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Blackmail (1929 film)
Encyclopedia
Blackmail is a 1929 British thriller drama film
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
, starring Anny Ondra
, John Longden
, and Cyril Ritchard
, and featuring Donald Calthrop
, Sara Allgood
and Charles Paton
. The film is based on the play Blackmail by Charles Bennett
, as adapted by Hitchcock, with dialogue by Benn Levy
. Having begun production as a silent film
, the studio, British International Pictures, decided to convert it to sound during shooting.
.
Earlier British sound films include:
In March 1929, Pin and Circle were trade-shown at the same screening for film exhibitors in London.
Detective Frank Webber (John Longden
) escorts his girlfriend Alice White (Anny Ondra
) to a tea house. They have an argument and Alice leaves with Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard
), an artist whom she has earlier agreed to meet. At his studio, Crewe sings and plays "Miss Up-to-Date" on the piano, and shows her a painting of a laughing clown. Alice innocently flirts with the artist. He convinces her to try on a dress, then attempts to assault her as she is changing. Alice grabs a nearby bread knife and stabs him to death.
Alice leaves after attempting to conceal any evidence of her presence in the flat. She has, however, unknowingly left her gloves behind. The next day Frank is assigned to the case and finds one of the gloves. He realizes the glove belongs to Alice and visits Alice at her father's shop. Local petty thief Tracey (Donald Calthrop
), who saw Alice at the artist's flat earlier, interrupts the two and attempts to blackmail the couple. Frank tells Tracey his attempt will fail.
The tables are turned when Tracey becomes the chief suspect after the artist's landlady identifies him as being at the scene of the crime. Tracey flees and is pursued by the police. He clambers onto the domed roof of the British Museum
and is killed after falling through a glass panel of the dome.
Alice feels compelled to confess she killed the artist and goes to Scotland Yard. She attempts to talk to the Chief Inspector but is escorted out by Frank. As they leave, Crewe's painting showing the laughing clown is carried past them.
. To cash in on the new popularity of talkies, the film's producer, John Maxwell of British International Pictures, gave Hitchcock the go-ahead to film a portion of the movie in sound. Hitchcock thought the idea absurd and surreptitiously filmed almost the entire feature in sound along with a silent version for theatres not yet equipped for talking pictures.
Blackmail, marketed as one of Britain's earliest "all-talkie" feature films, was recorded in the RCA Photophone
sound-on-film
process. (The first U.S. all-talking film, Lights of New York
, was released in July 1928 by Warner Brothers.)
Lead actress Anny Ondra was raised in Prague
and had a heavy Czech accent that was felt unsuitable for the film. Sound was in its infancy at the time and it was impossible to post-dub Ondra's voice. Rather than replace her and re-shoot her portions of the film, actress Joan Barry was hired to actually speak the dialogue off-camera while Anny lip-synched them for the film. This makes Ondra's performance seem slightly awkward.
Ondra's career in the UK was hurt by sound. She returned to Germany
and retired from films after making a few additional movies and marrying boxer Max Schmeling
in 1933. However, an amusing test film has survived of Hitchcock "interviewing" Ondra, in which the director teases the actress and asks her some personal questions.
Hitchcock used several elements that would become Hitchcock "trademarks" including a beautiful blonde in peril and a famous landmark in the finale. Without informing the producers, Hitchcock used the Schüfftan process
to film the scenes in the Reading Room of the British Museum
since the light levels were too low for normal filming.
The film was a critical and commercial hit. The sound was praised as inventive. A completed silent version of Blackmail was released in 1929 shortly after the talkie version hit theaters. The silent version of Blackmail actually ran longer in theaters and proved more popular, largely because most theaters in Britain were not yet equipped for sound. 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. Alfred Hitchcock filmed the silent version with Sam Livesey as the Chief Inspector and the sound version with Harvey Braban in the same role.
. This is probably the lengthiest cameo appearance
Hitchcock performed in his film career. The child was Jacque Carter. As the director became better-known to audiences, especially when he appeared as the host of his own television series, he dramatically shortened his on-screen appearances.
In the U.S., a public domain
DVD
has been released, based on the former view. On the other hand, Canal+
which holds the present copyright, asserts copyright continuation based on the latter view. In Japan, there are a number of public domain DVDs based on the copyright law of that country, which holds that the copyright of movies issued before 1953 has expired.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, starring Anny Ondra
Anny Ondra
Anny Ondra was a Czech film actress. She was born Anna Sophie Ondráková in Tarnów, Galicia, Austria–Hungary, now Poland, and died in Hollenstedt near Harburg, Germany.-Life:...
, John Longden
John Longden
John Longden was a West Indian-born English film actor. He appeared in 84 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.-Biography:...
, and Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Ritchard was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is probably best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in the Mary Martin musical production of Peter Pan....
, and featuring Donald Calthrop
Donald Calthrop
Donald Calthrop was an English stage and film actor. He starred as the title character in the hit musical The Boy in 1917. He then appeared in 63 films between 1916 and 1940, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.He was born in London and died in Eton from a heart attack.He was the...
, Sara Allgood
Sara Allgood
-Biography:Allgood was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her sister was actress Maire O'Neill.Allgood began her acting career at the Abbey Theatre and was in the opening of the Irish National Theatre Society, appearing in many of their plays all over Britain...
and Charles Paton
Charles Paton
Charles Paton was an English film actor. He appeared in 105 films between 1927 and 1951, including Freedom of the Seas...
. The film is based on the play Blackmail by Charles Bennett
Charles Bennett (screenwriter)
Charles Bennett was an English playwright and screenwriter, probably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock....
, as adapted by Hitchcock, with dialogue by Benn Levy
Benn Levy
Benn Wolfe Levy was a Labour Party Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. Having begun production as a silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
, the studio, British International Pictures, decided to convert it to sound during shooting.
Role in UK film history
As an early "talkie", the film is frequently cited by film historians as a landmark film, and is often cited as the first truly British "all-talkie" feature filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
.
Earlier British sound films include:
- The Gentleman, a short film in the PhonofilmPhonofilmIn 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-filmSound-on-filmSound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
process, directed by William J. Elliott, and released in the UK in June 1925; - The part-talking The Clue of the New PinThe Clue of the New Pin (1929 film)The Clue of the New Pin is a British crime film directed by Arthur Maude and starring Benita Hume, Kim Peacock, and Donald Calthrop. The film was one of the few filmed in British Phototone, a sound-on-disc system which used 12-inch discs...
, based on the novel by Edgar WallaceEdgar WallaceRichard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
, and filmed in British Phototone, a sound-on-discSound-on-discThe term Sound-on-disc refers to a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or playback sound in sync with a motion picture...
system using 12-inch discs; - The Crimson CircleDer rote Kreis (1929 film)Der rote Kreis is a 1929 British-German crime film directed by Frederic Zelnik and starring Lya Mara, Fred Louis Lerch, and Stewart Rome....
, a UK-German silent film, also based on a Wallace novel, dubbed after the fact with the Phonofilm sound-on-film process; - Black Waters, a British all-talkie production shot in the US and released on 6 April 1929.
In March 1929, Pin and Circle were trade-shown at the same screening for film exhibitors in London.
Plot
Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
Detective Frank Webber (John Longden
John Longden
John Longden was a West Indian-born English film actor. He appeared in 84 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.-Biography:...
) escorts his girlfriend Alice White (Anny Ondra
Anny Ondra
Anny Ondra was a Czech film actress. She was born Anna Sophie Ondráková in Tarnów, Galicia, Austria–Hungary, now Poland, and died in Hollenstedt near Harburg, Germany.-Life:...
) to a tea house. They have an argument and Alice leaves with Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Ritchard was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is probably best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in the Mary Martin musical production of Peter Pan....
), an artist whom she has earlier agreed to meet. At his studio, Crewe sings and plays "Miss Up-to-Date" on the piano, and shows her a painting of a laughing clown. Alice innocently flirts with the artist. He convinces her to try on a dress, then attempts to assault her as she is changing. Alice grabs a nearby bread knife and stabs him to death.
Alice leaves after attempting to conceal any evidence of her presence in the flat. She has, however, unknowingly left her gloves behind. The next day Frank is assigned to the case and finds one of the gloves. He realizes the glove belongs to Alice and visits Alice at her father's shop. Local petty thief Tracey (Donald Calthrop
Donald Calthrop
Donald Calthrop was an English stage and film actor. He starred as the title character in the hit musical The Boy in 1917. He then appeared in 63 films between 1916 and 1940, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.He was born in London and died in Eton from a heart attack.He was the...
), who saw Alice at the artist's flat earlier, interrupts the two and attempts to blackmail the couple. Frank tells Tracey his attempt will fail.
The tables are turned when Tracey becomes the chief suspect after the artist's landlady identifies him as being at the scene of the crime. Tracey flees and is pursued by the police. He clambers onto the domed roof of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
and is killed after falling through a glass panel of the dome.
Alice feels compelled to confess she killed the artist and goes to Scotland Yard. She attempts to talk to the Chief Inspector but is escorted out by Frank. As they leave, Crewe's painting showing the laughing clown is carried past them.
Production
The film began production as a silent filmSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
. To cash in on the new popularity of talkies, the film's producer, John Maxwell of British International Pictures, gave Hitchcock the go-ahead to film a portion of the movie in sound. Hitchcock thought the idea absurd and surreptitiously filmed almost the entire feature in sound along with a silent version for theatres not yet equipped for talking pictures.
Blackmail, marketed as one of Britain's earliest "all-talkie" feature films, was recorded in the RCA Photophone
RCA Photophone
RCA Photophone was the trade name given to one of four major competing technologies that emerged in the American film industry in the late 1920s for synchronizing electrically recorded audio to a motion picture image. RCA Photophone was a sound-on-film, "variable-area" film exposure system, in...
sound-on-film
Sound-on-film
Sound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
process. (The first U.S. all-talking film, Lights of New York
Lights of New York (1928 film)
Lights of New York was the first all-talking feature film, released by Warner Brothers and directed by Bryan Foy. The film, which cost only $23,000 to produce, grossed over $1,000,000. It was also the first film to define the crime genre...
, was released in July 1928 by Warner Brothers.)
Lead actress Anny Ondra was raised in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and had a heavy Czech accent that was felt unsuitable for the film. Sound was in its infancy at the time and it was impossible to post-dub Ondra's voice. Rather than replace her and re-shoot her portions of the film, actress Joan Barry was hired to actually speak the dialogue off-camera while Anny lip-synched them for the film. This makes Ondra's performance seem slightly awkward.
Ondra's career in the UK was hurt by sound. She returned to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and retired from films after making a few additional movies and marrying boxer Max Schmeling
Max Schmeling
Maximillian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling was a German boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in the late 1930s transcended boxing, and became worldwide social events because of their national associations...
in 1933. However, an amusing test film has survived of Hitchcock "interviewing" Ondra, in which the director teases the actress and asks her some personal questions.
Hitchcock used several elements that would become Hitchcock "trademarks" including a beautiful blonde in peril and a famous landmark in the finale. Without informing the producers, Hitchcock used the Schüfftan process
Schüfftan process
The Schüfftan process is a movie special effect named after its inventor, Eugen Schüfftan . It was widely used in the first half of the 20th century before being almost completely replaced by the travelling matte and bluescreen effects....
to film the scenes in the Reading Room of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
since the light levels were too low for normal filming.
The film was a critical and commercial hit. The sound was praised as inventive. A completed silent version of Blackmail was released in 1929 shortly after the talkie version hit theaters. The silent version of Blackmail actually ran longer in theaters and proved more popular, largely because most theaters in Britain were not yet equipped for sound. 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. Alfred Hitchcock filmed the silent version with Sam Livesey as the Chief Inspector and the sound version with Harvey Braban in the same role.
Cast
- Anny OndraAnny OndraAnny Ondra was a Czech film actress. She was born Anna Sophie Ondráková in Tarnów, Galicia, Austria–Hungary, now Poland, and died in Hollenstedt near Harburg, Germany.-Life:...
as Alice White - Sara AllgoodSara Allgood-Biography:Allgood was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her sister was actress Maire O'Neill.Allgood began her acting career at the Abbey Theatre and was in the opening of the Irish National Theatre Society, appearing in many of their plays all over Britain...
as Mrs. White - Charles PatonCharles PatonCharles Paton was an English film actor. He appeared in 105 films between 1927 and 1951, including Freedom of the Seas...
as Mr. White - John LongdenJohn LongdenJohn Longden was a West Indian-born English film actor. He appeared in 84 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.-Biography:...
as Det. Frank Webber - Donald CalthropDonald CalthropDonald Calthrop was an English stage and film actor. He starred as the title character in the hit musical The Boy in 1917. He then appeared in 63 films between 1916 and 1940, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.He was born in London and died in Eton from a heart attack.He was the...
as Tracy - Cyril RitchardCyril RitchardCyril Ritchard was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is probably best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in the Mary Martin musical production of Peter Pan....
as Mr. Crewe (the artist) - Hannah Jones as Mrs. Humphries (the landlady)
- Harvey Braban as The Chief Inspector (sound version)
- Ex-Det. Sergt. Bishop as The Detective Sergeant
- Johnny ButtJohnny Butt-Selected filmography:* Far from the Madding Crowd * Lawyer Quince * Nell Gwyn * Second to None * Passion Island * The Last Post * The Clue of the New Pin -External links:...
as Sergeant (uncredited) - Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
as Man on subway (uncredited) - Phyllis KonstamPhyllis KonstamPhyllis Konstam was an English film actress. She appeared in 11 films between 1928 and 1964, including four films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.She was born in London and died in Somerset from a heart attack....
as bit part (uncredited) - Sam LiveseySam LiveseySam Livesey was a British film actor. He was the father of the actor Roger Livesey.-Selected filmography:* The Forger * Blackmail silent version only* Raise the Roof * Up for the Cup...
as The Chief Inspector (silent version, uncredited) - Phyllis Monkman as Gossip (uncredited)
- Percy ParsonsPercy ParsonsPercy Parsons was an American-born actor and singer who worked largely in the British film industry.-Selected filmography:* Suspense * Happy Ever After * The Man from Toronto * Red Wagon...
as Crook (uncredited)
Hitchcock's cameo
Alfred Hitchcock's cameo, a signature occurrence in many of Hitchcock's films, shows him being bothered by a small boy as he reads a book on the London UndergroundLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. This is probably the lengthiest cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
Hitchcock performed in his film career. The child was Jacque Carter. As the director became better-known to audiences, especially when he appeared as the host of his own television series, he dramatically shortened his on-screen appearances.
Copyright status
There are two views as to the status of the film's copyright:- The film's copyright of the United States was not renewed in 1958.
- Copyright is applicable until 2050 (over 70 years from death of Hitchcock), per the copyright on Copyright Duration Directive (93/98/EEC)#Films and photographs. Copyrights of the United States has been recovered by the Uruguay Round Agreements ActUruguay Round Agreements ActThe Uruguay Round Agreements Act was an Act of Congress in the United States that implemented in U.S. law the provisions agreed upon at the Uruguay Round of negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade .- Legislative history :U.S...
.
In the U.S., a public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
has been released, based on the former view. On the other hand, Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
which holds the present copyright, asserts copyright continuation based on the latter view. In Japan, there are a number of public domain DVDs based on the copyright law of that country, which holds that the copyright of movies issued before 1953 has expired.