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Information
- Year
- 1929
- Runtime
- 85 min.
- Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rating *
- 6.9
- Votes *
- 6,760
- Checks
- 2,850
- Favs
- 106
- Dislikes
- 15
- Favs/checks
- 3.7% (1:27)
- Favs/dislikes
- 7:1
Top comments
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fragilelabyrinth
Hitchcock filmed the silent and talkie versions simultaneously. Personally, I prefer the silent version. In the talkie, because of her czech accent, Anny Ondra had to be dubbed live while filming, stunting her performance a bit.
Also this has my favorite (and longest) Hitchcock cameo about 10 minutes in! 10 years 8 months ago -
akira7
This film has two releases, a silent version and soundtracked dialog. However, it was shot to be silent, and only later did the studio request voices be recorded to meet the demands of the times. 11 years 3 months ago -
Siskoid
Britain's first talkie, Blackmail has Hitchcock start production as if it were a silent film, then makes an about-face that you can sort of spot, and its silent film heritage is where its weaknesses lie. Anny Ondra, as a woman weighed down by guilt after she kills a man, is definitely acting in that mold, which is to say over-emoting. And the dialog can be, overall, a little slow, in order to match lips to looped sound (and by looped, I mean on-set simul-recording). That said, it's hard to imagine parts of this film as silent, hinging as it does on key conversations, like the blackmail negotiation. (Not to say most of it is quite visual, of course, but even the visual fixation on the knife is supported by sound here.) But even at this early juncture, Hitchcock is still creating potent tension builders, most cleverly in just WHO will be blackmailed and WHY - the answer keeps changing. Hitch also gives us an early chase through a landmark to a vertiginous spot, which would not only become one of his personal tropes, but eventually become a cliched element in 75% of action movies. 3 months 2 weeks ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 7 official lists
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This movie ranks #44 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
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This movie ranks #60 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
BFI's 360 Classic Featur…
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This movie ranks #61 in Time Out's The 100 Best British Films
Time Out's The 100 Best …
61 -
This movie ranks #82 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
David Thomson's Have You…
82 -
This movie ranks #91 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…
91 -
This movie ranks #121 in Paul Rotha's Silent but Not Forgotten
Paul Rotha's Silent but …
121 -
This movie ranks #1042 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
1042