Movie Review: Blackmail (1929)
Synopsis: After having an argument with her boyfriend, a Scotland Yard detective, Alice White leaves the restaurant with an artist, Mr. Crewe, and agrees to come up to his studio/apartment. Crewe attempts to rape Alice, forcing her to stab him in self-defense. Her boyfriend, Frank, discovers her glove at the scene and chooses to protect her. However, they are soon blackmailed by Tracy, a man who claims to have witnessed the murder.
Who's in it? This Alfred Hitchcock directed movie stars Anny Ondra, John Longden, Donald Calthrop, Cyril Ritchard and Sara Allgood.
Review: After watching a documentary about the making of Blackmail yesterday morning, I decided I wanted to watch it as soon as I had an opportunity. As it turns out, it was available on Amazon Prime, and I was able to watch it earlier today. I wasn't disappointed.
The premise of the movie is a good one. Alice (Ondra) is a victim more than anything and was only trying to avoid being raped. If it weren't for the state of shock she was in, my guess is she would have even done the right thing and called the police right away. Yet, Tracy (Calthrop) is able to blackmail her because of Frank (Longden) taking evidence from the scene, making a simple police report and self-defense claim much more difficult.
In fact, I was also somewhat impressed Frank was even willing to protect her in the first place because, from his perspective, Alice looked like she was cheating on him. The fact he was so willing to risk his job (and more) for her made him a likable guy, especially compared to the deceased Mr. Crewe (Ritchard), who seemed like a nice guy up until the time he wouldn't take "no" for an answer.
The movie itself was interesting to watch just because there was some uniqueness to its execution. I watched the "talkie" version of this film (Hitchcock famously released both a Talkie and a silent version) but there are also quite a few silent film elements throughout. This includes long periods without anybody saying anything and many scenes/emotions being established by body language more than dialog. In fact, I wasn't even completely sure which version of the film I was watching until a few minutes into it because the early scenes have no sound other than background music.
The end of the movie is pretty decent as well, with a few last-second twists and an ending that couldn't really be described as happy nor sad, maybe a combination of both. In other words, it was the kind of ending I would expect from a Hitchcock film.
Final Opinion: It's one of Hitchcock's earlier movies and isn't as good as some of the ones that usually pop into mind when you say his name. However, it's still a solid and entertaining film and I'm glad I took the time to watch it.
My Grade: B+
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Here are some reviews of other Alfred Hitchcock movies:
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