Customer Reviews

Blackmail

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

A pair of gloves is the only evidence in a murder case. One is found by the detective working the case, the other by a sinister eyewitness who wants to "Blackmail" the killer. No, this is not a TV movie about OJ Simpson, this is early Hitch!(Only he could have known.)

In 1929 Alfred Hitchcock was already displaying his innate senses of style, suspense, shadowy figures, sensuality and lets not forget his wonderful sense of humor. This film has all those qualities that makes his films so recognizable.

Alice is bored, and steps out on Frank, her Scotland Yard boyfriend. Her "date" offers to paint her portrait. She agrees, but once in his apartment, he attacks her and she kills him in self defense.
The investigation leads her Detective boyfriend to realize she is the killer, but keeps it to himself, There's another witness, one that can blow the lid off the whole case.Alice's guilt is getting the best of her(shades of "Tell Tale Heart" by Poe). Will she turn herself in before it's too late, or will they keep this secret buried.

The film stars Anny Ondra (she's marvelous)as Alice,John Longden as Frank, and Donald Calthrop as the blackmailer."Blackmail started out as a silent but with films like the "Jazz Singer" opening in the States, Hitch decided to add sound to this one making it the first British "Talkie".This film can also be found with an even earlier silent from Hitch at:Blackmail/Easy VirtueEasy Virtue, a drama, not quite up there with this one, but still a real treat for fans.

Looking for Hitch: I spied him in the first 10 minutes in quite a comical cameo, don't miss it!

5 stars for keeping me on the edge of my seat,for keeping my heart pounding, for shades of greatness yet to come, and for a great piece of film history for collectors.....enjoy....Laurie

The vibrantly beautiful Anny Ondra, yet another spinster in the long line of Hitchcock blondes, is spectacularly breathtaking. The aura of elegance and innocence which emanates from her gauzy figure make her downward spiral into guilt all the more grueling to watch. Due to her heavy Czech accent, an example of which can be viewed in sound test Hitchcock made with the young actress that has now been archived by the American Film Institute, she never actually speaks a word in the film. Her dialogue instead is voiced by British actress Joan Barry. It is however the scenes in which she expresses no dialogue whatsoever that are perhaps the most memorable. The impression of fear, horror, shock, and self-resentment in Alice's eyes moments after she kills Cyril Ritchard is a perfect example of this. This in turn is followed up with the more famous `knife' scene in which Hitchcock uses a dialogue sequence involving a caustic British neighbor repeatedly uttering the word `knife', drilling it not only in our minds but Alice's as well until she can stand it no more and throws the bread-knife she is holding out of her hand in shock. It is this scene alone which makes the sound-version of Blackmail all the more memorable then its silent counterpart.

Sadly, whether it is due to the inferior sound technology of the time or her own voice, Joan Barry's overlay of Alice's lines of dialogue are too squeaky and high-pitched. They don't quite match up with Ondra's mouthing of her lines, with the exception of one or two scenes. This, again, is no fault of Hitchcock who at the time of casting Czech actress Anny Ondra was making a silent picture. Since he was close friends with the actress, he couldn't bear to let her go once British International Pictures decided to make Blackmail a `talkie', so he came up with the best solution he could think of that wouldn't involve firing Miss Ondra. It's a mixed bag. It works in some respects, but on the other hand it doesn't in others.

Cyril Ritchard is particularly captivating as the villain of the picture. This is viewed as one of Hitchcock's famous `against type' casting decisions which works splendidly. Upon first meeting the man, audiences, like Alice, never suspect him of being a malefactor. However, the longer Alice remains in his apartment, the more we, along with her, develop a growing suspicion of his character until it climaxes with him forcefully grabbing her and advancing himself on her.

Blackmail contains at least two especially notable `slight of hand' moments cultivated by Alfred Hitchcock. First, the film contains one of the director's more memorable cameos in which a boy on a subway train pulls the hat of the director over his head, leading Hitchcock to berate the boy and his family. The boy confronts the man again, this time leaving the two engaged in a staring contest until the scene ends. Although the witty scene does end rather abruptly, perhaps even a bit clumsily, the levity of the moment works nonetheless. The other fleeting gesture of Hitchcock's is considered to be his lasting tribute to the silent picture-era which, now with the invention of `talkies', he was now embarking from in his filmmaking career. Right before Clew is about to advance on Alice, a shadow is imposed on Ritchard's face making it appear as though he had a curly mustache much in the same vein as the clichéd villains of the silent films.

The rape scene in particular is especially mesmerizing. Nothing is shown however but not because of government censors. The lack of visual imagery is of Hitchcock's own volition. The eerily penetrating silence of the moment and what is not seen, leaving the diabolical deed to the device of our own imagination, is what makes this scene all the more fascinating to watch.

Though certainly engaging to a point, Blackmail, as it winds down towards its conclusion, does become rather predictable. The ending however is not so much the problem. Frankly this ending is a far superior one to the original Hitchcock developed which would have had Alice, ridden with guilt, turning herself in. Instead Alice is made to rot with guilt, possibly for the rest of her miserable life. A more diabolical ending for Mr. Hitchcock then one would expect so early in his career. Audiences are made to confront the fact that Alice would have been better off having confessed to the murder and conceivably gotten off on the argument that she was acting in self-defense, which she was, rather then relying on Frank to cover it up for her and in the process causing the death of another man, whether he deserved it or not. Blackmail hits upon a common theme of Hitchcock's films; this of course is the fear police invoke in the mindset of the general public and why it is so hard for people to confess to a crime even if they were acting in good judgment.

Although the ending to the film suggests that Alice is off the hook and the now deceased blackmailer has been accused of the murder, the fleeting image of Crew's last painting, a clown-like figure laughing mockingly, leaves one to assume that Alice's conscience will never be freed of the burden of her guilt. If Frank and Alice do end up getting married and live the rest of their lives together, it is understandable to suspect that it will not be a happy life in part to these events. However, on the other hand, it is just sensible to suggest that they will never end up together.

Historically, this is genuine find - note the date: 1929. It was Hitchcock's and England's FIRST TALKIE.

Blackmail provides glimpses of the future master director's style and was decades ahead of its time, presaging the film noir classics of the late 40s and early 50s. But what is so fascinating is the way in which Hitchcock dealt with sound, providing a transition from silent to talkie in a matter of minutes.

The film begins just like so many other silent films - an orchestra providing musical cues for audience reaction. We even see people talking but don't hear them; slowly, intermittently, sound effects appear, involving cars or doors and walking (note when the first person steps out of police van, we hear the footsteps, but none for those who follow immediately) and eventually we hear talking, but we don't see the faces or mouths moving. Then comes the moment when actors speak and we hear the words from their mouths. From then on, its full sound and sound effects.

One of the stars is Cyril Ritchard, who was immortalized as Captain Hook in the 1960s TV version of Peter Pan. He plays the piano and sings and its not faked - thats really him. But masterful Hitch (and yes, there is wonderful cameo) is the true star: the camera angles, the shots of body parts, action that is suggested (a murder with a knife that takes place behind a curtain (!)) and suggestive - surprisingly when star Anny Ondra modestly undresses behind a screen, we watch her, with no cutaway. Seeing her taking off her clothes and seeing the undergarments, which are lifted, must have been scandalous to an England still possessed by Victorian morals.

The story is simple: a shopkeeper's daughter (Ondra) has a Scotland Yard detective boyfriend Frank Webber (John Longdon) who is more interested in police work than her. On a dinner date, she had secretly arranged to meet another man, an artist (Ritchard) who invites her back to his place to see his paintings. He decides to rape her but she grabs a bread knife and kills him.

The detective quickly determines that she is the killer but holds the evidence. A criminal who witnessed enough to engage in a little blackmail complicates the plot.

The film is 86 minutes and suffers some mild deterioration, but largely is both watchable and fascinating, especially for Hitch fans. The interior shots at the British museum are awesome - consider the lighting requirements to get those shots! I was also struck by the extraordinary feel of the transition from silent to talkie. Imagine being in a theatre in 1929 and experiencing that.
Wow!

This film is very underrated today because not only is "Blackmail" a quintessential Hitchcock psychological thriller about murder and blackmail, but a superior example of silent cinema at its peak in the late 1920s. It was actually completely finished first as a silent picture, then substantially remade with sound prior to release and then became the first British talkie. While the sound version remains famous to this day, the original version, considered a masterpiece of high silent cinema, was forgotten after it was distributed to theaters which were not yet wired for sound. Although the silent version exists and is available, though hard to find, this neglected sound version will have to do us for now.

Hitchcock had already directed about ten silent films by 1929 including The Lodger, his first suspense thriller in the style for which he later became famous. Hitchcock also wrote the screenplay for many of his films, and continually improved on the best and most popular aspects of his earlier work with Blackmail being one of the first resounding successes of his brilliant career. His early silent cinema work was largely influenced by the German Expressionist style of cinema which put emphasis on lighting and shadows, often exaggerated to create sinister or evocative moods, as well as unusual and innovative camera angles and photography techniques.

Earlier silent films by Hitchcock such as "The Ring", "The Manxman" and "The Farmer's Wife" reveal that Hitchcock had a finely-tuned sense for both humour and human nature, as well as a comprehensive understanding of human psychology. His interest in people is manifest in the way the story and camera often linger on a character's feelings, emotional actions and reactions, thereby deeply involving the audience and creating heightened emotional suspense. Blackmail encompasses all these carefully developed qualities, precisely balanced throughout the film to add extra dimension, stronger emotion and visual impact. The first thirty minutes of the film gradually introduce the main characters with their feelings and relationships to each other, building up to the main event: the stabbing murder of a would-be rapist in self defense.

Striking, innovative photography makes this film intriguing visually, and provocative emotionally as the audience follows every move and gesture by the unintentional murderess, Alice, and her relationship with boyfriend Frank, who happens to be the police investigator who found Alice's glove at the crime scene. In true Hitchcock style, the plot soon twists and turns as a blackmailer who had been observing the couple comes forward, only to find things double-back onto him in the end. With the climax of the film taking place on the dome of the British Museum, "Blackmail" began the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences and thrilling climaxes. A worthy addition to a Hitchcock or serious early cinema collection, even on a budget label until a day both this and the original silent version are properly restored as they deserve to be.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 feature Blackmail gives its viewer an early glimpse of the genius that the master director was to become. The film is a rather conventional thriller by today's standards. The plot folows the story of Alice White who kills in self defense only to have the murder blamed on a petty criminal who tries to blackmail Ms. White.

Hitchcock uses his trademark style to tell his story and gives an early example of the chase that would make him famous in later films. This chase through the British Museum foreshadows later chases in such films as North By Northwest. Also Hitchcock uses closeups in order to convey the notion that the world is closing in on his characters.

The disc I viewed had some problems. This low cost version had a tendency to freeze and skip at various moments. The print and sound quality is average. The material has not been restored. Overall the disc makes a decent but not perfect viewing experience. Watch this one if you are a fan of Hitchcock.

This movie is one of the most Harrowing Hitchcock movies I've seen. In my opinion, better than Psycho. Terrificly Frightning.

I saw this movie silent with a live band playing their originally composed music. Their music was the scariest music I have heard in my life. So I only focused on the music and didn't watch the movie. So I bought the movie and watched it again. I was incredible. I loved it. Good Directoral job from some guy named Hitchcock? (I'M ONLY JOKING)