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Blackmail (1929)
Blackmail started as a silent film but British International Pictures decided to adapt it into a separate sound version. This was the first British talkie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It doesn’t have the most complex of plots, but it’s one of Hitchcock’s first (other than The Lodger) suspense thrillers.
Anny Ondra is brilliant as the protagonist who has murdered a man in self defence. Hitchcock brings out a great performance in her as you really feel her sense of desperation and paranoia. She was however cleverly dubbed as it was thought her Czech accent didn’t quite fit the role.
Although it was first though by some that sound would ruin a picture, there’s proof in the “knife” dialogue scene of how effective the use of sound can be when compared with the silent version.
Hitchcock also makes his first cameo appearance as a passenger on a train being teased by a young boy.
If you like Hitchcock but are only familiar with his later works, this is well worth checking out.
Not his best, but the shape of things to come.
Blackmail (1929)
Blackmail started as a silent film but British International Pictures decided to adapt it into a separate sound version. This was the first British talkie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It doesn’t have the most complex of plots, but it’s one of Hitchcock’s first (other than The Lodger) suspense thrillers.
Anny Ondra is brilliant as the protagonist who has murdered a man in self defence. Hitchcock brings out a great performance in her as you really feel her sense of desperation and paranoia. She was however cleverly dubbed as it was thought her Czech accent didn’t quite fit the role.
Although it was first though by some that sound would ruin a picture, there’s proof in the “knife” dialogue scene of how effective the use of sound can be when compared with the silent version.
Hitchcock also makes his first cameo appearance as a passenger on a train being teased by a young boy.
If you like Hitchcock but are only familiar with his later works, this is well worth checking out.
Not his best, but the shape of things to come.