118 of 1001 Movies: Blackmail (1929)

Alfred Hitchock's Blackmail is innovative in a lot of ways in the film industry. It's one of the better done early talkies, and is considered the first British talkie film. Also when I got to reading about the complications and progressive ways Hitchock overcame hurtles it made the movie that much more interesting. While the story line doesn't appear to be much on the outside there is the depth to the story that is there that just doesn't translate as well on screen.

Alice's boyfriend Frank is really busy with the police force, so much so she almost feels forgotten, so one night she slips away with an artist and back to his apartment, but once she arrives she finds herself defending herself against sexual assualt, and ends up killing the guy to get away, but someone who knows her saw her there and retrieves one of the gloves she left behind, and when Frank arrives on the scene to investigate he finds Alice other glove there. The man who found the other though is wanting to blackmail Alice and Frank unless they can stop him.


For the first few minutes of the movie it's quite confusing because for a talkie it starts off as a silent movie even in the way it moves and sounds. Some title cards for the first few minutes might have been helpful. When Alice comes into the picture though and begins talking though this does change the whole vibe of the film though because then the story begins shaping and forming to where it feels more cohesive and you can follow it. There is also a lot of good techniques used to build the suspense that feel quite ahead of it's time.

The actors are pretty good for one of the early talkies. Many times the actors seem awkward or out of their element, but these seem to blend pretty well even though there voices are all recorded off screen separate from the things they are saying on screen. The actress's Alice's voice though is actually a completely different person as the actress had a thick German accent that didn't sound well when they did record it. Though it wasn't technically dubbed the director used another person to talk off screen in a British accent, and in a way that mimics dubbing. Her voice is actually well put in.

Blackmail feels ahead of the time, and showcases why Alfred Hitchcock became such a name in the film industry as he was very innovative with film. In this one he uses the shadows and ways of shooting to really build the suspense, and he has intense scenes that involve the characters doing stunts that wouldn't have seemed possible at the time. There is also a really creepy scene where a flashing sign switches from some type of movie advertisement to a knife darting back and forth. That was extremely eerie.  The movies does get a bit confusing though if you don't have a plot nearby and your interest might veer at times as some of the scenes seem to stretch on way long than others. Sometimes they also feel very awkwardly done as well. Blackmail though is a classic for what it does showcase and progress in film.

Rating 6 of 10.