Blackmail And The Film Industry

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The late 1920s was a turbulent time of unknowns for the motion picture business due to the rapidly approaching advent of sound, which threw a wrench into a well-oiled machine that had been making silent films exclusively for nearly two decades. Studios, whether they liked it or not, were being forced to confront these new technological challenges and expectations head-on. As a result of the two versions that were ultimately created, Blackmail has the unique distinction of being both Hitchcock's last silent film as well as his first talkie.

Blackmail had first been a hit play on the London stage in 1928 written by Charles Bennett. John Maxwell, the head of British International Pictures with whom Hitchcock had signed a multi-picture deal in 1926, quickly bought the rights for his star director. Hitchcock was looking to make a good thriller, and Blackmail fit the bill perfectly.

When production began on Blackmail, it was initially intended as a purely silent picture. However, with the inevitable expectation of sound technology beginning to creep into the film industry, the brass at ...

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