 | Hitchcock Becoming Hitchcock
rating: 4
Director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) began his career designing title cards for silent films. In 1925 his directorial debut, THE PLEASURE GARDEN, was considered such a flop that it was shelved until the later THE LODGER, his first thriller, proved a sensation at the box office. In 1928 Hitchcock returned to the thriller genre with BLACKMAIL. Based on a play by Charles Bennett, it was originally designed as a silent film--but sound had begun to roar, and British Internation Pictures instructed Hitchcock to film portions with sound. By most accounts, Hitchcock felt this was a silly sort of idea and he responded by creating what is now regarded as England's first "all-talking" film.
The description is a bit misleading. Although there is some background, the first few minutes of the film are clearly silent, and there are significant stretches of silence as the film progresses. To the modern viewer, BLACKMAIL feels more like a transition between silent and sound films than a purely sound film per se. The smoothness of the film is also hindered by the fact that actress Anny Ondra, cast when the film was a silent project, spoke with a heavy accent and had to be dubbed on the spot by Joan Barry, who stood off camera and read the lines as Ondra moved her lips. This aside, the film also suffers from the numerous technical problems that tended to beset movies struggling with the new technology, and although Hitchcock manages these better than most of his contemporaries BLACKMAIL nonetheless has the slightly clunky quality typical of a film from this period.
All the same, BLACKMAIL remains fascinating because it gives us the opportunity to see Hitchcock becoming Hitchcock. Although he had shown a distinct flair for suspense in THE LODGER, at this point in his career Hitchcock worked in a number of genres--and would continue to do so for several more years. Even so, BLACKMAIL marked a turning point. In this film he begins to elaborate ideas first raised in THE LODGER and add to them as well. In the process, he sets up a series of cinematic themes that he continued to explore throughout the bulk of his career: the risks of sexual appeal; the beautiful woman in danger and the degree to which she herself is responsible for her danger; the complicity of those who support her; being isolated in danger even as aid is nearby; unexpected violence in public places; and fear of heights--to name but a few.
The story itself is quite simple. Alice (Omby) is an attractive young woman who works as a clerk in her parents' shop. She is dating Frank (John Longden), who is an up-and-coming detective at Scotland Yard. But Frank seems a bit stodgy, and on a whim she accepts an invitation from an artist (Cyril Ritchard) to visit his studio. She flirts with him but then resists his advances, and when he attempts to rape her she stabs him to death in his bed. By chance Frank is assigned to the case and quickly knows Alice to be the killer. He elects to help her conceal the crime--but by doing so places them at the mercy of a blackmailer.
Interestingly, the film does not really assign blame per se. Although she went out of her way to place herself in danger, we sympathize with Alice, and we hope Frank will help her. At the same time, however, the way in which Frank ultimately decides to help her is unacceptable and demonstrates that he too is capable of murder. It is an interesting dynamic that Hitchcock is unable to resolve within the context of this film--and one that he would play upon repeatedly and with increasing finesse as the years passed.
Unfortunately, even die-hard Hitchcock fans will find BLACKMAIL difficult to watch for the simple reason that there isn't a decent print on the home market. At worst, prints are virtually unwatchable; at best they suffer from significantly poor visual and audio elements. Until it receives a major restoration, BLACKMAIL is perhaps best left to hardcore Hitchcock fans who are willing to endure poor quality for the sake of seeing Hitchcock become Hitchcock.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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Blackmail Review
rating: 3
This is very early Hitchcock. It's a pretty good film but not one of his best. One thing I found interesting is that there's no speaking during the first several minutes of the film. It starts out as if it's going to be a silent film. The plot is good, acting is fine. The visual quality of the copy that I received was sub-par. I realize this is an old film and one can't expect the clarity of a modern film, but I was hoping for it to be at least slightly better than it is. But perhaps I got a dud and maybe there are better looking copies available out there. But overall I liked the story, actors and the film in general.
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Bad video quality, great film
rating: 3
Here's another public domain copy of one of Hitchcock's early films. The video is just entirely too fuzzy, and I don't recommend it. Won't someone take an interest in restoring Hitchcock's early films for DVD in Region 1? This film may not hold up among Hitchcock's great films from his golden years of 1948 through 1963, but compare it to any other talking picture from 1929 and then tell me what you think.
The fact is, this film is shot part silent. Yes there is sound, but there is no synchronized dialogue until about ten minutes into the film when the police detective and his girlfriend who are the central characters speak to one another. Shooting the film primarily silent with synchronized effects and leaving the talking sequences for segments of the film where dialogue was necessary and then having the judgement to know how much dialogue was enough and stop at that point was something Hitchcock got from the beginning. Watch some of the long-winded speeches from some other 1929 films and realize that many of Hitchcock's contemporaries struggled with this skill.
The story is a good one. Alice is feeling neglected by her detective boyfriend, and follows a handsome artist up to his flat. After some flirting the artist turns suddenly violent and assaults her. She defends herself by grabbing a knife and stabbing the man. Stunned and sure she has not been seen by anyone entering the man's flat, she attempts to erase all signs of her presence there and returns home. She mentions the incident to noone, but is weighted down with guilt.
Frank, Alice's boyfriend, investigates the crime scene and sees Alice's glove. He confiscates it. Unfortunately, someone else who is not Alice has the other glove. The lovers don't discuss anything but the threat of the blackmailer until the end of the film. Like many of Hitchcock's later works, much of his art is in furtive glances and in objects that recall the crime rather than specific dialogue. An example of this is a jester in the artist's painting that Alice sees as pointing at her and thus accusing her. The jester meets Alice's eye both immediately after the crime and at the end of the film.
Highly recommended as one of the best talking pictures of 1929. However, I am yet to find a satisfactory copy on DVD.
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