Blackmail (1929), Hitchcock and Film Nationalism

Abstract

By any reckoning, Blackmail is now considered to be a ‘classic’ film. There are several criteria on which this may be judged. First, Blackmail has continued to draw the attention and interest of modern audiences, as witnessed in frequent revivals in specialist cinemas, screenings on television, and re-releases on video and DVD. Second, it stands as a landmark in film history because it was long assumed to be Britain’s first feature film with dialogue. Although film historians latterly have shown that there were other contenders for this title, Blackmail retained its status due to the sheer originality with which the new technology was deployed.¹ It demonstrated that sound could be used with imaginative flair, and at a time when many talkies aspired only to reproduce dialogue, this was a landmark in itself. Third, Blackmail had a remarkable (and complicated) production history that has become one of film history’s legends. Originally produced as a silent feature, it was only when filming was nearly completed that the studio, British International Pictures (BIP), decided that a talking version should be made as well. This brought a host of challenges, and not least because the leading actress, Anny Ondra, was Czechoslovakian and therefore unsuited to her English-speaking role. None the less, both a silent and a sound version were released in 1929, and comparisons between the two have captivated cineastes for decades.² Fourth, and most importantly for the purposes of this chapter, from the time of its release until the present day, Blackmail has inspired extensive critical and scholarly attention.