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Blackmail

Play trailer Poster for Blackmail 1929 1h 26m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 24 Reviews 65% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
During a date, Alice White (Anny Ondra) has a fight with her boyfriend, Scotland Yard Officer Frank Webber (John Longden), and decides to leave with an artist named Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard). Whey they get to the artist's flat, Mr. Crewe attempts to force himself on Alice, and she kills him to defend herself. Frank investigates the case and, after realizing Alice is the culprit, seeks to help her. However, a thief (Donald Calthrop) with blackmail on his mind complicates matters.
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Blackmail

Critics Reviews

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David Parkinson Empire Magazine 01/10/2019
4/5
A little clunky at times for contemporary audiences but still manages to truly perturb. Go to Full Review Variety Staff Variety 03/26/2009
Blackmail is most draggy. It has no speed or pace and very little suspense. Go to Full Review Mordaunt Hall New York Times 03/25/2006
The director, Alfred Hitchcock, frequently fails to see that his scenes are adequately lighted and more often than not the images do not stand out as distinctly as they might if more attention had been paid to the shading of the interior walls. Go to Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 05/20/2024
3/4
...a solid (albeit rough-around-the-edges) early Hitchcock thriller that boasts plenty of agreeable, engaging attributes. Go to Full Review Hugh Castle Close Up 01/13/2021
Blackmail is perhaps the most intelligent mixture of sound and silence we have yet seen. It is not a great picture, it is not a masterpiece...But it is a first effort of which the British industry has every reason to be proud. It is Hitchcock's come-back. Go to Full Review Nathanael Hood The Retro Set 01/09/2020
8/10
...crackles with the energy of a genius reckoning with a new toy-box. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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David K Oct 14 I watched both the silent and the talkie version of this film as part of a TCM mini-theme on Hitchcock's development as the director we all know. Sandwiched between the two showings was the new documentary "Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail" which dug into comparisons of the two versions analyzing techniques he adapted for the talkie version concurrent with the production of the silent version. Fascinating stuff. I come down on the side of the silent version but as a double feature of a sort, it's great viewing for the cinephile. Anny Ondra was quite the actress whose career suffered with the introduction of the talkies because of her Czech accent, which isn't really all that bad as seen on videos of her interacting with Hitch during the production. But, it wasn't right for the part, so she's dubbed (primitively) in the sound entry. See more Dallas H Jul 25 It is impressive to see the final cut of "Blackmail", which is a hodgepodge of different elements as the film crew transitioned from the silent era to the "talkies" during the initial production of the film. Originally intended to be a completely silent movie, a few scenes had to be reshoot to include spoken dialogue on screen, while also balancing "live dubbing" for the lead actress, who had to mime speaking her dialogue in front of the camera while another actress sat off-screen saying the dialogue into a microphone on her behalf. This would be seen as creative thinking on an indie production budget. See more Mason M 09/10/2024 A fine film that does a good job portraying it's message for a silent film See more Teddy B 12/23/2023 Alfred Hitchcock's style further develops and flourishes in this entertaining film from the basis of his characteristics provided by 'The Lodger'. See more Josh G 08/13/2023 The build to the end is tense and a blast to watch but the end is rushed and just sorta stops. I really like the characters and the way we see our leads interact in a complicated morality world filled with shadow and excellent sets and background. Alot to love a lot to fix A mixed bag for me. See more michael d 09/21/2021 A solid shape of things to come from Hitchcock and just a good little movie in general. See more Read all reviews
Blackmail

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Cast & Crew

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Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Anny Ondra

Alice White

John Longden

Det. Frank Webber

Donald Calthrop

Tracy

Cyril Ritchard

Mr. Crewe

Sara Allgood

Mrs. White

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Blackmail

Blackmail (1929) Blackmail (1929) Blackmail (1929) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis During a date, Alice White (Anny Ondra) has a fight with her boyfriend, Scotland Yard Officer Frank Webber (John Longden), and decides to leave with an artist named Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard). Whey they get to the artist's flat, Mr. Crewe attempts to force himself on Alice, and she kills him to defend herself. Frank investigates the case and, after realizing Alice is the culprit, seeks to help her. However, a thief (Donald Calthrop) with blackmail on his mind complicates matters.
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Producer
John Maxwell
Screenwriter
Charles Bennett, Alfred Hitchcock, Benn W. Levy
Distributor
Republic Pictures, LS Video, Criterion Collection, Sono Art-World Wide Pictures Inc.
Production Co
British International Pictures
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 6, 1929, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Runtime
1h 26m
Sound Mix
Mono
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