Blackmail (1929 film)
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| Blackmail | |
|---|---|
 Original Insert poster |
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| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Uncredited: John Maxwell for British International Pictures |
| Written by | Play: Charles Bennett Adaption: Alfred Hitchcock Dialogue: Benn W. Levy |
| Starring | Anny Ondra Sara Allgood Charles Paton John Longden Cyril Ritchard Donald Calthrop |
| Music by | Uncredited: Hubert Bath |
| Cinematography | Jack E. Cox |
| Editing by | Emile de Ruelle |
| Distributed by |  Wardour Films Ltd. Sono Art |
| Release date(s) | June 30, 1929 October 6, 1929 |
| Running time | 84 min. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Blackmail (1929) was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and stars Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard, and based on the play Blackmail by Charles Bennett. It is considered to be the first all-talkie British film.
After being thought in the public domain for decades, the film's rights were obtained by French media company Canal+ in 2005.
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[edit] Plot
Scotland Yard Detective Frank Webber (Longden) escorts his girlfriend Alice White (Ondra) to a tea house. They have an argument and Alice leaves with Mr. Crewe (Ritchard), an artist whom she has earlier agreed to meet. At his studio, Crewe sings and plays "Miss Up-to-Date" on the piano. Alice innocently flirts with the artist. He convinces her to try on a dress then attempts to assault her as she is changing. Alice grabs a nearby bread knife and stabs him to death.
Alice leaves after attempting to conceal any evidence of her presence in the flat. She has, however, unknowingly left a glove behind. The next day Frank is assigned to the case and finds the glove. He realizes the glove belongs to Alice and visits Alice at her father's shop. Local petty thief Tracey (Donald Calthrop), who saw Alice at the artist's flat earlier, interrupts the two and attempts to blackmail the couple. Frank tells Tracey his attempt will fail.
The tables are turned when Tracy becomes the chief suspect after the artist's landlady identifies him as being at the scene of the crime. Tracey flees and is pursued by the police. He clamors onto the domed roof of the British Museum and is killed after falling through a glass panel of the dome.
Alice feels compelled to confess she killed the artist and goes to Scotland Yard. She attempts to talk to the Chief Inspector but is escorted out by Frank.
[edit] Production
The film began production as a silent film. To cash in on the new found popularity of talkies the film's producers, British International Pictures, gave Hitchcock the go-ahead to film a portion of the movie in sound. Hitchcock thought the idea absurd and surreptitiously filmed almost the entire feature in sound along with a silent version for theatres not yet equipped for talking pictures.
Lead actress Anny Ondra was raised in Prague and had a heavy Polish accent that was felt unsuitable for the film. Sound was in its infancy at the time and it was impossible to post dub Anny's voice. Rather than replace Anny and re-shoot her portions of the film actress Joan Barry was hired to actually speak the dialogue while Anny lip-synched them for the film. This makes Ondra's performance seem slightly awkward.
Hitchcock used several elements that would become Hitchcock "trademarks" including a beautiful blonde in peril and a famous landmark in the finale. Hitchcock used the Schufftan process to film the scenes in the Reading Room of the British Museum since the light levels were too low for normal filming.
The film was a critical and commercial hit. The sound was praised as inventive. A completed silent version of Blackmail was released in 1929 shortly after the talkie version hit theaters. The silent version of Blackmail actually ran longer in theaters and proved more popular, largely because most theaters in England were not yet equipped for sound. Despite the popularity of the silent version, history best remembers the landmark talkie version of Blackmail. It is the version now generally available although some critics consider the silent version superior.
[edit] Trivia
- Alfred Hitchcock cameo: A signature occurrence in almost all of Hitchcock's films, he can be seen being bothered by a small boy as he reads a book in the subway.This is probably the lengthiest cameo Hitchcock performed in his film career.
- Alfred Hitchcock filmed the silent version with Sam Livesey as the Chief Inspector and the sound version with Harvey Braban in the same role.
- Anny Ondra's career in the UK was hurt by sound. She returned to Germany and retired from films after making a few additional movies and marrying boxer Max Schmeling.
- Blackmail, marketed as Britain's first "all-talkie" feature, was recorded in the RCA Photophone sound-on-film process. In July 1925, a short film, The Gentleman, had been released in London in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In March 1929, a feature film The Clue of the New Pin, a part-talkie based on an Edgar Wallace novel, was trade-shown with The Crimson Circle, a German-UK coproduction which was also based on a Wallace novel. Crimson was filmed in DeForest Photofilm, and Pin was made in British Phototone, a sound-on-disc process using 12-inch phonograph records synchronized with the film.
[edit] References
- Ryall, Tom, Blackmail (London: British Film Institute, 1993)
[edit] External Links
- Blackmail at the Internet Movie Database
- Blackmail at the AFI/Turner Classic Movies database
- Essay on Blackmail
