This film is part of Rentals
Blackmail
Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film sees a young woman blackmailed for a murder she was forced to commit.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Overview
A grocer's daughter kills a man who tries to sexually assault her. Her boyfriend, a policeman, attempts to cover up the murder. However, a small-time crook witnessed the act and threatens to blackmail the couple. Only Hitchcock's second crime film, Blackmail would sow the seeds for many of his masterpieces to come, including Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960).
Blackmail holds additional historical importance for being Britain's, as well as Hitchcock's, first feature-length sound film. Originally intended as a silent film, its producers asked Hitchcock to experiment with adding a sound finale (as adopted in The Jazz Singer [1927]). But the director surreptitiously shot the entire film in sound, re-shooting his dialogue scenes and famously enlisting Joan Barry to speak Anny Ondra's lines as she mouthed them, to mask Ondra's thick Czech accent. Blackmail was adapted by Charles Bennett from one of his own plays, in the first of a string of collaborations with Hitchcock during his early sound period.
Contains mild violence and threat
Related
The Wicker Man The Wicker Man
Horror 1973 88 mins Director: Robin Hardy
Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward star in the folk horror classic about a policemen investigating an island given over to paganism.
The Blue Lamp The Blue Lamp
Police drama 1950 85 mins Director: Basil Dearden
Dirk Bogarde stars as a loose-cannon crook with Dixon of Dock Green (Jack Warner) on his tail, in the classic Ealing policier.
Loot Loot
Comedy 1971 102 mins Director: Silvio Narizzano
Silvio Narizzano adapts Joe Orton’s extraordinarily funny satire on police corruption and the conventions of detective fiction.
Hell Is a City Hell Is a City
Police drama 1960 96 mins Director: Val Guest
Punchy crime thriller with a realist streak as Stanley Baker pursues a fugitive through the streets of Manchester.
Wolcott Part 3 Wolcott Part 3
Police drama 1981 52 mins Director: Colin Bucksey
Continuing the gritty and ground-breaking drama featuring Britain’s first black TV detective.
Sapphire Sapphire
Police drama 1959 92 mins Director: Basil Dearden
A young student with a secret is brutally murdered in this British Academy Award winning thriller about race, sex and jealousy.
Downhill Downhill
Drama 1927 105 mins Silent Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock’s fifth film features an early variation on his fabled ‘wrong man’plot, as Ivor Novello stands accused of getting a girl pregnant.
Palestine 36 Palestine 36
Period drama 2025 120 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Acclaimed Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s most ambitious work is a powerful exploration of the events leading up to the Arab Revolt of 1936.
Ghost Trail Ghost Trail
Thriller 2024 106 mins Director: Jonathan Millet
Tense, morally complex political thriller about a man hunting down fugitive war criminals from the Assad regime in Syria, inspired by true events.
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.
Finisterre Finisterre
Documentary 2003 59 mins Director: Kieran Evans and Paul Kelly
A journey from London’s suburbs to its heart, charting the influence of the city on indie pop band Saint Etienne.