11. Blackmail (1929) - Sound Version

In 1926, Warner Brothers released Don Juan, the first major studio release with a synchronized sound track, followed the next year by The Jazz Singer, the first major release of a movie with spoken words and in 1928 came The Lights of New York, the first all talking film. After filming for Blackmail started (as a silent), British International Pictures wanted him to redo the whole film as a talking picture.

Ondra's sound test

One calamity Hitchcock encounter was with his leading lady Anny Ondra. Born in Czechoslovakia, Ondra's accent wasn't going to cut it as a daughter of London shopkeepers. Since post production dubbing at the time was not used, Hitchcock had Ondra mouth her lines, while in the background with a microphone, actress Joan Barry spoke the lines. (As evident in a sound test, Ondra could speak English, but she does have a Czech accent which can be viewed here)  It is passable, but to a viewer aware of the situation, it is noticeable.

Like nearly every talking picture of the late 20's, the dialogue stilted here but there a lot worse examples. Hitchcock used the first 6 minutes and the chase scene at the end in both the silent and sound versions (both scenes have an underlying score in the talking version) and there are only a few scenes which you can tell were shot differently. One involves the artist singing a song while Alice is changing. The better known scene is where Alice on the morning following the murder, is sitting with her family at breakfast overhears a neighbor talking about the murder but the only word she hears is "knife" while we see a shot of the breadknife on the table. Hitchcock unlike many directors making the silent to sound transition at least was able to use the sound to his advantage in the making of his movie rather than have spoken dialogue just be there as a novelty.

Despite the silent version having a wider release (not all UK theaters were equipped for sound), the talking version was a tremendous hit. Advertising promoted the fact that it was the first British talking film, with tagline, "See and Hear the mother tongue as it should be spoken". Bioscope praised the director for combining the novelty of sound with the stage play in a new form of entertainment, while the Times credited Hitchcock for giving the British film industry a shot in the arm (while also praising Donald Calthrop's role as the blackmailer).

The blackmailer gets away via the Schufftan process.

I probably would pick the silent as the better of the two, but not by much and anyone who sees only one version, would not be missing anything to follow or enjoy the film itself. (British International Pictures screened both versions to a trade audience in Germany and just over 60% preferred the sound version). As mentioned last week, both versions of Blackmail have been restored and released by Kino Lorber on DVD and Blu-Ray which can be purchased here.

10. Blackmail (1929) - Silent Version

Hitchcock began his next work after The Manxman as a silent, but in 1929 talking pictures became the newest craze and British International Pictures had him turn this picture (based on the play The Last Hour by Charles Bennett) into a talkie. However, many theaters in England were not equipped for sound, so a silent version was released concurrently with its sound version. So this week, I'll be talking about the silent version and next week, the sound equivalent.

Blackmail's plot involves Alice White (Anny Ondra), daughter of London shopkeepers and in a relationship with Detective Frank Webber (John Longden) of Scotland Yard. Somewhat unhappy in her relationship, she goes out with an artist (Cyril Ritchard) who takes her back to his studio. After receiving an offer to pose for him, Alice is taken advantage of and forcibly raped. Trying any means to defend herself, she picks up a knife off a bedstand and stabs her abuser to death. Alice does her best to wipe all traces that she was in the studio and manages to make her way back to her family's flat. When Scotland Yard investigates, Webber recognizes the victim as Alice's date and finds one of her gloves at the scene. He hides the evidence and goes to Alice to find out what happened. Unfortunately for our protagonists, a petty criminal Tracy (Donald Calthrop) has the other glove and plans to milk the situation for all its worth. When the evidence can be reversed to frame Tracy (who'd it appears had been stalking the artist), he flees with Webber and Scotland Yard chasing him through the British Museum, while Alice wrestles with her guilt and wonders what to do next.

After a few duds, Hitchcock returns to the suspense genre that gave him his first success with the Lodger probably giving him his best film (in my opinion) up to this point. Hitchcock gets the most tension out of every scene leaving the audience on the edge of their seats. Ondra gives a great performance running the gamut with every type of emotion her characterization calls for at the given time. Calthrop is also fantastic as the grubby blackmailer making himself both despicable but compelling to follow. I do think Longden is a bit stilted in his performance, but the rest of cast does offer fine support.

Despite the novelty of the sound version, the silent had a longer run in British theaters (not sure about the US where major studios were phasing exclusively into sound pictures in 1929) and was quite the success. As mentioned before, Hitchcock started this film as a silent and it still can be evident in several scenes. Hitchcock often during his silents abstained the overuse of intertitles and here there are still a good deal of moments where there's obviously no dialogue passed between characters or its use would have spoiled the scene, most notably right after the stabbing scene. The photography and camerawork are magnificent and could top the majority of films being released worldwide at the time.

The film's resolution is probably its weakest point by not really giving full resolution to the situation that has been created, but it could have been intentional not exactly having a happy ending. I'll forgo external reviews here since the majority of them referred to the sound version.

Hitchcock gives himself a long cameo scene (his first since the Lodger - Easy Virtue's cameo appearance is in dispute) being pestered by a bratty kid on the subway.

Both versions of Blackmail have been restored and released by Kino Lorber on DVD and Blu-Ray which can be purchased here.

9. The Manxman (1929)

Hitchcock's last intended silent was an adaptation of Sir Hall Caine's 1894 book of the same name which had already been adapted into a film 13 years earlier by director George Loane Tucker which was a big success in the US (no copies of that version are known to exist). Hoping the success thunderbolt would strike again, British International Pictures assigned its most popular director to the project.

The movie's plot concerns two friends since boyhood, fisherman Peter Quilliam (Carl Brisson) and lawyer Philip Christian (Malcolm Keen) as well as the saloonkeeper's daughter Kate Creegan (Anny Ondra) who they are both in love with. Philip keeps his emotions a secret (mainly since his father was disgraced for marrying beneath him) and allows Peter to make his move. He's rebuffed by her father (Randle Ayrton) who thinks him a penniless lout. Deciding to go to Africa to make his fortune, Peter asks Kate to wait for him, which she agrees to, while asking Philip to watch after her. Now even a 4 year old child can see the eventuality that Philip and Kate start seeing each other. Philip learns that Pete has been killed in Africa and Kate thinks they're free to publicly declare their romance, but not only is Pete alive, but coming back a wealthy man. Philip steps aside and lets Pete marry his sweetheart even though Kate's heart belongs to Philip. Kate becomes pregnant even though there may be some doubt as to who the father actually is. Kate then later leaves Pete for Philip who eventually works his way up to become deemster (judge). How will this all resolve?

I do have to admit that Eliot Stannard (in his last collaboration with Hitchcock as scenario writer) does a very good job trimming down Caine's lengthy novel while still maintaining the overall crux of the story. The last 1/3 of the book is reworked into the last 10 minutes of the film and also giving it a weak and unsatisfying ending does sort of put me off from really enjoying the movie. I will give credit to Hitchcock and Stannard for giving us some very good characterization especially for the 3 leads.

Ondra is very good in the role even though I think she's a bit too glamorous compared to her surroundings. Brisson exudes a lot of joy in his role, but in the book he seems to be an uneducated local man while in the movie he seems dumb enough not to recognize the simplest facial expressions leading to Kate and Philip's deception. Keen could have done a wee bit better in his performance just seeming to have this pity-pout expression on him no matter what.

The movie was originally shot on the Isle of Man, but Hitchcock got tired of Caine's (who lived on the island) interference, so the shooting was moved to Elstree studios in Cornwall (Caine was invited to watch the filming there).

Reviews for the film were mainly positive (definitely in comparison to his previous two films, Easy Virtue and Champagne). Bioscope praised Hitchcock's directing of making the story still powerful and interesting. I did feel however, that Hitchcock wasn't as imaginative with his directorial prowess as in his previous films, just shooting this as a straight drama, which might have been because of the popularity of the source material. Hitchcock wasn't that enthused about the movie when talking to Francois Truffaut, just commenting that its only significance was that it was his last silent film. (Granted his next film, Blackmail, was intended to be shot as a silent, but more about that in my next review).

The movie was restored in 2012 by the British Film Institute's effort to preserve Hitchcock's existing silent films. Luckily an original film negative was available for the restoration which can be purchased here as one of a 5 film set by Kino Lorber. Caine's book can be purchased here.