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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bad video quality, great film, May 9, 2008
This review is from: Blackmail (DVD)
Here's another public domain copy of one of Hitchcock's early films. The video is just entirely too fuzzy, and I don't recommend it. Won't someone take an interest in restoring Hitchcock's early films for DVD in Region 1? This film may not hold up among Hitchcock's great films from his golden years of 1948 through 1963, but compare it to any other talking picture from 1929 and then tell me what you think.
The fact is, this film is shot part silent. Yes there is sound, but there is no synchronized dialogue until about ten minutes into the film when the police detective and his girlfriend who are the central characters speak to one another. Shooting the film primarily silent with synchronized effects and leaving the talking sequences for segments of the film where dialogue was necessary and then having the judgement to know how much dialogue was enough and stop at that point was something Hitchcock got from the beginning. Watch some of the long-winded speeches from some other 1929 films and realize that many of Hitchcock's contemporaries struggled with this skill.
The story is a good one. Alice is feeling neglected by her detective boyfriend, and follows a handsome artist up to his flat. After some flirting the artist turns suddenly violent and assaults her. She defends herself by grabbing a knife and stabbing the man. Stunned and sure she has not been seen by anyone entering the man's flat, she attempts to erase all signs of her presence there and returns home. She mentions the incident to noone, but is weighted down with guilt.
Frank, Alice's boyfriend, investigates the crime scene and sees Alice's glove. He confiscates it. Unfortunately, someone else who is not Alice has the other glove. The lovers don't discuss anything but the threat of the blackmailer until the end of the film. Like many of Hitchcock's later works, much of his art is in furtive glances and in objects that recall the crime rather than specific dialogue. An example of this is a jester in the artist's painting that Alice sees as pointing at her and thus accusing her. The jester meets Alice's eye both immediately after the crime and at the end of the film.
Highly recommended as one of the best talking pictures of 1929. However, I am yet to find a satisfactory copy on DVD.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Early Promise of Greatness, July 23, 2006
I am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock's movies. His expertise as a director has helped create some bonafide film classics over his career. I got a box set of early Hitchcock movies and have been (generally) enjoying them. Some movies are noteworthy because they show the Master in the early development of his skills. Most of them, however, are not all that enthralling to watch. What they display in directorial talent is offset by an often lackluster plot. "Blackmail" is a significant exception to the others in that regard. "Blackmail" is a GOOD movie.
There is much of the Hitchcock talent to be appreciated in "Blackmail". Among the more impressive scenes are a murder in which virtually all of the action is behind a curtain yet there are enough details that we know exactly what is happening and why. There's also the perpetrator's stunned response to the events and her demeanor thereafter with complements to the director and actress. There's a chase through the British Museum that doesn't compare with some of his later movies but shows that he knows the importance of the "chase" as an intregal element in suspense. There are little things as well such as how Alice, resigned to her fate, rises from her chair and an innocent shadow becomes the image of a noose around her neck. There's the Master himself in one of his earliest and, perhaps his most obvious, cameo appearance. All of these and many other facets help a good plot move along in an impressive manor to where we don't know how the movie ends until we behold it ourselves.
"Blackmail" was noted as the first sound picture made in England. At first I thought that there was something wrong with my DVD because the only sound was music. However, in time the voices emerged (almost sounding dubbed at first) and the sound improved as the movie progressed. Regardless of the historical value of "Blackmail" for Hitchcock and other film buffs, this is an early movie that can be appreciated just for what it is. I gave it 4 "stars" because, let's face it, as good as it is, Hitchcock went on to do a lot better.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Detectives in glass houses shouldn't wave clues...", November 28, 2009
Blackmail is an outstanding early film from director Alfred Hitchcock. I have to say that given what I've read about the quality of the print I was pleasantly surprised when this print had few scratches or patchy areas. The film works well in many ways. The acting is convincing; the casting was very well done; the plot moves along at a very good pace and there is a real thriller element to the chase scene just before the very end of the movie. It should also be noted that this was the first British "talkie" which alone gives this film historical significance.
When the action begins, Hitchcock and the writers set the tone for the movie by showing a police squad car racing through the streets of London, hot on the trial for a criminal who is found in a rather seedy neighborhood. After this the real story begins. Alice White (Anny Ondra) is sick and tired of always having to wait for her workaholic boyfriend Frank (John Longden) who is a detective at Britain's New Scotland Yard. Alice has also met an artist, Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard) to whom she has taken a liking and they plan a rendezvous when Frank isn't around to find out about it.
Crewe talks Alice into coming up to his artist's studio; and it isn't long before he tries to forcibly have his way with her. In a desperate attempt to defend herself, Alice stabs Crewe with a knife and kills him. She then walks the streets of London throughout the entire night in a state of shock and horror over what she's done; and she decides to keep her it all a secret.
Unfortunately, Alice's secret doesn't remain a secret very long. Not only does Frank, her boyfriend, recognize Alice's glove at the scene of the crime; there's yet another shady character, Tracy (Donald Calthrop), who has the other glove of Alice's--and he wants money as he blackmails Alice and then both Alice and Frank to keep his silence about his knowledge of her crime. The entire affair is blown wide open when Frank's police squad arrives and Tracy himself now has to run to avoid being blamed for the murder. The chase sequence is excellent! The plot ends in some interesting ways with a few quick twists to keep you in suspense until the very last minute; and the final impression is quite interesting because it shows a resolution on more than one level.
Blackmail is an incredibly powerful, memorable film, brilliantly done even though Hitchcock was still a comparatively new director doing his first picture with sound. I highly recommend it, especially for Hitchcock fans and film buffs interested in early "talkies." You won't be disappointed!
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