Given much more credit than what it's worth because of its "landmark" quality. Blackmail was England's first talking picture and Alfred Hitchcock's second suspense film. It can be said, however, that some of Hitchcock's best style and technique is found in this early film. As we follow Alice, a girl who has murdered in self defense the man she was fooling around with, we see what it is like to bear a guilty conscience. She picks out the word knife in a conversation until it is all she hears. She sees the limp hand of the dead man everywhere. A painting of a court jester, the only witness to her crime, appears to laugh directly at her. These techniques may be brilliant, but Blackmail is still a poor film in every other aspect. Having switched from a silent to a talking picture halfway through production, the film seems disjointed and awkward. Some scenes were kept silent, some were filmed with sound, and some were simply dubbed later. Taking place in a twenty four hour period, the blackmail itself never really has time to gain momentum. No sooner does the blackmailer come forward to threaten Alice than he finds himself being chased by the police. You couldn't even call the character a villain. Still, the film might have worked better had the actors and writers been up to the task of adapting to the new medium. They were not. The film's climactic chase scene might be the only thing that makes it worth watching.
Review of Blackmail
