Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Year: 1929
Run-time: 1 hr 24 min
Source: Amazon Video
Wikipedia
Notable for: Where do I start? Blackmail is the first film on our list with spoken dialogue (although not the first with a synchronized soundtrack - that would be Sunrise). This is surprising, since sound films had been prominent, at least in America, for two years by this point. Many of the American silents featured recently here, such as The Wind and Docks of New York, were well behind the times when they came out, and suffered in the box office because of it.
Blackmail is credited as the first British sound film, at least, and it's here that British cinema could be said to truly begin in earnest. It helps, of course, that it's helmed by a young, but already experienced director named Alfred Hitchcock. Ironically, Blackmail was not planned as a sound film, but when the producers suggested just before production that a few scenes be filmed with spoken dialogue, Hitchcock decided to do so for the whole thing (although a silent version exists and is supposedly quite good). It's not a superficial addition either - Hitchcock intuited well how to use sound to add suspense, most famously with the "knife" scene.
Verdict: It wouldn't make my list of top Hitchcock films, but it's a simple thriller that makes for a compelling study of personality. The sexual dynamics have not aged well - the story hinges on the unfortunate reality that a woman must conceal a murder commited in defense against rape - but there is a valid, if somewhat ambiguous, case to be made that Hitchcock was well aware of the ironies and put them on display. In any case it is an extremely risque film for the time period and shows a lot of daring on Hitchcock's part. Many of his trademarks are on display.
Some things don't work as well as they should, however, and the titular blackmail element is among those. Outside of a few scenes, the performances feel a little staid. It doesn't help that the Czech lead actress was overdubbed by an Englishwoman in a non-subtle way.
Year: 1929
Run-time: 1 hr 24 min
Source: Amazon Video
Wikipedia
Notable for: Where do I start? Blackmail is the first film on our list with spoken dialogue (although not the first with a synchronized soundtrack - that would be Sunrise). This is surprising, since sound films had been prominent, at least in America, for two years by this point. Many of the American silents featured recently here, such as The Wind and Docks of New York, were well behind the times when they came out, and suffered in the box office because of it.
Blackmail is credited as the first British sound film, at least, and it's here that British cinema could be said to truly begin in earnest. It helps, of course, that it's helmed by a young, but already experienced director named Alfred Hitchcock. Ironically, Blackmail was not planned as a sound film, but when the producers suggested just before production that a few scenes be filmed with spoken dialogue, Hitchcock decided to do so for the whole thing (although a silent version exists and is supposedly quite good). It's not a superficial addition either - Hitchcock intuited well how to use sound to add suspense, most famously with the "knife" scene.
Verdict: It wouldn't make my list of top Hitchcock films, but it's a simple thriller that makes for a compelling study of personality. The sexual dynamics have not aged well - the story hinges on the unfortunate reality that a woman must conceal a murder commited in defense against rape - but there is a valid, if somewhat ambiguous, case to be made that Hitchcock was well aware of the ironies and put them on display. In any case it is an extremely risque film for the time period and shows a lot of daring on Hitchcock's part. Many of his trademarks are on display.
Some things don't work as well as they should, however, and the titular blackmail element is among those. Outside of a few scenes, the performances feel a little staid. It doesn't help that the Czech lead actress was overdubbed by an Englishwoman in a non-subtle way.
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