TwoWordHeap

The moment Al Jolson told audiences “You aint heard nothin’ yet” in the monumental 1927 film The Jazz Singer, the film industry changed forever. Filmgoers could now hear their favorite stars speak and sing on screen, something literally unheard of until 1927, which signaled the death of the silent film and the scramble to use this new technology. Though The Jazz Singer was billed as a “talkie” and is credited with being the first film with sound, it was in reality only a part-talkie, with the sound bits being the songs and a bit of improvised dialogue. The first full length talking picture was the 1928 American crime film, Lights of New York. British filmmakers were scrambling to make the first British talkie, and Hitchcock did just that in 1929 with Blackmail, whose taglines proudly proclaimed “SEE & HEAR it—Our Mother Tongue as it Should be—SPOKEN!”. 

The Film

Blackmail  is the story of a shopkeeper’s daughter, Alice, played by The Manxman’s Anny Ondra, her policeman boyfriend, Frank, played by newcomer John Longden, and an unfortunate murder that has taken place. It all starts when Alice and Frank have a fight about what to do on a date, which leads to her going off with a strange artist, which is always a bad idea; Alice later finds herself in her underwear and in a compromising position. The artist attempts to rape Alice (portrayed beautifully in a disturbing off-screen scene with sound and shadow), Alice defends herself by stabbing the artist to death. In shock, Alice runs out of the apartment, wiping away all traces of her presence and proceeds to wander the streets all night, pondering what she has done. Can she go to the police? Will anyone believe her story of self-defense? What will her boyfriend think? Eventually, news of the murder spreads, and Frank discovers Alice’s involvement. They discuss this in Alice’s father’s shop, which brings an odd man around. This man, Tracy, played by Donald Calthrop, tries to blackmail Alice for her involvement in the artist’s murder. Tracy invites himself to breakfast, helps himself to expensive cigars, and generally causes Alice to beg Frank to let her confess. Frank somehow discovers this man Tracy is a criminal and pegs the murder on him. Tracy is arrested, but before they interrogate him, he tries to escape and dies. Alice tries to confess to the murder out of guilt, but since Tracy is dead nobody believes her, and strangely enough everyone lives happily ever after.

The Advent of Sound and Hitchcock

Working with a new technology proved to be a challenge, which is why Blackmail is sometimes forgiven for the unfinished look it presents. Originally slated to be a silent, many of the scenes were re-shot or dubbed to accommodate for sound. Plus, as with many of the silent film stars, the leading lady could not speak English very well. They tried to make up for this by having her dubbed by a British actress, making all of her lines sound and look extremely awkward and forced. On top of all this, the film dragged and the acting was over the top, probably due to the discomfort sound provided. Aside from all of the flaws, Blackmail had some great moments, such as the aforementioned off-screen attempted rape scene, as well as the first use of the ’shock cut’ when Alice is reminded of the dead artist’s hand when a homeless man reaches out to her, and as she screams, her scream is mingled with that of the landlady who finds the artist’s body. Also employed brilliantly is the word ‘knife’, which is used in every sentence in a scene, hilariously causing Alice to go absolutely mad with guilt. In all, Blackmail is a film not without faults, but is an important film for the Hitchcock lover to view because of the small snippets of brilliance embedded within, and for it’s place in film history as the first British talkie.

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