Film Review
Blackmail, Alfred Hitchcock's
second great crime thriller (after
The
Lodger), has the distinction of being the first all-sound
film to be released in Great Britain. The film was originally
shot as a silent film but during its initial post-production the studio
(British International Pictures) requested Hitchcock to convert it into
a partial sound film. Aware that the switch to sound was
imminent, Hitchcock had pre-empted this and had been careful to shoot
most of the film in such a way that it would work just as well as a
silent film or a sound film. Additional scenes were shot with
recorded dialogue, but dialogue was also added to the original silent
scenes, making this a complete sound film.
The main problem that Hitchcock encountered in adding sound to the film
was that his lead actress, Anny Ondra, had a strong Polish
accent. Rather than re-shoot all of her scenes, he chose to dub
her lines. Another actress, Joan Barry, spoke her lines, just off
camera, with Ondra miming as best she could. Since only a
small proportion of cinemas at the time had the necessary equipment for
sound films,
Blackmail was
released in two versions, with and without sound.
Whilst it may lack some of the visual impact of Hitchcock's previous
silent films - notably
The Lodger -
Blackmail does have greater
realism (due in part to the use of real locations), which serves to
heighten the suspense. The expressionistic style of the earlier
films is used more sparingly - and where it manifests itself, as in the
murder scene, it does so very subtly and effectively. Of perhaps
greater interest than the visuals is Hitchcock's ingenious use of sound
- most memorably in the sequence where the heroine, guilt-stricken by
what she has done, only hears the word "knife", repeated incessantly
(the aural equivalent of a stabbing) by
a gossiping old woman. Hitchcock was one of the few
filmmakers at the time to experiment with sound and explore how it
could be used to bring subjectivity to a film, much as he had done with
the camera and lighting in his previous films.
Blackmail is an obvious
forerunner of the classy suspense thrillers that would earn Hitchcock
his international reputation over the following three decades.
Most of the familiar Hitchcock motifs are present in this film - a
gruesome murder, an attractive blonde in peril, an innocent man wrongly
accused of a murder (although interestingly here it turns out to be the
villain, not the hero), anxiety caused by guilt linked to a killing,
and a famous landmark featuring in the climactic denouement - in this
case the British Museum. The director makes his second cameo
appearance in this film (his first was in
The Lodger) - playing an unhappy
passenger on a London underground train being harassed by a small
boy. The immense success of
Blackmail
convinced Hitchcock that it offered a winning formula which he would be
tempted to repeat over and over again.
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Alfred Hitchcock film:
The Manxman (1929)
Film Synopsis
Alice is unimpressed when her boyfriend Frank, a Scotland Yard
detective, fails to keep their appointment one evening. After a
slight quarrel, they decide not to go to the pictures together.
Instead, Alice goes off with another man who has taken her fancy, a
young painter named Mr Crewe. She allows her new beau to take her
back to his apartment so that he can show her his latest artistic
achievements. Alice, a naive slip of a girl, is not prepared for
the torrent of passion that ensues. When Mr Crew pounces on her
and tries to force her into bed, she grabs hold of a bread knife and
stabs him to death. Traumatised, Alice leaves the apartment and
returns home, not knowing that she has been seen leaving. The
next day, Frank is called to the scene of the murder and is surprised
to find a glove belonging to Alice. When he confronts her at the
grocers shop belonging to her father, a shifty looking man
appears. From his jacket, he pulls out a glove that matches the
one which Frank found in the dead man's apartment...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.