Blackmail (1929 film)
Blackmail (1929) was Alfred Hitchcock's first movie with sound, as well as being the first British film with sound.
The film was not originally intended to be a talkie and began production as a silent film. However, the film's producers decided mid-way through the production to make the film Britain's first sound film. This has several implications on the film. A significant amount of footage had been shot without sound before the decision was made. Some of these scenes were re-shot with sound, though some were included in the film regardless.
Additionally, the lead actress Anny Ondra was from (modern-day) Poland so had a strong accent which would perhaps not be understandable to British cinemagoers. So, it was decided that, since some scenes had been shot already, Ondra would still act in the film but she would mouth all of her lines phonetically while her words would be dubbed in by off-screen actress Joan Barry. The technology for adding sound after shooting did not yet exist. Needless to say, this makes Ondra's performance seem slightly awkward today.
The plot concerns a woman called Alice White, whose boyfriend Frank Webber is a policeman. Alice is bored with Frank, and secretly meets another man, who tries to rape her. She defends herself, and kills him with a bread knife. When the body is discovered, Frank is assigned to the case and realises that Alice killed him (the murderer), but then someone else tries to use blackmail.
External links
- Blackmail at the Internet Movie Database