On Blackmail

Blackmail is an old movie shot in 1929, but a classical one. If a modern audience sat down to see this film, Alfred Hitchcock’s first talkie, they’d squirm in their seats – at first. Unconvincing sound effects and an unmoving camera seemingly bolted to the floor don’t help as we watch a prim Scotland Yard detective on a date with his hard to please girlfriend, Alice. But, when Alice has to defend herself against a letch that picks her up, the film becomes classic Hitchcock. Rather than use the newfound medium of sound solely to record the audio, Hitchcock uses sound in an expressionistic, experimental manner. After Alice kills the artist, common sounds becoming annoying blasts to the skull! Hitchcock ends the film with a silent (except for music) chase through the British Museum. Not only does this scene anticipate key moments in THE 39 STEPS, SABOTEUR, VERTIGO, and NORTH BY NORTHWEST, it’s a companion piece. It is worth watching.