BLACKMAIL

In 1920s London, young Alice White (played by Polish-born actress Anny Ondra, who had previously appeared in The Manxman), after an argument with her policeman fiancé, agrees to follow painter Tracy (Donal Calthrop) to his studio. The artist, under the pretext of painting her portrait, assaults her and she defends herself by stabbing him. A criminal has witnessed the scene and retrieves a glove from the young woman with the intention of blackmailing her. Frank Webber (John Longden), Alice’s fiancé working for Scotland Yark, soon discovers the truth but arranges for the evidence to implicate the blackmailer. In an attempt to escape from the police, the blackmailer dies when he falls from the roof of the British Museum. Frank manages just in time to prevent Alice, wracked with remorse, from confessing her guilt… Blackmail marks the historic transition between two eras in cinema. There are two versions of this film: a silent version and a sound version (which is the one we offer). This first non-silent thriller directed by Hitchock had a difficult editing process, and its ending was not the one Hitchcock wanted but imposed by the production. In general, when Hitchcock’s ‘English’ period is mentioned, before he left for the United States (Rebecca), it is treated with a certain condescension, forgetting that Hitchcock’s first 41 years were decisive for his work.