Blackmail

Movie Review: Blackmail

Year of Release: 1929
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Anny Ondra, Sara Allgood, Charles Paton, John Longden, Donald Calthrop, Cyril Ritchard

Plot oultine: A shopkeeper's daughter fights off blackmail after she kills a young artist who tries to rape her (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. Adapted from Charles Bennett's play of the same name, Blackmail was Hitchcock's (and Britain's) first sound movie. It utilized the new sound technology in a rather creative way off-camera. The lead actress, Anny Ondra, had a strong Eastern European accent that was difficult for British audiences to understand, so Hitchcock's solution was to have British actress Joan Barry speak Ondra's lines of dialogue off-camera. Hitchcock used several elements that would become his "trademarks" including a beautiful blonde in peril and a famous landmark in the finale. The movie was a critical and commercial hit. The sound was praised as inventive. The silent version of Blackmail actually ran longer in theaters and proved more popular. Despite the popularity of the silent version, history best remembers the landmark talkie version of Blackmail. It is the version now generally available although some critics consider the silent version superior. (NYT)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars