[Reportedly, the plot of the antagonistic romance was inspired by the alleged affair that bespectacled director John Ford had with a mismatched Hepburn during the filming ofMary of Scotland (1936).You are about to witness the most amazing, the most astounding living monstrosity of all time.(woman""s scream) Friends - she was once a beautiful woman.A royal prince shot himself for love of her.She was known as the Peacock of the Air...Beginning of Circus Flashback:The film dissolved to introduce the character known as "the Peacock of the Air" -- Cleopatra (thick-accented Russian-born Olga Baclanova), a beautiful circus-act performer, who was perched atop a high-wire trapeze bar.[Note: There were four TV movies: (1) Hallmark Hall of Fame""sDial M For Murder (1958)starring Maurice Evans, Anthony Dawson, John Williams and Rosemary Harris, (2) BBC-TV""s remakeDial M For Murder (1962, UK), (3) ABC-TV""sDial M for Murder (1967)starring Laurence Harvey, Diane Cilento, and Hugh O""Brian, and (4)Dial ""M"" For Murder (1981)starring Angie Dickinson, Christopher Plummer and Michael Parks.Christopher Reeve was paid a salary of $250,000, plus $25,000 a week -- it was one of the highest salaries paid to an unknown actor for a major feature film.