UK 96m Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Key Cast: Anny Ondra
Based on: Blackmail by Charles Bennett (Play)
Alfred Hitchcock was some way into production of Blackmail when it was decided to make it a sound film and Britain's first full talkie. This is not a film that is talked about a great deal but watching it feels like watching a fantastic director find his formula.
Alice (Anny Ondra) has a row with her policeman boyfriend Frank (John Longden) and accompanies an artist back to his apartment. Said artist is a horrible creep and attempts to rape her and she is forced to grab a nearby knife and stab him in self-defence. Frank is one of the policemen called to investigate and hides the evidence of her presence but as he tries to talk to Alice about it they are overheard and so the blackmail of the title gets underway.
I thought this was a really quality film. It feels like a step forward from other films of it's era in a number of ways. First is the approach to sex, something that 20s films coyly refer to at times but keep very much behind closed doors. The scene between Alice and the artist which starts of flirtatious and turns into a full-on rape attempt still stands up today. The artist forces Alice onto a four-poster bed with a curtain so you can hear the sound and see the struggle of Alice's arms. It feels so shocking compared to anything else I've watched from the time yet there's style and thought gone into it. You can see how the director of this scene would go on to direct Psycho's iconic shower sequence.
Hitchcock's use of sound is excellent. Ondra is a great silent actor but she was Czech and her English simply wasn't good enough so Hitchcock dubbed her. The limited technology at the time meant Joan Barry was off-camera saying the lines while Ondra mouthed them live which feels like it shouldn't work but somehow does. Unlike other early sound directors Hitchcock didn't attempt to ensure that every line of dialogue is perfect and instead there's plenty which is barely audible which both feels more natural and means the key dialogue is highlighted all the more.
After Alice has stabbed the artist she becomes something of a nervous wreck in a fantastic sequence where she walks through the city seeing knives and police officers everywhere she looks. She continues to struggle when returning home and there's a superb moment when she asked to slice some bread where she nearly breaks down all together. It's a great performance and an excellent example of ordinary things becoming dangerous.
Another thing I loved is the sense of humour within the film. The story itself is pretty dark but the background characters are almost from comedies with the locals gossiping about the murder and talking inanely whilst Alice struggles to hide her guilt. Even the blackmailer has a comedic style which works really well and adds an extra elements to the awkward scenes between him, Alice and Frank.
It all ends like virtually every Hitchcock film with a dramatic showdown at a national landmark, with said landmark here being played by the British Museum. It's an excellent sequence which adds a thrill to what is overwise a slow-burning tension and once again you can see how the director of this sequence would go on to make the climax of North by Northwest set at Mount Rushmore.
An excellent film and it's fascinating to see the earlier skills of a director many years before his most famous works.
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