Grade: C-
Synopsis: A Scotland Yard Detective (John Longden) faces blackmail after his girlfriend (Anny Ondra) kills an artist.
Blackmail is notable as not only director Alfred Hitchcock’s first talkie film, but also the first all-talkie British film. Given this, it’s no big surprise that the film is somewhat uneven.
The first 10-15 minutes are basically a silent picture, and in fact, Hitchcock shot the film as both a talkie and a silent film for theaters not equipped for sound. This is a problem in itself, as it meant the dialog couldn’t be crucial to the story, but the biggest problem crops up as soon as the sound does kick in.
Lead Anny Ondra’s lips don’t match the sound coming out of them. Apparently, her heavy Czech accent made her unsuitable for the role of an English shopgirl. Rather than recast her, the filmmaker’s had her lip-sync her lines, which another actress spoke into a microphone off-camera. Given that Ondra’s no great screen presence, they should have just recast her, as the effect is jarring.
Those problems aside, the film works as an okay thriller. Hitchcock injects his trademark black humor, and the climactic chase through the British Museum is well done. Granted, there’s still that silent era tendency to speed up the action shots, which makes them look unintentionally ridiculous, ala Keystone Cops, but the shot framing the roof is a classic.
In the end, Blackmail is probably a must-see for Hitchcock fans, as it marks an important creative milestone in the director’s career, but others can give it a pass.
