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Select media
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Stills must not be reproduced, copied or downloaded in any way.
Film details
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Featuring
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Director
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Country
United Kingdom
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Year
1929
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Genre
Police drama
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Type
Film
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Category
Fiction
Alternative titles
- Blackmail (Sound Version) Archive
Introduction
“A critical and commercial triumph... and confirmed Hitchcock as the most admired British director of the time.”
Mark Duguid, BFI Screenonline
Through its mixture of location filming and roster of believable working-class characters, Hitchcock's seminal thriller, made in both sound and silent versions, also succeeds as a rich evocation of London life. From its opening sequence, with the police tracking down a wanted criminal, through scenes on the London Underground, Whitehall, the Lyon's Tea House at Piccadilly Circus, and on to the climactic chase in and atop the British Museum, the film successfully eludes its theatrical origins. The sound version was Britain's first 'talkie'.
A highpoint in Hitchcock's early career, the director would later revisit and surpass the knife murder in Blackmail with those featured in both The 39 Steps (1935) and, most famously, Psycho (1960).
Joan Barry, who would star in Hitchcock's quirky comedy Rich and Strange (1931), provided the voice for the heroine played by Polish actress Anny Ondra in the sound version.
Cast & Credits
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Cast
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Alice White
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Mrs White
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Mr White
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Frank Webber
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Tracy
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Crewe, the artist
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the landlady
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chief inspector
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[Anny Ondra's vocal double]
Joan Barry (uncredited)
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[arrested man]
Percy Parsons (uncredited)
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[doorman]
Johnny Butt (uncredited)
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[gossiping neighbour]
Phyllis Monkman (uncredited)
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[the detective sergeant]
Ex. Det. Sgt. Bishop (uncredited)
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[harassed Underground traveller]
Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited)
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Credits
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Direction:
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Director
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Assistant Director
Production:
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Production Company
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[Producer]
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Studio
Writing:
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Adaptation
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[Screenplay]
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[Screenplay]
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Dialogue
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Based on the play
Photography:
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Director of Photography
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[Montage shots - silent version]
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[Camera Assistant]
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[Clapper Boy]
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[Camera Assistant]
Stills:
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[Stills]
Editing:
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Editor
Design:
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Art Director
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[Art Director]
Music:
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Music
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Music
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[Music]
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Music Performed by
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Music Conductor
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Music compiled/arranged
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Music compiled/arranged
Sound:
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[Sound]
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[Sound Editor]
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