Blackmail (1929) | Hitchcock Review #29

Here are my thoughts on Hitchcock's (and Britain's) first sound feature. Warning: this video contains light spoilers (though I hardly say anything about the film's second half) and includes some discussion of mature thematic content.
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[@Samiurium]

“Easy Virtue” which came with my DVD of “Blackmail” is one of Hitchcock’s silent films. It follows a woman named Larita through a series of events. Although a straight forward, rough around the edges, story which takes some time to establish I did enjoy seeing who was on Larita’s side and who was not and I am glad to have crossed off another Hitchcock film.

[@Michael-hw5wk]

I remember being very impressed with the film. Over 3/4ths of everything Hitchcock made from his early silent films up to Family Plot were well-though out masterpieces.

[@TheJohnDoeLibraryRoom.]

The whole "Knife!" scene with the gossiping neighbor was remarkable considering they were still learning about the use of sound in film. From his early days the innovative Hitch genius was on full display.

[@mikeb9045]

Thank you for another intelligent and articulate movie review. I always enjoy watching them. 😊

[@Weiselberry]

Thanks!

[@LiamMichael-zr1uz]

In a way Blackmail reminds me of Sabotage (1936). Mostly in the way things were resolved. It was interesting to see the silent aspects of this film merged with the “talkie" portions. The accelerated gait of people in some scenes for instance. Very enjoyable, the film and the review, as always thank you.

[@Samiurium]

I am finally back on my Hitchcock train (though sadly I picked a Hitchcock film without a train). I reserved a copy of “Blackmail” at my local library (this particular DVD also comes with “Easy Virtue” which I have not seen yet) and although I do not consider “Blackmail” essential Hitchcock I am very glad to have added it to my list of Hitchcock viewings. My favorite sequence was by far the chase through the British Museum. I had a chance to visit years ago but mistakenly picked a day when it was closed. “Blackmail” inspired me to try again one day.

[@Weiselberry]

I can't remember if I've seen Easy Virtue or not. Feel free to let me know what you think of that one if you watch it!

[@peterkarargiris4110]

I picked a DVD of this film up for $2 (Australian) from a thrift store and really enjoyed it, probably more for the fascination of getting to see such an early Hitchcock film. Being an ancient history/archeology buff, the chase at the end through the British Museum was a real treat too. Coincidentally, I had seen Vertigo and Rear Window in a late-night cinema screening the same week. Great review.

[@tonymart105]

"It was the roaring twenties. People knew about stuff." (Great line. Love it!)

[@3rd_Doctor]

Just hearing, "Hello everyone..." makes me smile! 🙂

[@stevenklinden]

I've always thought it was funny that they actually did the "Singin' in the Rain" thing in making Blackmail. Good review of this film! I agree with pretty much everything you said about it. Incidentally - while I agree with your criticism of Joan Barry's voice here, I must say that I have a real soft spot for Rich and Strange. Such a weird little movie, but personally I think it's very underrated.

[@imaxyxia]

One of my favourite movies, highly recommended this film..

[@sergioramdass2856]

Hello. This is also another Hitchcock film that I am not familiar with. From your review, this definitely sounds like a Hitchcock creation. He was an amazing filmmaker yet did a lot of 180's to get what he wanted to put on camera. Especially for those early years of Hollywood movies. Your viewpoints, explanations and wisdom of these fictional characters and how it relates to what happens at times in real life are well understood. Thank you for your review of this film and your viewpoints.

[@tonydeluna8095]

Vertigo is one of my all time favorites from Alfred Hitchcock. Great review on Blackmail Jerome!

[@Sp33gan]

In a way the constant mentioning of knife, knife, knife holds a reminiscence of Edgar Allan Poe's Telltale Heart.

[@lloydbrown2713]

I just saw it, which I why I hunted down your take on it. I thought the blackmail element was late in the movie and very brief; it feels like it only took 10 minutes of screen time before it turned into a chase, and it was pretty easily resolved. Definitely not peak Hitchcock, but it was early in his development, and it did show some creative moments. Also, it's definitely a period piece. In the modern era, the "murder" would be a pretty clear case of self-defense.

[@lawrencecarlstrom3465]

I really enjoyed this movie. I was beginning to think I was the only one who had ever seen it, so it was good to hear your review. You were completely correct.

[@russellfarina9099]

Nice review jw. My favorite Hitchcock movies start with north by northwest. Rope was interesting.thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.❤

[@13down13]

Thanks for mentioning the little green guy - that was first thing I thought of when watching this video. I was wondering what it was. I watched this movie maybe a year ago and I remember liking it. I bought the Kino Lorber blu-ray which has a commentary that talks about much of what you talked about. I glad you were talking about the attack scene and describing some of the actions. I didn't really remember it too well and it is a sensitive subject and you did a good job there being careful. A male reviewer would probably not get away with talking about it in depth as you did. Hopefully, you didn't get any negative comments. I scanned down and didn't see anything, but I didn't go through them all. I don't have a lot to add but it's pretty interesting that Hitchcock was adapting to sound so quickly - you mentioned some of the creative ways he used sound. The master was at work again. The blu-ray also included the voice test of Anny, and I think it would have been fine. They might have been scared that the British audiences wouldn't like it. I always prefer original voices in live action movies.

[@glennsmusic]

Just watched it for the third time. It didn't occur to me the previous times that it is a combination silent/talky. She's very good!

[@betinaceciliafeld9854]

I think he's more like a sea creature than an alien 🤔😄 I haven't watched this movie in years but at one point I found the silent version on it online and did a comparison between both. I hardly remember the silent version but according to my notes, it's far superior to the partially talkie, surely because it has a more "natural" sense with the cast and crew not having to deal with a new technique.

[@markbrooks6979]

Fantastic review, JW! I was this movie when I was 8 or 9. We had a little TV in the basement and one night my brother snuck it into our room. This movie happened to be one of the things we saw. That stupid Joker painting scared me enough that I kept thinking about it for days.

[@ClassicswithCourtney]

I liked this one myself. Some of Hitchcock's earliest works are just as good as his later films. Keep up the good work, Jerome! P.S. I loved the manxman too 😍

[@alandhopewell]

Good Morning, Sister Jerome! I had that DVD Hitchcock set with BLACKMAIL some years ago, and my memories of the film are from that. BLACKMAIL was one of those movies that I enjoyed as a film, but was uncomfortable watching it, because of Alice's experiences, touching closer to home than I liked. I haven't seen it since, but I may revisit it. I finally bought the original THE WICKER MAN, (which I may have mentioned, memory being an elusive beastie). Your take on Roger Corman would be interesting, and fun. Thank you for being a bright spot in the dark.

[@buzzawuzza3743]

An interesting review of a film I've never seen. Thank you, Miss Weiselberry. When you make your Roger Corman video I hope you have the time and space in it to mention Bucket Of Blood, it's a favorite of mine because I love the hipster beatnik characters in it.

[@Weiselberry]

If I'm able to go with what I'm planning right now, I think you'll be very happy with next week's video. :)

[@josephmayo3253]

Very good review, JW. I tend to cut Hitch a bit of slack on this movie, because not only is this his first go at a sound movie, but also because of the mid production decision. Hitch preplanned all his movies, and to have such a huge change thrown at him without any prep had to really throw him off. Still, among the early talkies, this is one of the better ones. The industry as a whole really didn't hit its stride with talkies until 1931. So many of the films of 28, 29, and 30 are tough to watch because nobody knew what they were doing. But that's not the case with Blackmail. I like it better than most of his movies that followed, between this and The Man Who Knew too Much. Again, really good review.

[@maxdewinter9472]

You certainly hit all the points that make this Hitchcock film significant, despite it not being one of his greatest. I have that very same collection of DVD's. It was a very cheap way to add all the British films to my Hitchcock library. Having the Blackmail music on every menu was especially dumb. There are three or four films on each disc. Seems like it wouldn't have been too hard to have music from one of the films which was actually on the particular disc. The discs are also very hard to get out of the case since they overlap each other. Definitely not Criterion quality. I always just assumed that scene in 'Singing in the Rain' was taken from what happened with 'Blackmail'. It is so similar to what actually occurred. It must have been a well known story among Hollywood people.

[@waynealarsen]

Yes, I have the boxed set you have, while not the best it did introduce me to the early films. The music running through the menu, it does get into one's head. I like this film and have watched the Silent version as well.

[@Weiselberry]

Yes, it was a very good set for introducing people (myself included) to Hitchcock's British filmography. The quality was iffy, but it was still a good value and a decent presentation for the mid-2000s.

[@robertjewell9727]

I'm fond of this film. I like how hitchcock utilized the transfer to sound as a creative alternative rather than the stage play sound films often looked like at this time if they were dialogue heavy. Also I think Alice is a pretty fascinating character. She seems to want to remain innocently adolescent yet still want to play games with the opposite sex like a teen girl testing herself while she is clearly older than that, but in her home life her parents and others talk to her either dismissively or as if she's incapable of adding anything meaningful to a conversation so Alice is acting out all the time and when that acting out causes physical and sexual threat she suddenly launched into scary adulthood where the whole world becomes distorted. The only issue I have with Blackmail is that the actual blackmailer doesn't feel particularly threatening or sinister, but just grating and annoying.

[@Weiselberry]

Yes, the blackmailer is a bit goofy in a way, with his cheeky little smirk. He actually made me laugh a couple times. I think it's more the threat he represents than the man himself that's meant to be intimidating.

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

I've seen this film and I am a Hitchcock fan, I think that your review of it is very much on point. The thing about Anny Ondra's accent not being acceptable is due to the time (and for many years to come) in Britain, it was presumed by film companies that people with foreign accents, and even local dialects native to the U.K. wouldn't be understood by the general public so, you'll find that the majority of characters in film speak in RP (Received Pronunciation) or Highten RP (very posh) or occasionally a gentified version of the 'Cockney' accent, Scottish, Irish or Welsh accents, other than that no regional dialects or accents were featured until the very late '30s and onwards when they were slowly being introduced as the film companies realised that the public didn't mind about such things and could understand the dialogue. I liked your explanation of your toy at the end courtesy of your brother, that was a lovely gift from him, from what you've mentioned about him he seems like a nice person.

[@Weiselberry]

Yeah, he's all right, I guess. :D

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

@@Weiselberry I hope that he is. 🙂

[@Captain327]

It seems like I've been meaning to watch this for ages so I guess I'd better get on with it :) Good to hear your thoughts on the film and that there are a lot of positive aspects. I always thought it might end up somewhat lacking being such an early talkie so it's nice to know it still holds up in many ways and shows some of the flair Hitchcock would develop later on.

[@Ned_of_the_Hill]

Dear Ms. Weiselberry, Another excellent review. I saw some of Hitchcock's silent and early sound films many years ago, but I'm not sure if "Blackmail" was one of them. At any rate, your commentary was very thoughtful and sensitive. I'd love to see a Roger Corman retrospective, so I hope that's what you opt for next week. Peace.

[@geocarlisle]

What an interesting early work by Hitchcock. Thank you again for alerting us to worthy films by filmmakers before they became well-known. You’re so good at providing background and context that I think of your channel as KZbin’s WCM (Weiselberry Classic Movies) Channel. You’re spot-on about the movie’s strengths, mostly minor faults, and the glimmer of budding directorial genius which would later strengthen and mature, becoming unique Hitchcockian hallmarks. I wonder if the heroine is set up initially as petty, flirty, and otherwise not terribly sympathetic because when the line is crossed from seeming playfulness to deadly threat and trauma the audience undergoes a jarring transition from being annoyed with and critical of her to complete sympathy and identification with her awful, in so many awful ways, situation. Her reaction immediately after the attack is extremely credible. The shock she registers reminds me of what I’ve read about victims of sexual assault experiencing an out-of-body detachment, both from themselves physically and reality itself. The thousand-yard stare of her haunted face conveys that vividly. Kudos to Ondra if only for this one wrenching scene. Btw, thank you so much for reminding us of Cyril Ritchard’s scene-stealing turn as Captain Hook. I have such fond memories of watching this production of “Peter Pan” on TV when I was a kid. Did anyone else out there crush on Mary Martin in the title role? She may have been playing a boy, but that didn’t fool this smitten 8-year old boy!

[@45641560456405640563]

Didn't realise it was a bit of a 'first'. Interesting. Thanks for this. :)

[@babettesfeast6347]

I love Hitchcock but I haven’t watched this or his early silent films. My favourite is Vertigo. Another great review.

[@Noosa21]

One of my fav movies, thanks for the great review!

[@winterburden]

You could do something similar in a silent movie, provided the pipe organ player knew to play a loud enough high pitched noise at that moment 🙃

[@joenicholl5109]

Excellent review...interesting to focus on Hitch's transition (literally) from silent era to talkies...thanks for sharing...

[@vdelrio999]

Always an uplifting video, solid review, & pretty thumbnail. Thank you, JW!

[@rickcantrell5302]

Thanks for this review, JW! Just like your earlier Secret Agent review, you have inspired me to watch another historic Hitchcock film. Now I'm considering watching some of those silent films he made. Love your thoughtful and loving, but clear-eyed, reviews of (mostly) old (mostly) classic films. I also loved all of the Cyril Ritchard clips you linked to. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@SurferJoe1]

Excellent work; very well-observed. I think it's interesting to consider that main sequence in context of Hitchcock's own troubled relationship with women, and where it would all go in later films like "Marnie" and "Frenzy". Were Hitchcock's sympathies entirely with Ondra?

[@tomjohnson4922]

I like Blackmail True, it's not his best, even the best of his early stuff but it shows the promise of what he could do visually and with sound.

[@briggscharleton6139]

Hitch building his methods of mastery of the medium. When are you going to start watching Dark Shadows 1966 -1971 I think you'll be intrigued. Love your reviews

[@josephmagil1149]

We used to watch Peter Pan on TV all the time.

[@kenknowlton3085]

I'd enjoy watching her read the daily paper!

[@Kyle_Riel]

Without a doubt

[@winterburden]

Thanks for this neat review!

[@kenknowlton3085]

Great movie. Great review!

[@neogeoriffic]

Another awesome review! Thanks

[@earthcreature5824]

"Hey kid! Hands off Hitch's hat." I know this does not align with the character as presented. But I would have preferred to Czech out Anny Ondra's voice as opposed to the cockney accent we do hear. The artist changing from casually witty to hungry animal is disturbing. The stabbing scene. Flash forward to 1960 and Hitchcock pulls back the curtain. Making explicit what remains unseen here. Moving with the times. The end is curious. "It's all a laugh." I think this is the movie that Downton Abbey: A New Era took the voice dubbing plot point from. A good suspense scene could be built around that alien rubber light. Darkness. Wack. Light. "What is that!" Thank you.

[@Weiselberry]

Yes, if they'd had more advanced notice, they might have come up with a slightly different backstory for the character and it would have been fine. I don't think it was as much of a gamble as the producers believed. I keep forgetting that second Downton Abbey movie exists. Should I watch it, or just let it slide?

[@earthcreature5824]

@@WeiselberryAnny Ondra had a nice voice.A shame she did not get to use it in Blackmail. I have never seen the Downton Abbey series.I have seen both films.If you liked the first.You should like the second.A third is planned.There is a making a movie at the Abbey story strand that is fun for film buffs.So. If you want to add it to your watchlist ..............................Thank you.

[@earthcreature5824]

@@Weiselberry Anny Ondra had a nice voice.A shame she never got to use it in Blackmail. If you liked the first Downton Abbey movie.You should like the second. There is a making a movie at the Abbey story strand that is fun for film buffs.I enjoyed it.Thank you.

[@earthcreature5824]

@@Weiselberry You should watch Downton Abbey 2.Why did I say that? I don't want to be the one that adds another brick to your massive watchlist bag.Sorry. Thank you.

[@thepaterfamilias5853]

Anything Hitchcock has to be worth watching

[@ironjade]

Clearly you've never seen Topaz or The Trouble with Harry. Even Hitchcock had his off days.

[@doctorx3]

I love the silent version of this movie, and it's a shame that the studio imposed sound on the movie when it was conceived for a more traditional format. Hitchcock did eventually master sound, but it took him a while.

[@bartolomeuomacduibheamhnad6855]

I also had a copy of Blackmail on a Hitchcock boxset but can’t remember if the music looped over the menus on the set i had, there’s a good chance it did though. I re-watched Blackmail a couple of days ago and I liked it a little more this time than i have previously, I’d say it’s a good film but not one of Hitchcocks best. I also re-watched another film and watched a film for the first time that I’ll mention in a comment for your other video. Cyril Ritchard being Captain Hook may explain why he has a loaf of bread next to his bed and not a clock ((⏰))🐊 lol, I watched the clips you shared of his performance in Peter Pan and he was great and i might watch the entire show, his facial expressions brought an added layer so it’s interesting that audiences probably wouldn’t have experienced that aspect if the show hadn’t been filmed for television. The bread next to the bed was so odd, did he eat it dry? the cheese would’ve made a bit more sense although it’d go off very quick, did he go to his fridge to fetch butter? Did he have a fridge? Why didn’t he cover his bread? If his body hadn’t been discovered the flies would’ve had a tough choice, decomposing corpse or rotten bread, picturing him waking in the middle of the night and chewing some tough dry bread lol, interestingly Alice is sitting next to a very similar loaf when she repeatedly hears the word knife so the local baker must be doing good business in the area, I do like a crusty unsliced pan myself but with spread not dry. My opinion of both Alice and Frank switched by the end of the film, at first i felt Alice was a brat and wasn’t an honourable person and thought Frank was an upstanding guy but Alice was guided by good morals towards the end not wanting someone else to pay for her deed but Frank caused the death of Tracy, he knowingly and gleefully hounded down an innocent man which led to his accident, I’d like to believe Alice wouldn’t have been held responsible by the police and courts because she was defending herself against an attacker and she’d also have a police officer at her side as a character witness but i guess you never know. Tracy was a peculiar character, what were his original intentions? there’s really no way he could’ve known Alice had killed the artist, did Tracy hope the artist was asleep so he could rob him? Perhaps he heard Alice scream but it was still a strange decision to go inside after he saw Alice leave. The sequence where Alice hears knife was so well done and true to life, i think many people have been in situations where someone is in conversation with another person a few feet away from you and they mention your name and you hear your name clearly but everything else is unintelligible lol. The shot following Alice and the artist up the stairs was impressive too, and the mirror reflection shot. The artists apartment was so interesting, his decor was very decadent, piano, columns, creepy paintings and dry bread next to his bead, he seemed like a guy that would hang out with any number of Vincent Price characters lol. It must’ve been a very weird situation for both Anny Ondra and Joan Barry, I’d imagine both would’ve felt very self conscious about their performance with one actress reading lines of camera and the other acting on camera, Ondra was probably worried about being replaced. Great review as always and the details you’ve shared about the film’s production was really interesting. :) ~ Thank you Ms Weiselberry ~

[@Weiselberry]

Ha! I did notice that the bread being served at breakfast looks very similar (that's what made me suddenly realize the other wasn't cheese), which made me wonder if it was even the same loaf or perhaps a fake. I've read in Agatha Christie books about British people keeping a tin of biscuits (cookies or crackers?) in the bedroom in case they woke up and needed a snack. A loaf of bread seems much less practical, especially when you consider this particular loaf has probably been sitting out all day and night and it's bound to be incredibly dry and crumbly. Ick. Oh, the questions that arise from that loaf of bread! :D

[@bartolomeuomacduibheamhnad6855]

@@Weiselberry Ha! “the questions that arise from that loaf of bread” 😂 a toast to you Ms Weiselberry:) that loaf may have become my favourite character in the film and that bread has a story to tell, it’d be interesting to see where the crumbs lead 🚧🍞🚧 My grandmother kept a tin of biscuits in her bedroom lol, I don’t know if it was for late night snacks or she just stored some there, I’d say Granny I’m going outside may i have a biscuit ? and she’s say of course sweetheart and I’d say the chickens are outside and she’d say well you’d better take an extra biscuit then to distract them, my grandad would lower his paper below his eyes with an eyebrow raised and say clever lad lol. ~ Thank you again Ms Weiselberry ~

[@Weiselberry]

@@bartolomeuomacduibheamhnad6855 Ohhh, sneaky! Haha, I bet she knew too. :D

[@anthonycrnkovich5241]

This is one of my favorite Hitchcock films, containing several tropes that the director would subsequently reuse. I love the twist of things backfiring on Tracy and Alice literally getting away with murder -- a rare thing in movies. Yes, her character is flawed as many Hitchcockian protagonists are, and that's the whole point which sets the stage for what ensues. Also love that final shot. Anny Ondra is good here as in THE MANXMAN -- another excellent, underrated Hitchcock. I have Kino/Lorber's beautifully restored Blu-ray of BLACKMAIL which also includes the rarely seen silent version.

[@joylederman4501]

Do you always add a postscript after you say "byeee" and run the credits? How many of these hidden gems have I missed? Not sure why I happened to catch this one but it did answer the question running through my head. 😆

[@Weiselberry]

Haha, no! I think I've only done it a couple times. :)

[@kenhill8272]

I definitely want to see this film

[@riders78000]

Bonjour. J'aime bien ce film comme beaucoup d'Hicthock . Ses films muets sont bien aussi. Il ne m'en manque que un.vous êtes jeunes c'est pas si fréquent d^aimer ses films la.A notre époque. Mais je sais que vous avez une bonne culture.Bonne continuation. Alain

[@steventhorson4487]

The voice dubbing is interesting

[@wmbriggz]

Over the years… for me…Hitchcock s control manipulation is so blatant that I can’t enjoy many of his movies- which is slightly strange cause all movies involve attempting to control/ manipulate the emotions of the viewer….oh well… so many movies to watch…so little time…

[@drewlotzmoore]

Not familiar with this one. Thanks for the review!

[@lauracorbett4577]

I’m gonna start making film reviews on my KZbin channel for my favorite films. I’m gonna review Now Voyager Something In The Wind Babes On Broadway Breakfast At Tiffany’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

[@TheGodfather1955]

If you haven't already, please review "The Incredibly Strange Creatures That Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies" (1964). Enough said. :-)

[@Weiselberry]

Haha, I don't think I've heard of that one!

[@TheGodfather1955]

@@Weiselberry kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKPZnn6BgdutopI

[@sgs1262]

Review “Our Man in Havana”

[@janeotoole2037]

What fun to see Captain Hook looking so young and debonair! His song sounded very Noel Coward-like and typical of that era. I thought it was kind of unusual that the heroine actually got away with killing a man, and mainly because her police detective boyfriend blocked her confession. That's not great! And I couldn't help but contrast that with Alfred Hitchcock's American TV series over 20 years later. If the story featured a character who went unpunished for a crime, which often happened, Hitchcock always added one of his delightfully droll postscripts saying that so and so ultimately got caught. Something tells me he would have preferred to let the ending stand, but his sponsors didn't want the audience to entertain the possibility that crime might actually pay! But Blackmail is a fascinating silent/talkie hybrid, a real piece of cinema history.

[@bigkmoviesandgames]

Honoring roger corman? Are we going to get a death race 2000 review?

[@larryzink8978]

It's called suspension of disbelief. Its an abstraction from reality. Too much wokeness can spoil the fun. Hitchcock's, frank appreciation of female eroticism is so well known , commenting on it seems ... I mean its so obvious ,to mention it is unecessasary. He always weaves it in. its a big part of his personal style. This is a very excellent Stylized film, a visual treasure. I love the slow suspense and the long lingering shots, bathed in Rembranesque illumination. Realism can spoil art and to apply "realistic expectations to a film this old is to miss the unique pleasures of time travel.

[@lauracorbett4577]

Please do a review of the movies I recommended for you