Blackmail (1929 film)
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.
| Blackmail | |
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 UK trade advert[1] | |
| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Blackmail (play) by Charles Bennett[1] |
| Produced by | John Maxwell |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jack E. Cox |
| Edited by | Emile de Ruelle |
| Music by | Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly Hubert Bath and Harry Stafford (arrangements) Billy Mayerl (song: "Miss Up-to-Date") |
Production company | |
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Release date |
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Running time | 85 minutes (7136 ft sound) 76 minutes (6740 ft silent, 2012 restoration)[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
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] 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]