Blackmail (1929 film)

Blackmail
UK trade advert[1]
Directed byAlfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by
Based onBlackmail (play)
by Charles Bennett[1]
Produced byJohn Maxwell
Starring
CinematographyJack E. Cox
Edited byEmile de Ruelle
Music byJimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly
Hubert Bath and Harry Stafford (arrangements)
Billy Mayerl (song: "Miss Up-to-Date")
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 28 July 1929 (1929-07-28) (UK)
[2]
Running time
85 minutes (7136 ft sound)
76 minutes (6740 ft silent, 2012 restoration)[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Blackmail is a 1929 British thriller[3] directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard. Based on the 1928 play of the same name by Charles Bennett,[1][4] the film is about a London woman who is blackmailed after killing a man who tries to rape her.

After starting production as a silent film, British International Pictures decided to adapt Blackmail into a separate sound film. It became the first successful European talkie; a silent version was released for cinemas not equipped for sound (at 6,740 feet), with the sound version (7,136 feet) released at the same time.[5] Both versions are held in the British Film Institute collection.[1][6]

Blackmail is frequently cited as the first British sound feature film.[7][8][9] It was voted the best British film of 1929 in a UK poll the year it was released. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine ranked Blackmail as the 59th best British film ever.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: Blackmail (1929)". Brenton Film. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Art & Hue was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ryall, Tom (1996). Alfred Hitchcock and the British Cinema. Athlone Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-567-53416-3.
  4. ^ Vagg, Stephen (25 March 2023). "A Brief History of Hitchcock Remakes". Filmink.
  5. ^ Blackmail
  6. ^ "Blackmail". Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  7. ^ a b "The 100 best British films". Time Out. Retrieved 24 October 2017
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Allen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pierre was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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