Shop owner's daughter Alice White (Anny Ondra) decides to go for a walk on the wild side one night by ditching her regular but "dull" boyfriend detective (Johnny Longden) one night to rendezvous with an artist rake (Cyril Richard). Coquettish Alice soon finds herself in over her head as he attempts to rape her and is stabbed to death for his efforts. The boyfriend is put on the case and he finds a clue implicating her but balks at turning her in. A deadbeat, ex-con, (Donald Calthrop) witness to it has other ideas though.
Blackmail was not only Alfred Hitchcock's first sound picture but England's first sound film as well. Much of what is in Blackmail would become standard tropes over his illustrious career. Precision montage, intense close-up, grand set pieces (in this case The British Museum) the classic chase scene, sexual innuendo and the first of a bevy of blondes (Anny Ordra) that would extend to Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint and Tippi Hedren in dire straights over the decades ahead.
German actress Anny Ordry is dubbed but her haunted look walking through the streets of London does an excellent job of conveying a comatose desperation. A stilted Johnny Longdon and Hitch's early go to guy plays the conflicted protagonist that Grant and Stewart would in the future. A slimy Richard manages to play the piano, draw and sing before going into attack mode in the tense apartment scene. Donald Calthrop as the unctuous blackmailer shares acting honors with Ordry while Hannah Jones as a landlady and Phyllis Monkman as a busybody putting pressure on Alice shine in brief appearances.
Nearly a century old, Blackmail creaks in spots but never lets up in intensity with one suspenseful moment after the next that extends into the final frame with its truncated epilogue, ambiguous at best leaving the audience with a sense of mixed emotion. A well crafted early Hitchcock.
Blackmail was not only Alfred Hitchcock's first sound picture but England's first sound film as well. Much of what is in Blackmail would become standard tropes over his illustrious career. Precision montage, intense close-up, grand set pieces (in this case The British Museum) the classic chase scene, sexual innuendo and the first of a bevy of blondes (Anny Ordra) that would extend to Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint and Tippi Hedren in dire straights over the decades ahead.
German actress Anny Ordry is dubbed but her haunted look walking through the streets of London does an excellent job of conveying a comatose desperation. A stilted Johnny Longdon and Hitch's early go to guy plays the conflicted protagonist that Grant and Stewart would in the future. A slimy Richard manages to play the piano, draw and sing before going into attack mode in the tense apartment scene. Donald Calthrop as the unctuous blackmailer shares acting honors with Ordry while Hannah Jones as a landlady and Phyllis Monkman as a busybody putting pressure on Alice shine in brief appearances.
Nearly a century old, Blackmail creaks in spots but never lets up in intensity with one suspenseful moment after the next that extends into the final frame with its truncated epilogue, ambiguous at best leaving the audience with a sense of mixed emotion. A well crafted early Hitchcock.