''Blackmail'' is a 1929 British
thriller drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
and starring
Anny Ondra
Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married German boxing champion M ...
,
John Longden
John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Biography
Longden was born in the West Indies, the son o ...
, and
Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...
. Based on the 1928
play of the same name
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
by
Charles Bennett,
[ the film is about a London woman who is blackmailed after killing a man who tries to rape her.
After starting production as a silent film, ]British International Pictures
Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...
decided to adapt ''Blackmail'' into a separate sound film. It became the first successful European talkie
A sound film is a motion picture
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, percep ...
; a silent version was released for theaters not equipped for sound (at 6,740 feet), with the sound version (7,136 feet) released at the same time. Both versions are held in the British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
collection.
''Blackmail'' is frequently cited as the first British sound feature film. Voted the best British film of 1929 in a UK poll the year it was released. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for '' Time Out'' magazine ranked ''Blackmail'' as the 59th best British film ever.["The 100 best British films"](_blank)
'' Time Out''. Retrieved 24 October 2017
Plot
On 26 April 1929, Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
Detective Frank Webber (John Longden
John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Biography
Longden was born in the West Indies, the son o ...
) escorts his girlfriend Alice White (Anny Ondra
Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married German boxing champion M ...
) to a tea house. They have an argument and Frank storms out. While reconsidering his action, he sees Alice leave with Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...
), an artist she had earlier agreed to meet.
Crewe persuades a reluctant Alice into coming up to see his studio. She admires a painting of a laughing clown, and uses his palette and brushes to paint a cartoonish drawing of a face; he adds a few strokes of a naked feminine figure, and guiding her hand, they sign the picture with her name. He gives her a dancer's outfit and Crewe sings and plays "Miss Up-to-Date" on the piano.
Crewe steals a kiss, to Alice's disgust, but as she is changing and preparing to leave, he takes her dress from the changing area. He attempts to rape her; her cries for help are not heard on the street below. In desperation, Alice grabs a nearby bread knife and kills him. She angrily tears a hole in the painting of the clown, then leaves after attempting to remove any evidence of her presence in the flat, but accidentally leaves her gloves behind. She walks the streets of London all night in a daze.
When the body is found, Frank is assigned to the case and finds one of Alice's gloves. He also recognizes the dead man, but conceals this from his superior. Taking the glove, he goes to see Alice at her father's tobacco shop, but she is too distraught to speak.
As they speak privately in the shop's telephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
, Tracy (Donald Calthrop
Donald Esme Clayton Calthrop (11 April 1888 – 15 July 1940) was an English stage and film actor.
Born in London, Calthrop was educated at St Paul's School and made his first stage appearance at eighteen years of age at the Comedy Theatr ...
), arrives. He had seen Alice go up to Crewe's flat, and he has the other glove. When he sees Frank with the other one, he attempts to blackmail them. His first demands are petty ones, and they accede. Frank learns by phone that Tracy is wanted for questioning: he was seen near the scene and has a criminal record. Frank sends for policemen and tells Tracy he will pay for the murder.
Alice is apprehensive, but still does not speak up. The tension mounts. When the police arrive, Tracy's nerve finally breaks and he flees. The chase leads to the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, where he clambers onto the domed roof of the Reading Room
Reading room may refer to:
* Reference library
* British Museum Reading Room
* Christian Science Reading Room
image:5054_christian-science-reading-room-e.jpg, 400px, A typical storefront Christian Science Reading Room on the main street of a subu ...
and slips, crashing through a skylight and falling to his death inside. The police assume he was the murderer.
Unaware of this, Alice feels compelled to give herself up and goes to see the Chief Inspector at New Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London' ...
. Before she can confess to him, the inspector receives a telephone call and asks Frank to deal with Alice. She finally tells Frank the truth—that it was self-defense against an attack she cannot bear to speak of—and they leave together. As they do, a policeman walks past, carrying the damaged painting of the laughing clown and the cartoon canvas where Alice painted over her name.
Cast
* Anny Ondra
Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married German boxing champion M ...
as Alice White
* Sara Allgood
Sarah Ellen Allgood (30 October 1880 – 13 September 1950), known as Sara Allgood, was an Irish-American actress. She first studied drama with the Irish nationalist Daughters of Ireland and was at the opening of the Irish National Theatre Soc ...
as Mrs. White
* Charles Paton as Mr. White
* John Longden
John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Biography
Longden was born in the West Indies, the son o ...
as Detective Frank Webber
* Donald Calthrop
Donald Esme Clayton Calthrop (11 April 1888 – 15 July 1940) was an English stage and film actor.
Born in London, Calthrop was educated at St Paul's School and made his first stage appearance at eighteen years of age at the Comedy Theatr ...
as Tracy
* Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...
as Mr. Crewe, an artist
* Hannah Jones as the landlady
* Harvey Braban
Harvey Braban (19 May 1883, in Brighton, Sussex, UK – 1943) was a British stage actor. He also appeared in films between 1920–1938.
Braban performed regularly in West End plays, and also occasionally on Broadway. From 1920 he began appe ...
as the Chief Inspector (sound version)
* Johnny Ashby as boy
* Joan Barry as Alice White (voice)
* Johnny Butt
John William H. Butt (1870–1931) was an English film actor of the silent era.
He was born in Bradford and died in North Bierley, West Yorkshire.
Selected filmography
* ''The Chimes'' (1914)
* '' Far from the Madding Crowd'' (1915)
* ''The ...
as Sergeant
* Phyllis Konstam
Phyllis Esther Kohnstamm (14 April 1907 – 20 August 1976), known as Phyllis Konstam, was an English film actress born in London. She appeared in 12 films between 1928 and 1964, including four directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Life
Phyllis Est ...
as gossiping neighbour
* Sam Livesey
Samuel Livesey (14 October 1873 – 7 November 1936) was a Welsh stage and film actor.
Life
Livesey's father, Thomas, had been a railway engineer before leaving the industry to establish a travelling theatre with his wife Mary.
The two had six ...
as the Chief Inspector (silent version)
* Phyllis Monkman
Phyllis Monkman (8 January 1892 – 2 December 1976) was a British stage and film actress.Moore p.56 She was married to the entertainer Laddie Cliff.
In the early years of her career, she was often partnered on stage by Jack Buchanan and appeare ...
as gossip woman
* Percy Parsons
Edward Percy Parsons (1878–1944) was an American actor and singer who worked largely in the British film industry.
Selected filmography
* ''Suspense (1930 film), Suspense'' (1930)
* ''Beyond the Cities'' (1930)
* ''Creeping Shadows'' (1931)
* ' ...
as crook
* Johnny Ashby as Boy (uncredited)
Production
The film began production as a silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
. To cash in on the new popularity of talkies, the film's producer, John Maxwell of British International Pictures
Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...
, gave Hitchcock the go-ahead to film a portion of the movie in sound. Most sources state that Hitchcock thought the idea absurd and surreptitiously filmed almost the entire feature in sound, but in reality the silent version - which was largely completed - was cleverly used for several sequences with non-synchronous sound and dialogue where the actors faces were not visible. The opening 6 minutes of the sound version are silent, with musical accompaniment, as are numerous shorter scenes later, and the entire final chase sequence is from the silent version with occasional non-synchronized vocal interjections, including Donald Calthrop's last words on the dome of the British Museum's reading room. Thus it can be argued that the sound version of ''Blackmail'', despite BIP's publicity, is a "part-talkie". Gaumont-British
The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France.
Film production
Gaumont-British was founded in 18 ...
's ''High Treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
'', directed by Maurice Elvey
Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...
was also turned into a sound film mid-way during production. Much like ''Blackmail'', much of the silent footage in ''High Treason'' was maintained and dubbed over for the sound version, with Elvey himself voicing some of the minor characters.
''Blackmail'', marketed as one of Britain's earliest "all-talkie" feature films, was recorded in the RCA Photophone
RCA Photophone was the trade name given to one of four major competing technologies that emerged in the American film industry in the late 1920s for synchronizing electrically recorded audio to a motion picture image. RCA Photophone was an opt ...
sound-on-film
Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...
process. (The first U.S. all-talking film, '' Lights of New York'', was released in July 1928 by Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
in their Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...
sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent syste ...
process.) The film was shot at British and Dominions Imperial Studios
Imperial Studios were the studios of the British and Dominions Film Corporation, a short-lived British film production company located at Imperial Place, Elstree Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The studios (one of several facilities historica ...
soundstage in Borehamwood
Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...
, the first purpose-built sound studio in Europe.
Lead actress Anny Ondra was raised in Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and had a pronounced Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
accent that was felt unsuitable for the film. Sound was in its infancy at the time and it was not possible to post-dub her voice. Rather than replace her and reshoot her scenes, actress Joan Barry was hired to speak the dialogue off-camera while Ondra lip-synched her lines. This makes Ondra's performance seem slightly awkward.[
Hitchcock used several elements that would become Hitchcock "trademarks" including a beautiful blonde in peril and a famous landmark in the finale. Without informing the producers, Hitchcock used the ]Schüfftan process
The Schüfftan process is a movie special effect named after its inventor, Eugen Schüfftan (1893–1977). The technique consists of covering part of the camera's view with a mirror, allowing filmmakers to assemble an image from multiple par ...
to film the scenes in the Reading Room of the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
since the light levels were too low for normal filming.
The film was a critical and commercial hit. The sound was praised as inventive. A completed silent version of ''Blackmail'' was released in 1929 shortly after the talkie version hit theaters. The silent version of ''Blackmail'' actually ran longer in theaters and proved more popular, largely because most theaters in Britain were not yet equipped for sound. Despite the popularity of the silent version, history best remembers the landmark talkie version of ''Blackmail''. It is the version now generally available although some critics consider the silent version superior.[ Alfred Hitchcock filmed the silent version with Sam Livesey as the Chief Inspector and the sound version with Harvey Braban in the same role.
]
Hitchcock's cameo
Alfred Hitchcock's cameo, a signature occurrence in many of Hitchcock's films, shows him being bothered by a small boy as he reads a book on the London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
. This is probably the lengthiest of Hitchcock's cameo appearances and he appears around 10 minutes after the start. As the director became better known to audiences, especially when he appeared as the host of his own television series, he dramatically shortened his on-screen appearances.
Release and reception
First screened to press and cinema distributors on 21 June 1929 at the Regal at Marble Arch
The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash (architect), John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near th ...
, the film premiered at the Capitol Cinema in London on 28 July 1929. ''Blackmail'' was one of the most successful releases of that year, and received critical praise.
In a public poll, ''Blackmail'' was voted the best British film of 1929, largely on the basis of the silent version, which, as mentioned above, was more widely seen. In the same national UK poll, the best films of their respective years were '' The Constant Nymph'' (1928), '' Rookery Nook'' (1930), '' The Middle Watch'' (1931), and ''Sunshine Susie
''Sunshine Susie'' is a 1931 British musical comedy film directed by Victor Saville and starring Renate Müller, Jack Hulbert, and Owen Nares. The film was shot at Islington Studios with sets designed by Alex Vetchinsky. It was based on a ...
'' (1932).
Legacy
As an early sound film, ''Blackmail'' frequently is cited by film historians as a landmark film, and is often cited as the first truly British "all-talkie" feature film.[Richard Allen, S. Ishii-Gonzalè]
''Hitchcock: Past and Future''
Routledge, 2004[St. Pierre, Paul Matthe]
''Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895–1960: On the Halls on the Screen''
p.79. Associated University Presse, 2009 Two future directors worked on this production: Ronald Neame
Ronald Neame CBE, BSC (23 April 1911 – 16 June 2010) was an English film producer, director, cinematographer, and screenwriter. Beginning his career as a cinematographer, for his work on the British war film ''One of Our Aircraft Is Missing ...
operated the clapperboard
A clapperboard (also known by various other names including dumb slate) is a device used in filmmaking and video production to assist in synchronizing of picture and sound, and to designate and mark the various scenes and takes as they are fi ...
and Michael Powell
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a serie ...
took on-set publicity photographs.
Earlier British part-sound films include:
* ''The Gentleman'', a short film in the Phonofilm
Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s.
Introduction
In 1919 and 1920, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process, ...
sound-on-film
Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...
process, was an excerpt of ''The 9 to 11 Revue'', directed by William J. Elliott, and released in the UK in June 1925.
* The part-sound '' The Clue of the New Pin'', based on the novel by Edgar Wallace
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer.
Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...
, and filmed in British Phototone, a sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent syste ...
system using 12-inch discs.
* '' The Crimson Circle'', a UK-German silent film, also based on a Wallace novel, dubbed after the fact with the Phonofilm sound-on-film process.
* ''Black Waters'', a British-produced sound film shot in the US with an almost exclusively American cast and crew, and released on 6 April 1929.
In March 1929, ''New Pin'' and ''Crimson Circle'' were trade-shown at the same screening for film exhibitors in London.
The plot of '' Downton Abbey: A New Era'' (2022), produced by Ronald Neame's grandson Gareth Neame
Gareth Elwin Neame (born 8 March 1967) is a British television producer and executive. As an executive at the BBC, Neame presided over the development of the dramas '' Spooks'', '' State of Play'', '' Bodies'', '' Hustle'', ''New Tricks'' and '' ...
, is partly inspired by ''Blackmail''.
Preservation and home video status
A restoration of ''Blackmails silent version was completed in 2012, as part of the BFI
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
's £2 million "Save the Hitchcock 9" project to restore all of the director's surviving silent films.
Like Hitchcock's other British films, all of which are copyrighted worldwide,[ ''Blackmail'' has been heavily bootlegged on home video.] Additionally, various licensed, restored releases of both silent and sound versions have appeared on DVD and video on demand from Optimum
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
in the UK, Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
in the US, and others.[
]
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Ryall, Tom, ''Blackmail'' (London: British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, 1993)
External links
*
*
''Blackmail'' at Silent Era
*
''Blackmail'' Test Take (1929) - Alfred Hitchcock , BFI
on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
*
*
Alfred Hitchcock Collectors’ Guide: ''Blackmail''
at Brenton Film
Copyright Catalog
at Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
; select "Document number" and type "V8003P432"
''Cinema Then, Cinema Now: Blackmail''
(1990) film discussion hosted by Jerry Carlson
Jerry Carlson has two intertwined careers, that of an academic and that of a maker of documentary films and television shows.
Academic career
Carlson is a specialist in narrative theory, global independent film, and the cinemas of the Americas. He ...
of CUNY TV
, mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind
, budget = $3.6 billion
, established =
, type = Public university system
, chancellor = Fél ...
{{Authority control
1929 films
1920s psychological thriller films
British crime thriller films
British black-and-white films
Transitional sound films
Films set in London
Films set in 1929
Films shot at British International Pictures Studios
Films directed by Alfred Hitchcock
British films based on plays
1920s thriller drama films
British thriller drama films
1929 drama films
Early sound films
British Museum in media
Films set in museums
1920s English-language films
1920s British films