make etiquette appear effortless.