Blackmail

The first British "talkie" is an interesting early Hitchcock suspense/drama. With two versions, one silent and the other with sound, this silent movie, whose production transitioned into a sound film, certainly feels like it at times. However, despite the early technological limitations, Hitchcock creatively and effectively manages to infuse sound into this simple but engaging story to make for an overall decent watch.

I really wanted to like this more but unfortunately I found most of it pretty boring. Best part of the movie was the funny Hitchcock cameo.

Easily Hitchcock's most under-rated film. Compared to the melodramas and back-stage musicals that pretty much dominated the early sound era, Blackmail had a real narrative maturity for it's time, plus it utilized a lot of creative visual techniques and helped pioneer the artistic usage of sound in film. That being said, this was before Hitchcock had become the "Master of Suspense" and it's pacing is still off a lot of the time. Worth a watch for buffs.

You can sort of tell the studio decided to make this a sound film after Hitch had already started shooting, because there is something a little awkward about the way the speech fits into the shooting script. I like it, though - it lends grit to a film belonging to a very theatrical era. Anny Onda is endearing, and the attempted rape is an intriguing and (back then) unusual plot element. This is actually more succinct and stronger than most of the better-known Hitchcock movies, in my view.

This is one of Hitchcock's quite early films, but you can really see his genius already. I was very impressed with some of the shots. I also had to chuckle a few times because some of the acting or editing was a bit silly, but that's part of the charm, isn't it? It was a bit slow-moving but it was still a great example of early filmmaking.

There are two versions of this movie. A silent one and one with sound. I watched the silent version which is a little heavy on the dialog as most of it is reused in the sound version. Overall it's well made.

First Hitchcock flick with sound. It's okay, all considering.

Even at such an early date in his career Hitchcock gives us some very creative shots, using visual flair to increase the tension and mess with the audience. Despite a slow start it quickly picks up steam and is a fun ride with some shocking scenes, real suspense and a bit of his trademark dark humour.

Decent Alfred thriller that can get interesting but most of the time is too damned slow.

One of the best pre 1930 Hitchcocks

Some truly genius shots in constructing the psychological torment of the character of Alice White, most significantly through the usage of sound.

date viewed: 7/29/10-generally recognized as the first british talkie. hitch was actually in production on the silent version when the new tech. became available, the version i rented had a very annoying 8 minute segment with no captions at the beginning. interesting film from the master. fans of his and of those who enjoy films from this era should enjoy it, memorable touchs: the british museum chase, the staircase and the neon light in picadilly circus and hitch's cameo on the trolley.

Obviously started as a silent and then moved to sound. This one is pretty rough and I found myself wishing it would just be over. It's Hitch's forte, but not near the supsensful quality of "The Lodger."

eng; [Blackmail; Erpressung];

(sound version) Enjoyable early Hitchcock that begins to showcase some of his directorial techniques that would later become so famous. The story itself plods along, trying to ratchet up the tension, but much of that felt forced until the ending sequence. A little simplistic, perhaps, but it holds together better than a lot of current movies.

silent version!

"A little clunky at times for contemporary audiences but still manages to truly perturb at times..."

Maratona filme #1. Nunca vi a versão sonora desse filme, mas tenho certeza absoluta que esse aqui não deve nada a ela, aqui Hitch faz em 75 minutos de tensão o que muitos cineastas tentam fazer por uma carreira inteira, isso porque não estamos falando do Hitch em seu melhor. Plus: Tanto Michael Powell quanto Ronald Neame são assistentes de câmera nesse filme. Box Versátil O Cinema de Hichcock Volume 2.

I had forgotten to rated this, it was good as far as i remember, just not as impressive as his other work

Hitchcock does some great things with sound in this classic!

kasim 2013, ist. modern, yenilenmis kopya & ileride bir gun, oglum olursa ona bu filmi izleyip kadinlari bu film araciligi ile dusunmesini, anlamasini, anlamaya calismasini soyleyecegim. hitchcock'un yonetmenligi, matematigi kesinlikle cok guclu.

Silent version. It's a very good getting-away-with-murder flick with Hitchcock's ingenuity readily apparent and some great acting from the lead Anny Ondra.

İstanbul Modern: İlk izlediğimde pek beğenmemiştim, ama bugün yenilenmiş kopyasıyla perdede gördüm. Artık, Hitchcock sinemasının geleceği hakkında gayet sağlıklı ipuçları verdiğini düşünüyorum. Ayrıca canlı müzik eşliğinde sessiz film izlemek güzel bir deneyimdir.

It's difficult to rate early films. Many elements that became convention, or even cliché in our time, were probably very novel in 1929. I liked all of the performances. I noticed a lot of interesting camera work (perhaps the earliest match-cut that I'm aware of).

74.875

A bit uneven at times, with some good acting particularly from the actress playing Alice. I thought the story was very predictable, but I'm also assuming it wasn't when it came out. I also thought the film was at it's best during the time Alice met the painter and until she and Frank met the blackmailer. It gradually lost steam until then. Though, I do like the painting metaphor.

This is just okay Hitchcock. There are some really cool ideas and it's interesting to see Hitchcock stumbling a bit adjusting to a new sound world (the studio decided to make it a sound picture mid-shoot.) The performances are all pretty mediocre and it takes a while to get going--the pacing early on is all over the place. The ending sequence in the museum is a good set piece. Makes a lot of use of silence to enhance tension, which a lot of modern day movies have forgotten how to do.

Still taking many of its cues from the silent era, Hitchcock makes an engaging thriller that relies more on visuals than it does on words. That works extremely well for this kind of genre film, heightening the tension in really effective ways. The proceedings take a little while to get going, but as more pieces fall into place, the suspense increases exponentially. Fairly standard in its plotting, but well done all around.

Hitchcock's first great movie, with wonderful, atmospheric cinematography, black humor, and a decidedly ambiguous ending.

It still feels rooted in the silent era, naturally, with awkward pacing and such, but it still relies heavily on visuals to create suspense, instead of trying to exploit the fancy new technology.